Kris and I are on holiday this week so there will be no Weekly Meanderings. We’ll be back on Meanderings next week! I’m not hearing much chat about Tom Wright’s new translation of the New Testament, called The Kingdom New Testament, but it sure does deserve careful consideration to be on your desk or chair when you read the Bible. I hope everyone gets a copy and puts it next to the Bible they are now reading — read them... Read more
From USA Today: Americans are a neighborly lot — and increasingly so, according to a national study that finds 76% trust most or some of their neighbors, 44% talk to them frequently and 65% exchange favors. Now in its third year, the Civic Life in America report, released today, asked about trust of neighbors for the first time. Of the 81,355 people 18 and older surveyed by telephone, 41% trust most neighbors and another 35% trust some; 9% don’t trust... Read more
Yes, you guessed it … my field is one of them! What are they? Do you want to go back to school to earn a degree that could help you impress employers? If your goals include job offers upon graduation, you’ll want to choose your major carefully, says Vicki Lynn, senior vice president of Universum, a global talent recruiting company that works with many Fortune 500 companies. To help navigate the numerous options available today, we took a closer look... Read more
From John Frye Anyone who knows the storyline of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables (Les Mis) knows that any cinematic rendition will push strongly against the most common USAmerican movie theme: revenge. In conversation recently with friends, we all were troubled by how many movies are driven by the energy of “an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.” My wife, Julie, and I attended the new musical version of Les Mis starring Hugh Jackman (Valjean), Russell Crowe (Javert), Anne... Read more
David Fitch, in his new book, The End of Evangelicalism? Discerning a New Faithfulness for Mission: Towards an Evangelical Political Theology (Theopolitical Visions), thinks evangelicalism’s influence is more or less over, that it needs to reexamine itself, and that it needs to rediscover what it could be in our world. Here are the problems for evangelicalism today according to David Fitch: 1. Its presence in American politics has declined precipitously. 2. It’s cultural influence has fallen on hard times. 3.... Read more
From Derek Thompson: In the eyes of employers, marketers, and brand gurus, Generation Y tends to be treated like a separate species, forged in the primordial stew of Internet, whose habits are so positively alien to the rest of the country that they’ve inspired a cottage industry: The How-Do-You-Solve-a-Problem-Like-Millennials?genre. But a new report from the Pew Research Center (pdf) suggests that, when it comes to reading the news on mobile devices, young people aren’t so different. First, they use their tablets and smartphones to... Read more
Arika Okrent: What’s your don’t-like word? Mine is delimit. Just as there is nothing certain in this world but death and taxes, there is nothing certain in language but that it will change, and that people will react badly. One of the changes people find most offensive is the spread of professional jargon that has been coined to replace simpler, clearer words we already have. Anyone up for some collaborative incentivizing going forward? No? Well, maybe one day your great-grandchildren will be. Here... Read more
Not quite a year ago I wrote about the relationship of science and virgin birth in the context of John Polkinghorne’s book Testing Scripture: A Scientist Explores the Bible. Recently I’ve been reading Robert Asher’s new book Evolution and Belief: Confessions of a Religious Paleontologist and here the topic comes up again, but Asher has a different take on the question. As a result the topic is worth a reprise, considering the arguments put forth both by Polkinghorne and by... Read more
This post is by our friend Jeff Cook… They Don’t Believe Because Your God Isn’t Desirable I watched the recent debate between William Lane Craig, a Christian, and Sam Harris an Atheist. The debate (seen Here) was over the foundations of morality. The Christian addressed the philosophical question at hand with skill and insight. By the midway point the atheist struck me as seriously outmatched and overpowered. Yet then things changed. Sam Harris began putting forth a set of arguments... Read more
From Melissa Healy, LA Times: WASHINGTON — A new study of brains donated after death details the degenerative brain disease that afflicted 68 of 85 subjects who suffered multiple concussions during stints in the military or in organized sports. Among the deceased athletes whose brains were examined for the study were NFL Hall of Famers John Mackey, a tight end, and running back Ollie Matson, both of whom died in 2011 of dementia complications. Among those diagnosed post-mortem as suffering... Read more
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