New Testament scholar Ben Witherington III on why Christians should develop a stronger theology of play: From God’s perspective, play is not a distraction from “real life.” Play is so important partly because it prefigures the final state of affairs: the joy of the celebration of God’s kingdom. All games are essentially eschatological, having some kind of telos or aim. In the best kind of games, you have to work with others, which meets a deep psychological need: The need... Read more
Sean Beienburg argues that The Dark Knight Rises reflects director Christopher Nolan’s Burkean sensibilities: Less apparent than the striking images are these skeptical, quintessentially British political mores that the Nolan brothers—despite Jonah’s American accent—have infused into their trilogy. Critic Devin Faraci writes that Nolan embraces the “central thesis that institutions will fail us again and again… But where David Simon’s seminal [The Wire] wrestled with what that means and how we can create change within that environment, Nolan’s films take a decidedly... Read more
Deborah Markus, at Secular Homeschooling, has a list of retorts for homeschooling parents tired of the inane questions and complaints they get about educating their own children: 1. Please stop asking us if it’s legal. If it is — and it is — it’s insulting to imply that we’re criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it? 2. Learn what the words “socialize” and “socialization” mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you... Read more
In the journal Themelios, theologian Carl Trueman offers some sobering advice for students considering pursuing doctoral studies (“‘Do not do it if you think you are going to find a job at the end of it; do it for the sake of doing it. There are almost no jobs going in academia these days . . .). But he also provides some pastoral counsel that is relevant to those who aspire to be intellectual leaders in our congregations: Protestantism, by prioritizing... Read more
In his book, Heavenly Merchandize, Mark Valeri, professor of church history at Union Presbyterian Seminary, finds that the American economy as we know it emerged from a series of important shifts in the views of Puritan ministers: IDEAS: You’re saying that the market didn’t rise at the expense of religion, but was enabled by it? VALERI: You need to have a change in your basic understanding of how or where God works in the world before you can envision different economic behaviors as morally... Read more
How much would Jesus eat? The answer—as determined by depictions of the last supper—vary by era, say two brothers—an eating behavior expert and a religious studies scholar: Brian and Craig Wansink teamed up to analyze the amount of food depicted in 52 of the best-known paintings of the Last Supper. After indexing the sizes of the foods by the sizes of the average disciple’s head, they found that portion size, plate size, and bread size increased dramatically over the last... Read more
Bruno Bettelheim on fairy tales and children: There is a widespread refusal to let children know that the source of much that goes wrong in life is due to our very own natures–the propensity of all men for acting aggressively, asocially, selfishly, out of anger and anxiety. Instead, we want our children to believe that, inherently, all men are good. But children know that they are not always good…. Contrary to what takes place in many modern children’s stories, in... Read more
Almost every American who owned a television from the late 1960s to the early 1980s has watched an episode of Gilligan’s Island. And if you were a child during that era—in a time before cable and console video games—you probably watched all 98 episodes more than once. It shames me to consider it now, but I suspect I’ve seen each episode at least a half dozen times—over 8,000 hours engaged with this single cultural artifact. Even more embarrassing is the that... Read more
“Perhaps when we think we are criticizing the narrow thinking of others,” says Timothy Larsen, “we are sometimes really just exposing the narrowness of perception of our past selves. My students are often Christians who are old enough to mock mercilessly the people that gave of their time sacrificially to disciple them when they were young but who are not yet mature enough to be able to disciple others. I often find them quick-off-the-draw-ready with a forceful and sophisticated critique... Read more
After reading this, I don’t think I’ll be shaking hands with doctors anymore: Hand hygiene and sterile technique are so successfully maintained in operating rooms not because of the reminders that hang over scrub sinks, but because it is part of the culture and identity of those who work there. No self-respecting surgeon, nurse, anesthesiologist or technician would ever dream of breaching those sterile protocols in the surgical suites. Or of allowing any deviation from the aseptic norms to simply pass.... Read more
Joe Carter
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