In my Women, Bible and the Church class, on Thursday, we began to discuss a book by a radical feminist, Renita Weems, called Battered Love (Overtures to Biblical Theology). Weems’ concern is a direct one: the paradoxical and painful connection in the Old Testament prophets of expressions of God’s compassion and love in the forms of violence against women. One of the classic examples of this kind of text is Hosea 2 where YHWH’s faithfulness is set over against Israel’s... Read more
Arloa Sutter’s book, The Invisible: What the Church Can Do to Find and Serve the Least of These, is one of the finest examples one can find today of two things: What missional means. What witness looks like. Arloa has labored for three decades or so in Chicago’s cracks, finding the homeless, ministering to those in need, and this book is nothing but — and I’m grateful it is just that — a simple, clear witness of a life devoted... Read more
Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, known not only for his leadership in the Eastern Orthodox Church but also for his books, was the Kermit Zarley lecturer this year. His two topics were Prayer and the Philokalia, during which he discussed the Jesus Prayer, and then he lectured on Eastern Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism and how we need one another. The lectures were recorded and will be available on Ancient Faith Radio beginning this weekend. Added: I have to add my deepest appreciation to... Read more
The recommendation here is to raise taxes on gas … From the Economist, via BB, and check out the graph after the jump: Petrol prices in America are substantially below levels elsewhere in the rich world, and this is almost entirely due to the rock bottom level of petrol tax rates. The low cost of petrol encourages greater dependence; the average American uses much more oil per day than other rich world citizens. This dependence also impacts infrastructure investment choices,... Read more
Rachel Held Evans is a young author, a talented writer, with a story of common experience to tell. Rachel’s book, Evolving in Monkey Town, is the memoir of a young Christian wrestling with the meaning and implications of Christian faith. It is well written and easy to read, with a thread of encouragement for the future. Rachel grew up in the south – Alabama and Tennessee – in a culture of conservative Bible belt Christianity. She graduated from Bryan College... Read more
Tim Keller’s newest book, King’s Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus, examines big questions through the Gospel of Mark. What is the connection of healing in this story to the forgiveness of sins? Is the healing the external reality of the inner healing (forgiveness)? Or does forgiveness connect to healing in that healing is a form of forgiveness? Does the former lead to the latter? Does the latter lead to the former? Or are they... Read more
A thought on Matthew 5:46-47, which reads: Matt. 5:46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Prejudicial love is no barometer of one’s moral life. Prejudicial love, in fact, indicates self-love. To love only those who are like us is a way of loving... Read more
From George Lakoff: Is this a fair and reasonable sketch of the conservative? For those of you who are conservative, why or why not? The central issue in our political life is not being discussed. At stake is the moral basis of American democracy….. Conservatives really want to change the basis of American life, to make America run according to the conservative moral worldview in all areas of life. In the 2008 campaign, candidate Obama accurately described the basis of... Read more
Tim Dalrymple, a world class gymnast who broke his neck at Stanford and lost a career, recently wrote a post about suffering and connected his experience with that of acerbic atheist Christopher Hitchens. I like his perception of the instrumental element of suffering as much as the absence of seeking to know the mind of God in our suffering. Good serious piece. At a recent event at the Pew Forum, I asked Hitchens whether he ever doubted his views on God... Read more
In Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa prove — not contend — that students are not learning what they should, professors are not doing all they could, administrators are not focused on education enough and, as if that weren’t a glassful, society is and will continue to suffer is something isn’t done about it. They draw four major conclusions that are worthy of discussion, and I would also like to draw upon the post... Read more
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