It’s been 14 years since 9-11, that day that changed (in many ways) marked a dramatic shift in recent history and that altered (in many ways) our lives. The terrorist attacks were both a direct assault on the lives of Americans on our own soil and an assault on our culture and symbolic life. They created in many of us an unprecedented willingness to exchange some of our taken-for-granted freedoms for the promise of security. People like to say... Read more
I’ve been reading through Alasdair MacIntyre’s A History of Ethics. It’s an older text (1966) and not as well-known as After Virtue, but I’ve found it to be an enjoyable and illuminating guidebook through the various formulations of moral philosophy, from the “Homeric age to the twentieth century” (as the subtitle says). In the chapter on Christianity, he suggests that, when Christianity came onto the scene, it did not so much as add anything new to the moral/ethical theories, concepts,... Read more
When the Ashley Madison hack happened, one of the first articles I read about it predicted that some people who had been exposed in the leak would attempt or complete suicide. We have already heard reports that confirm this prediction. Today it has been announced that John Gibson, a pastor and Southern Baptist seminary professor (New Orleans Baptist Seminary), took his own life after having been exposed by the hack. CNN reports that his wife, Christi, discovered his body as... Read more
This post is a contribution to the Patheos Book Club discussion of Curt Thompson’s The Soul of Shame. A lot of people are talking about shame these days. As liberated, progressive, and open-minded as we in the modern west imagine ourselves to be (and prove ourselves to be in many ways), contemporary culture seems like fertile soil for shame–and for shaming. Children and college students all over the country are heading back to school. Now there’s an experience that is... Read more
A US district judge has recently ordered that Kim Davis be released from prison, according to a CNN report. She will not be free, however, to interfere with the issuing of marriage licenses. It’s now widely known that, with her absence, marriage license are being indiscriminately granted in Rowan County–in accord with the new law of the land. It is a good thing that the judge has ordered her release. First of all, most people did not want her to be in... Read more
A few days ago, Garrett Gilkey, NFL lineman (Tampa Bay Bucs), published an essay in which he reflected on his recent season-ending knee injury. It was a heartflelt, theological meditation on finding meaning in suffering. It was published on the Desiring God website, so that should clue you in to his theological perspective. Gilkey begins with this: Last night, I bolted onto the football field to face the Miami Dolphins. I was eager, surging with life, energy, and strength. It was the last... Read more
Sarah Palin recently weighed in on Donald Trump’s criticism of Jeb Bush for speaking Spanish (or in Trump terminology, “Mexican”) too fluently and frequently. On the one hand, it’s great that Bush can speak fluent Spanish, she said. On the other hand, we need to be sure to send the right message. As the Guardian has it: I think we can send a message and say: ‘You want to be in America? A, you better be here legally, or you’re... Read more
My former employer, Bethel University, is putting on what promises to be a terrific conference on November 6-7: Summit on Human Nature: The Science of Morality and Spirituality This is cutting edge stuff–and is geared for pastors and interested laypeople. So, this won’t be one of those academic conferences where researches talk to each other in obscure parochial language about their research. Rather, they’ll be sharing what they see as the most pertinent, digestible insights from their work as they... Read more
If you suddenly had over two billion dollars, would it make you sad? An article came out recently, with this alluring title: “‘I’ve never felt more isolated’: The man who sold Minecraft to Microsoft for $2.5 billion reveals the empty side of success.” The author re-posted a string of tweets by Marcus Persson, Minecraft founder, who sold his company last year and made a gazillion dollars. Go to the article for the tweets (or follow him on Twitter), but this... Read more
Those following the unfolding crisis within the CCCU (Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities) will likely have heard that a second school, Oklahoma Wesleyan University, has now withdrawn–following the lead of Union University, a Southern Baptist institution. This was not a surprise, since OWU’s president, Everett Piper, has been one of the outspoken voices–expressing his disapproval over the CCCU’s “failure” to act swiftly and decisively in response to a bold change by two member schools, Goshen University and Eastern Mennonite... Read more
Unsystematic Theology
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