By: Glyn Barrett on September 3, 2024
King Charles III’s coronation took place on May 6, 2023, at Westminster Abbey in London. The ceremony was rich in tradition and deeply rooted in the bible. Central to the service was the anointing with holy oil, symbolising divine approval and consecration, echoing the anointing of kings in the Bible, such as King Solomon. The…
By: Jeff Styer on September 2, 2024
N. T. Wright and Michael Bird’s Jesus and the Powers book is so timely for our cohort.[1] We are preparing to visit Washington DC, the United States’ seat of power, in the middle of a highly contested political campaign season. There are many topics in this book that are worth discussing but I want to…
By: Christy on September 2, 2024
My mother immigrated from Japan to the United States when she was 18 years old. She knew very little English but enrolled in a university and managed to graduate with a degree in mathematics. She met my father, married, and later became a United States citizen. Two of my four closest colleagues immigrated to the…
By: Julie O'Hara on August 29, 2024
What I knew about Israel before 7th October, and what it was based upon. Before October 7th, 2023, I knew shockingly little compared to what I thought I knew. A few months ago, my sister asked me about the situation in Israel. She wanted to know why there had been conflict in the region for…
By: Daren Jaime on August 29, 2024
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has long been a source of contention and debate since I remember. Israel was introduced onto my radar in my youth as the epicenter of Jewish history and culture. We were indoctrinated into looking upon Israel as the chosen people of God, and I vividly recall teachers and those within my community…
By: Shela Sullivan on August 29, 2024
Introduction The book, The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict provides an in-depth analysis of one of the most enduring and intricate conflicts in modern history. Martin Bunton, a historian with expertise in Middle Eastern studies, approaches the subject with balance, exploring its historical, political, and social dimensions.[1] What did you know about Israel before 7th October, and what…
By: Elysse Burns on August 29, 2024
What did I know before? Israel has been an oft-addressed topic in my family and church community for as long as I can remember. It was and remains the focus of many eschatological discussions. My father, a pastor, usually has stacks of Zion’s Fire magazines and Chosen People Ministries’ updates scattered throughout his office. In…
By: Christy on August 29, 2024
Prior to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, my understanding of the Israel-Middle east conflict was limited to casual and sporadic bits of information spread throughout my life. I have vague composite memories of car bombings and other attacks playing on the evening news throughout my childhood. Growing up in a conservative Christian…
By: Jennifer Eckert on August 28, 2024
What I knew about Israel before the 7th of October, and what was that based upon? Before the tragic terrorist attack on October 7th perpetrated by Hamas against Israeli civilians, I had gained a fair amount of knowledge about Israel and the enduring conflicts over territory and religious ideologies. My understanding came from various sources,…
By: Debbie Owen on August 28, 2024
Large-scale human conflicts (and many small-scale conflicts) inevitably arise around concepts of ownership: “This is mine…” This desire for ownership could be about land, or water, or antiquities, or a variety of other tangible objects. But what is at the heart of the concept of “Mine!”? It’s a fear of loss. But when we dig…
By: Adam Cheney on August 28, 2024
Previous knowledge of the Israel conflict I grew up in a church that held to a traditional Zionist perspective when it came to Israel. Essentially, the return of the modern nation-state of Israel was the fulfillment of a prophecy that was going to usher in the Apocalypse. This might be overstated and simplified a bit.…
By: Ryan Thorson on August 28, 2024
“I can’t believe I am here again!” I stared across the Holy City of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. This special and remarkable place that I had visited now three times, forever etched in my mind, and a place I think of longingly almost every day I’m away. Below me the white sepulchers of…
By: Graham English on August 28, 2024
In The Palestine-Israeli Conflict- A Very Short Introduction, Martin Bunton traces the tumultuous recent history between Israel and Palestine. Bunton reduces this conflict to a struggle between two nations over land.[1] In my journey to this region, the conflict was palpable, and I was struck by the irony of the prevalence of conflict in “The…
By: Joel Zantingh on August 28, 2024
By breaking down the history into four historical periods, The Ottoman, The British, The Palestinian (partition), and the American eras of war and international involvement, Martin Bunton helps us see a snapshot of these important periods in an even-longer conflicting story spanning millennia. And even though this was published over a decade ago, I still…
By: Diane Tuttle on August 26, 2024
Canadian History Professor, Martin Bunton chronicled the last 120 years of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in his book The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, A Very Short Introduction.[1] While far from exhaustive of the thousands of years that the conflict has been raging, the book gave me a better understanding of many of the struggles in the area and…
By: Jeff Styer on August 26, 2024
Without really knowing why I remember growing up hearing people say that there will never be peace in the Middle East. I knew that Israel as a nation was re-established after WWII and that there had been conflict over the years that resulted from the Promised Land being given back to Israel. I heard terms…
By: Akwese on April 18, 2024
I’ve been thinking a lot about the process (i.e., the time and energy) it takes to create routines that sustain positive change in our lives. This semester, we’ve been reading various books that offer some helpful insight; however, just because we’ve gained new knowledge doesn’t mean we’ve been able to apply it as wisdom in…
By: Christy on April 18, 2024
This has been an intense week. After a long week at work and the end-of-semester writing assignments, I was grateful to have a light, enjoyable, and practical reading. The general idea behind Clear Thinking is that our subconscious responses are often counter to our better judgment.[1] Parrish uses the first half of his book to…
By: Julie O'Hara on April 18, 2024
I was not very far into Clear Thinking by Shane Parrish and it felt familiar. The premise of the book is to distill the best of research and wisdom about thinking into action steps leading to repeatable results.[1] The method is to make small decisions along the way which enable people to be in good…
By: Jennifer Eckert on April 18, 2024
All the books we have been reading lately about thinking… really have me thinking! I love dogs, but how much DNA could I possibly have in common with my brute-force 117-pound Bernese Mountain pup? The answer is a surprising 84 percent.[1] In the opening pages of his book, Clear Thinking, author Shane Parrish acknowledges that…
