One Christian’s perspective on the day’s news: 1. I don’t think it’s alarmist to say that something is afoot. Yesterday I noted all of the news regarding terror arrests, terror threats, and terrorist videos. Today more news arrives: a 19-year-old Jordanian was arrested for a plot to explode a Dallas skyscraper, an Illinois man known both as Michael Finton and Talib Islam was charged for a plot to bomb federal offices, and two suspects in North Carolina (Daniel Patrick Boyd... Read more
Today I’m beginning a new feature at this blog: the Blogopticon, which surveys a number of top (and also some lesser-known) blogs in search of the most interesting blog entry on that particular day. So you can come here and find some of the most edifying, inspiring or challenging reflections being made on the internet that day by believers (and perhaps some non-believers). Today’s selection comes from The Church and Postmodern Culture, a blog known for innovative and highly intelligent... Read more
One Christian’s perspective on the day’s news: 1. For those who are guiding children toward college, or interested in the best way to do so, Thomas Sowell has a nice article with some direction on how to find the right college. The rankings one finds in a place like US News and World Report are not meaningless, but they have very little to do with the quality of the experience the student will have. I should add, however, that college... Read more
One Christian’s Perspective on the Day’s News 1. BURNED ALIVE TO BORN AGAIN. Many are familiar with this picture, where children and villagers, followed by South Vietnamese soldiers, run down a road after an aerial napalm attack. Her clothes were burned off by fire, and the damage caused by the napalm led her to fourteen months in the hospital and 17 operations. It would have been worse if a soldier, moments after the photograph was taken (one hopes that photographer... Read more
I will not be able to file a daily report today, alas, but in lieu of a report I want to offer the following: First, at the Evangelical Portal at Patheos we are discussing God and the environment. Along those lines, Scott Sabin, Executive Director of Floresta, a development and deforestation organization, reports on the economic devastation that environmental change has brought to the poorest of the poor. A sobering piece and well worth reading, especially for those who are... Read more
1. THE FIRST TESTAMENT. If you’re interested in better understanding the Old Testament, that strange collection of books and poems and prophecies, filled with stories of wily characters like Jacob, swift-running old men like Elijah and whip-smart women like Esther, then you should be interested in John Goldingay’s three-volume series, a “truly magnum magnum opus.” The final volume is soon to be released; you can find excerpts here (some good stuff there), and a collection of the rave reviews. I... Read more
One Christian’s perspective on the day’s news: 1. PHILOSOPHIA THEISTI. I have just discovered some of the great material that Philosophia Christi makes available online. Philosophia Christi is, much as it sounds, a journal of philosophy that is informed and shaped by Christian conviction. Much of the material within it could be classified as apologetic, but not all of it. (Thus, for instance, there is a review of Bill Maher’s Religulous). But I thought I would highlight one piece today,... Read more
We’ve got an excellent new article up at the Evangelical Portal at Patheos. A California surfer reflects on encountering God in the water, and the need to preserve God’s creation for the witness it gives. It begins: As a surfer, some of the most profoundly connective experiences I have had to God have come in the water. For me, the best time to surf is at sunset, often referred to as an “evening glass-off” session in southern California. At sunset... Read more
One Christian’s perspective on the day’s news: 1. INSIDE THE TOWERS. I neglected to mention this on the anniversary of 9/11. But here is a gripping, astonishing account of one person’s experience inside (and getting out of) one of the World Trade Center towers on that horrible day. This included many aspects of what went on inside the buildings–such as fireballs rolling down elevator shafts and blasting out the bottom–that I had not been aware of. Amazing stuff. Speaking of... Read more
One Christian’s perspective on the day’s news. (And please take “morning” in a metaphorical sense today.) 1. FREE THEOLOGY. The Evangelical Portal at Patheos has developed (and is still developing) a relationship with Reclaiming the Mind Ministries, which offers an excellent blog called Parchment and Pen, a weekly podcast, and more. But the center of their ministry is the Theology Program, which provides seminary-quality instruction in theology for laypeople and clergy. It has been a huge success, and I love... Read more
Philosophical Fragments
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In