Christianity and the sciences have fallen on hard times in the last century and a quarter or so. Gone are the days when Henry Drummond openly celebrated the theory of evolution as the Theistic alternative to Spontaneous generation, or Cotton Mather rejoiced in Isaac Newton as the great expounder of God’s governance of the universe. And yet, Christians are still obligated to explore and participate in the sciences. That such has fallen on hard times is no excuse. To help us do... Read more
How should Christians live in the modern world? This is of course not a new question–God’s people have been asking that for as long as He has been calling us out from the world to live as His chosen people. And while Christians have always debated the best way to answer that question, the modern era is somewhat unique in failing to search the past for wisdom in answering this question. Carl Trueman wants to set us right on this... Read more
In the middle of the 20th century, an ongoing concern of science fiction writers (and others too, of course) was the question of how to raise a generation of people as tough and clever and successful as the Greatest Generation had been without the pesky formative influences of a Great Depression and a World War 2. Robert Heinlein’s young adult books explore this from various perspectives, and his excellent little book Citizen of the Galaxy is a solid example of this.... Read more
You’d think that when a theologian passes away, their scholarly output would cease. And yet here we are with another new book from J.I. Packer, Proclaiming Christ in a Pluralistic Age. To be fair, this book is a compilation of lectures from 1978, so in that sense it’s not exactly “new.” And yet, it’s also fresh and timely (as we would expect from Packer). Striking directly at what he sees as the theological temptations of his own day, what were “temptations”... Read more
How should Christians engage with modern American entertainment culture? Robust thinking about this topic has been a staple of the Christian world for the last half century, and an important classic contribution to the topic was Kenneth Myers’ All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes. Myers’ 1989 reflection provides a great starting point for Christians who want to think about the topic–though it may not be the best place to stop. While Myers’ argument is too complex to engage in full... Read more
The Academy of Country Music Awards show last night on Amazon was a pageant of contemporary stars, new music, aged icons, pop stars, football players, and classic Country. (FYI Prime was not required to watch the show live last night, but it might be now?) In my description of what was obviously an eclectic mix, don’t hear that this was a show dedicated to the pop-driven components of contemporary Country music that you might be used to if you listen... Read more
Just what is the mission of the church? This is at the same time a simple and complex question that Christians have been debating for two millennia–with an especially intense period of discussion taking place in the 19th Century American Presbyterian world. In this debate, with theologian Charles Hodge at its center, even the idea that the church’s mission is spiritual was an object of contention. Alan Strange’s new book Empowered Witness; Politics, Culture, and the Mission of the Church is a... Read more
It’s always interesting to go back to books you read in the past and judge whether or not they’re any good–which of course is really judging whether past you had good taste relative to present you. In high school, I pulled the book The Sword of Winter by Marta Randall off my grandparents’ bookshelf and read it through. I remember enjoying it quite a bit, but not enough to send me on a deep dive into the fantasy genre (though enough... Read more
In what probably won’t (but easily could) be a series on how Science Fiction so often accurately predicts the future, a previous post noted that Sci-Fi anticipated our current conversations about gender and sex. This review is about a book that anticipated modern discussions about language. I realize that most of these discussions were taking place among academics and largely involved conversations about postmodernism vs classical ideas, and mostly passed by the man on the street (and good riddance, for... Read more
Samuel James isn’t offering anything new (the best books don’t), but he brings together a wide variety of ideas and reflections into one devastating conclusion in his new book Digital Liturgies: Rediscovering Christian Wisdom in an Online Age. At the heart of this book are two claims: “First, the Bible lays out the wisdom we need to live faithfully and fruitfully before our Creator. Second, the internet is an epistemological and moral habitat that makes such wisdom seem like foolishness. By... Read more
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