I got this letter from a reader: I’ve been following your blog via RSS for a few years and really enjoy it. Wondering if you’d consider a post (maybe a Top Ten List?) on recommended religious journals. I realize “religious journals” is a pretty broad category (church history, theology, hermeneutics, etc.) but maybe you could refine it in some way. I work at a small school and we’re reviewing how best to spend our library budget–getting some input from yourself and/or... Read more
I got a package the other day, opened it up, and there it was — copies of One.Life: Jesus Calls, We Follow are now at Zondervan will begin shipping — including to Amazon — next week. I’m excited, and hope this book will get under the skin of the many people who need it. The subtitle sums it up: Jesus Calls, We Follow. The problem? Shabby, flabby conceptions of what it means to be a Christian. In this book we attempt... Read more
Mark Galli, in his piece at CT, suggests that following Jesus — and here he is not into a literalistic sense but a new “living it out” in our world mode — will sometimes mean offending people. The point is this: There were moments in Jesus’ ministry when he denigrated—that is, according to the dictionary definition, “attacked the reputation of another”—and inflamed—”excited to excessive or uncontrollable actions or feelings.” What we find in the Gospels is an uncomfortable reality: There... Read more
Here’s an interesting Gallup poll to discuss: PRINCETON, NJ — Americans are as likely to want Tea Party-backed Republican members of Congress to have the most influence over federal policies in the coming year as they are to prefer President Barack Obama. The Democratic leaders in Congress rank last in this regard, behind the Republican leaders. … As if having two political parties vying for power in Congress in the next session won’t be challenging enough, the Tea Party movement... Read more
What kind of book is the Book of Revelation? We perhaps need to make something clear: The decision of what kind of book Revelation is determines how we read it, what we see in it, and what it means for our world today. Michael Gorman’s new book, Reading Revelation Responsibly: Uncivil Worship and Witness: Following the Lamb into the New Creation., says the book is a hybrid book: it is apocalyptic, it is prophetic, and it is a letter. What... Read more
From Slate, by Jessica Olien: When you read an article like this, what do you think about? Do you wonder if there might be a better way in the USA? Do you see the Dutch system as inadequate? Or … what? Here’s one suggestion: Perhaps we need to be more active about finding a system were choice is honored — where women who work are fine; where women who don’t work are fine; where men who stay at home are... Read more
From the Pew Research Center: Now the word “Share” is not entirely clear, so here’s my read: in 1960, 76% of college grads or higher were married; in 2008 only 64% of college grads/higher are married. That right? Read more
Did you see this? Some recent observations about what technology is doing to the brain — wiring it for distractions. Researchers say the lure of these technologies, while it affects adults too, is particularly powerful for young people. The risk, they say, is that developing brains can become more easily habituated than adult brains to constantly switching tasks — and less able to sustain attention. “Their brains are rewarded not for staying on task but for jumping to the next... Read more
I am going to begin a new series of posts today – one post every week or so – centered around Denis O. Lamoureux’s book Evolutionary Creation: A Christian Approach to Evolution. Dr. Lamoureux is an Associate Professor of science and religion at St. Joseph’s College in the University of Alberta (UA) in Edmonton. He received his BS in 1976 from UA, a DDS from UA in 1978 and then changed directions – receiving his MDiv and Master of Christian... Read more
In the next two years Americans will be bombarded by political rhetoric. I am not alone in decrying the politicization of our culture, and neither am I alone in urging followers of Jesus to refocus. Political rhetoric is not only filling our imaginations with hope, hope that can’t be delivered by a President, but it is reshaping Christian thinking so much so that intelligent studies show that the Church in the USA has been politicized. That’s a sad commentary on... Read more
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