Over at The Curator, Seth Morgan is hunting complexity: What lies beyond us, creeping at the edge of our understanding—the infinite—is not just space, not just the expanse of time. It is complexity. And it is everywhere apparent. The more you look, the more there is. The deeper you go, the deeper it is. It may be that my dreaming mind is haunted by this insight: no reality exists but what is backed by intricate mystery. In every dream I’m breathless. Sometimes... Read more
At her blog, Amy Julia Becker looks at why Christians ought to read non-Christian novels: In spending time with these fictional people, Lamb succeeded in humanizing individuals who might otherwise have remained a “type” –whether the lesbian artist, the sexual predator, the liberal social activist, or the evangelical from Texas. And in feeling some degree of empathy and understanding with each of them, this novel succeeded in humanizing me a little bit, reminding me of the humanity I share with... Read more
There’s always a few people who think that God doesn’t show up on TV at all – but lately he’s everywhere, and especially, it turns out, on dark TV dramas. (Who would have guessed it?) Here’s The AV Club (definitely not a Christian source) pointing this out: What makes the emergence of faith and religion as a thematic device in The Americans, Hannibal, and Fargo so interesting, however, is that these themes were far more than incidental coloring around the edges of the story. They... Read more
In the Center for Public Justice’s Capitol Commentary, Matthew Kaemingk looks at the importance of pubs and coffeehouses for democracy and community: Democratic theorists lament that too many Americans now exclusively receive their political news and analysis through ideologically narrow sources. As Americans continue to construct tighter and tighter ideological echo chambers for themselves, many wonder how a nation so divided will ever sustain a common civic discourse across their differences. While they can’t solve the problem entirely, few public spaces in... Read more
Maybe you saw the new costume drama Belle, which looks at issues of race and class during the time just before slavery was abolished in Great Britain. But what you might have missed (I certainly did) was how much the filmmakers left out – especially about the real abolitionists, and how they were motivated by faith: Let’s be fair: Plenty of apologists beat the drum of Christian history simply to make noise. And certainly, entire cultures have never had institutionalized slavery and have also... Read more
Borrowing a phrase from Star Trek’s Vulcans, I would ask: Do you want to live long and prosper? If your answer is “yes,” then you’d do well to pay attention to new research on flourishing in old age. Paula Span, in her New York Times article, “Living on Purpose,” summarizes recent research that connects long and healthy life with having a purpose for living. What counts as a purpose? To psychologists, “purpose reflects a commitment to broader life goals that... Read more
Here’s an interesting question: what’s lost as handwriting declines in our increasingly digital age? But psychologists and neuroscientists say it is far too soon to declare handwriting a relic of the past. New evidence suggests that the links between handwriting and broader educational development run deep. Children not only learn to read more quickly when they first learn to write by hand, but they also remain better able to generate ideas and retain information. In other words, it’s not just... Read more
As a professor at a Christian college, I often encounter students who are wondering if they need to start a nonprofit or ministry in order to do good in the world. They’re worried that working at or starting a for-profit enterprise is really just a way to make money, but won’t make a difference in the world. So this week over at QIdeas we’ve been trying to answer that question – can corporate profits help communities thrive? – with some... Read more
Over at The High Calling, Charity Singleton Craig writes about what we can learn from when Paul’s plans got put on hold: In my life, seeing my talents and dreams line up has felt more like Paul’s desire to go to Spain and preach the gospel where it hadn’t already been announced. For years he tried to make the trip, and he was delayed in every way, including a long imprisonment in Rome. Like Paul, I’ve known the exhilaration of a... Read more
Following the tragedy in California last week, Alan Noble wrote about “the unattainable good life of Elliot Rodger” over at Christ & Pop Culture: In his final video, Elliot rants about how the crime he’s about to commit is right and good because he was denied the Good Life that other people got to experience. His definition of the Good Life revolves almost entirely around sex. He talks of loneliness and his desire for affection, but what haunts him most is... Read more
Mark D. Roberts
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