By Dylan Pahman According to ancient legend, Sisyphus was punished by the gods for his craftiness in life. “Sisyphus is punished in Hades,” writes the historian and mythographer Apollodorus, “by rolling a stone with his hands and head in the effort to heave it over the top [of a hill]; but push it as he will, it rebounds backward.” Due to the toilsome nature of his punishment, Sisyphus became a symbol of every futile labor, the implication being that such repetitive, unproductive... Read more
By Elise Hilton I’ve been following an interesting discussion at NRT, a Christian music website, regarding whether an artist is “really” Christian or not. NRT, on its Facebook page, had announced that singer Audrey Assad, known for her hauntingly beautiful Christian music, had made the decision to go mainstream. She gave her reasoning on her own blog. NRT had also commented on the band Switchfoot, who announced they’d be touring with Michael Gungor. Gungor is rather “notorious” in some Christian circles for stating... Read more
By Joseph Sunde One of the primary themes in the Acton Institute’s new series, For the Life of the World, is the notion that “all is gift” — that we were created to be gift-givers, and that through the atoning power of Jesus Christ, we are empowered to render our activities, nay, our very lives to God and those around us. As Evan Koons explains at the end of Episode 1: “All our work in this world is made of stuff of the earth — our... Read more
By Jordan Ballor In his reflections on art and common grace, Abraham Kuyper affirmed that “the world of beauty that does in fact exist can have originated nowhere else than in the creation of God. The world of beauty was thus conceived by God, determined by his decree, called into being by him, and is maintained by him.” Beauty is, in this deep sense, a creational good, and even though beauty is often pressed into the service of evil, beauty, like all good things, is a... Read more
By Joseph Sunde Teaching our children about the value and virtues of hard work and sound stewardship is an important part of parenting, and in a privileged age where opportunity and prosperity sometimes come rather easily, such lessons can be hard to come by. In an effort to instill such virtues in my own young children, I’ve taken to a variety of methods, from stories to chores to games, and so on. But one such avenue that’s proven particularly effective has been taking in... Read more
By Elise Hilton I was transfixed by this video the other day. The simplicity of the video itself, the careful, skillful work, the lovely hands of a master at work – all brought to mind the goodness of work and creation that God granted to us. St. John Paul II, in his encyclical Laborem Exercens (On Human Work) says this: It is not only good in the sense that it is useful or something to enjoy; it is also good as being... Read more
By Jordan Ballor In his review of Hunter Baker’s latest book, The System Has a Soul, Doug Wilson picks up on the allusion in the title. And in his introduction to For The Life of the World, Stephen Grabill makes explicit use of this metaphor for the relationship between Christians and society as found in the patristic Letter to Diognetus: To put it simply: What the soul is in the body, that Christians are in the world. The soul is dispersed through all the members of the... Read more
By Evan Koons Dear Sir or Madam, Congratulations! I’d like to formally acknowledge your enrollment in, and welcome you to, The School of Love—or “Your Family” as it as commonly known. Please forgive our tardiness in sending you this letter. I’ve been working to send this notification to upwards of six billion people and I’m slightly understaffed. As you are well aware, perhaps by those with whom you kept company today, you have been a student of this School of Love... Read more
By Joseph Sunde In “Scholastica II,” a convocation address delivered to Amsterdam’s Free University in 1900 (now translated under the title, Scholarship), Abraham Kuyper explores the ultimate goal of “genuine study,” asking, “Is it to seek or find?” Alluding to academics who search for the sake of searching, Kuyper concludes that “seeking should be in the service of finding” and that “the ultimate purpose of seeking is finding.” “The shepherd who had lost his sheep did not rejoice in searching for it but... Read more
By Jordan Ballor At the conclusion of the English translation of Niels Hemmingsen’s The Way of Life (1578) (Latin: Via Vitae) is a series of short prayers. The selection includes one “for the aid of God in the needful businesses of our vocation.” The (modernized) text reads: “Give me understanding, O Lord, and assist my endeavors, that I may faithfully and diligently perform the works of my vocation, to the glory of your name, the edification of your church, and the commodity of my neighbor.” Hemmingsen was... Read more
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