One of my dear colleagues in the Patheos universe is Star Foster, the managing editor of the Pagan Channel. I first met Star, who lives in Georgia, when we were flying out to Denver for meetings at Patheos headquarters. I later discovered that the other Patheos folks were waiting with bated breath to hear how it would go. How would an evangelical and a Pagan, who have never met before, do on a hours-long trip to Denver by air and... Read more
Many thanks to Anthony Gill, producer of the Research on Religion podcast, for an enjoyable conversation. I had seen Dr Gill interview various Patheos authors, including folks like Bradley Wright and Thomas Kidd. I accept that, as someone who left academia, I don’t quite fit fully as a “media” person and yet I no longer quite fit as an academic. So it was nice to get to talk with Tony, who walks through my own story, my experience of sports... Read more
In the first part of this series, published earlier today, I recounted how Christianity Today published an investigative report concerning David Jang, a Korean pastor with great influence in Asian Christian circles and growing influence in American Christian circles as well. The extensively researched and meticulously detailed article examined Jang’s past, the alleged prevalence of an eschatology that saw David Jang as a “Second Coming Christ” who would complete the work of redemption, and the growth of many organizations affiliated... Read more
One of the more enjoyable facts about my present job is that I can, from my perch here at Patheos, see a fairly broad range of what’s going on in the world of Christian media. And lately, strange things have been afoot. No one seems to know quite what to do or say about it. Everyone seems to be waiting for the next shoe to drop. But let me see if I can explain what’s been going on and provide... Read more
Shortly after I posted a piece that was critical of others who had lumped Terry Jones (and by extension, fairly or not, American evangelicals) into the fray over “The Innocence of Muslims” and the fury it awakened, a particularly astute reader (ahem, my brother) pointed to a new piece in The Atlantic suggesting that Sam Bacile may be a whiff of imagination, a “disinformation campaign” meant to conceal the true creators of the film and presumably protect them from any retribution. Jeffrey... Read more
American media reported that Jeremy Lin shared his testimony during his recent visit to Taiwan, but I couldn’t find a link. Today a friend, George Chong, sent me a link to a non-searchable video on YouTube that shows the testimony. I think you’ll enjoy it. Skip to 1:05:26: Several things stand out to me: One of the points I stressed in my book, and one of the points Jeremy stresses here, is that Jeremy was not a good practice player... Read more
As most of my readers will already know, anti-American protests have erupted in Egypt, Libya and elsewhere, sparked by a low-budget film called “The Innocence of Muslims,” which was produced by Israeli-American real estate developer Sam Bacile to show the “hypocrisies” of Islam. The protests in Libya led to the death of the American ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, as well as three others, including two Marines. The ambassador’s body was paraded around by the rioters, in what has become... Read more
Joyce and I drove from Princeton to Cape May on February 15th, 2000, in the midst of a lashing rainstorm. Crossing through the pine barrens of New Jersey is not the most pleasant drive in the first place, but the rain made it worse for me, as I had planned to propose to my girlfriend on the shore at sunset. I didn’t want one of those Rube Goldberg proposals that involve elaborate plots and a series of hints, as though... Read more
Jonathan Bock, founder and head of Grace Hill Media, created As1, which seeks to coordinate the power of the Christian audience in order to reward and encourage more entertainment — films and television shows especially — that reflects the things Christians care about. I’m posted before about why I like As1, and why I appreciate this and other efforts to make the Christian Church once again one of the great patrons of the arts. So here is a guest post... Read more
This is pure Jeremy Lin — the goofy sense of humor, the pure love for the game, the good-natured appreciation for the fans. This is why I really like the guy: As most readers of this blog will know, I wrote a book on Jeremy, his journey and his faith. Hopefully the Taiwanese version is selling well while Jeremy is over there! You’ll also see the good-heartedness in the fact that he arranged a Skype conversation with a five-year-old who... Read more
Philosophical Fragments
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