By: Jon Spellman on April 17, 2015
“Let us assume the best of intentions. Christians today— of whatever stripe— sincerely want to engage the world for good. As we have seen, though, Christians have embraced strategies that are, by design, incapable of bringing about the ends to which they aspire.”1 This statement gives voice to a nagging concern I have had a…
By: Dawnel Volzke on April 17, 2015
“To be Christian is to be obliged to engage the world, pursuing God’s restorative purposes over all of life, individual and corporate, public and private. This is the mandate of creation.”[1] How to change the word is a question that man has been trying to answer since the time of Adam and Eve. Hunter, in…
By: Mary Pandiani on April 16, 2015
Early on in our DMin program, Jason proclaimed that we would become better critical thinkers. As critical thinkers, we have the capacity to understand the obvious and nuances that books, lectures, sermons, and research provide us. James Davison Hunter’s book To Change the World, ironic and provocative at the same time, speaks to thinking more…
By: Nick Martineau on April 16, 2015
I thoroughly enjoyed James Davison Hunter’s book To Change The World. This is one of those books I’ll be diving more deeply into one day when all my other writing and reading slows down. Whereas last week Douthat was encouraging culture change in his book through getting back to orthodox theological roots. According to Hunter,…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on April 16, 2015
Sober Judgment I woke up this morning in the city of Chicago to the headline of a free weekly newspaper: “The people of Chicago (and $26 million) have spoken.”[1] The headline is for an article on Rahm Emanuel’s reelection as the Mayor of Chicago. The article describes the power amassed by Emanuel that allowed him…
By: Dave Young on April 14, 2015
My previous post said “Bad Religion” is my favorite book this term; James Davidson Hunter’s “To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, & Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World” is a close second. My affection for Hunter’s book isn’t because I’m wholeheartedly agreeing with his views on culture or cultural change, but because…
By: Brian Yost on April 14, 2015
In his book To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World, James Davison Hunter does a great job of pointing out the utter futility in daring to dream that we can change the world for Christ. He looks at many of the strategies that have been or…
By: Travis Biglow on April 12, 2015
Bad Religion and the Prosperity Gospel April 11, 15 While I am not totally against the message of prosperity through faith, I want to clarify I am not a Word of Faith minister or any of those main stream movements that advocate this totally luxurious life style. I do believe that, as a child of…
By: Dawnel Volzke on April 10, 2015
Trends, politics, and economics all impact the way that society views Christianity. Ross Douthat, in his book Bad Religion, asserts that everyone is religious and this has been a driving influence in the churches ability to flourish across time and cultural shifts. While the church has flourished, it is this same climate that has introduced…
By: Jon Spellman on April 10, 2015
Heretic – “A person holding an opinion at odds with what is generally accepted” (Google). Ross Douthat forwards the position that we (Americans) have become a collection of heretics. While I generally agree with the observations found in the book, and find myself often lamenting (all of us in this class have really…) the condition…
By: Mary Pandiani on April 9, 2015
On Easter evening with family gathered round, we played some board games. A new one was introduced to me called Snake Oil. The goal of the game is to sell (outlandishly, mind you) the customer an item that will be necessary in his/her line of work (i.e. alien, cowboy, belly dancer, etc). Out of a…
By: Nick Martineau on April 9, 2015
I’ve been meeting weekly with a guy that is having trouble believing in Jesus. This past week we went to lunch and while talking he started to cry and the heart issues started to surface. He opened up about how his dad was a pastor, his parents got divorced, and after the divorce he moved…
By: Dave Young on April 8, 2015
In my view, books like “Spirit of the Cities” and “The Bible, Justice and Public Theology” don’t offer a clear vision for the role of public theology. But with the reading of Ross Douthat’s Bad Religion: How we became a Nation of Heretics[1], I can envision the robust and essential role of the public theology.…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on April 8, 2015
The Church seems to be loosing its voice. The message of Christ and the Church appear to be lacking relevance in much of today’s Western culture. As Ross Douthat describes the American spiritual climate in his book, Bad Religion, “… both the populists and the intellectuals … share the same basic…
By: Brian Yost on April 6, 2015
In the book, Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, Ross Gregory Douthat traces the degradation of Christian religion in America through the decades following the Second World War. He challenges the idea that we are no longer a religious nation or a non-religious society and points out that, “America’s problem isn’t too…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on March 27, 2015
There has been an accident. The Church has crashed. Reports have it . . . the Church fell asleep at the wheel. Due to a mixture of loosely monitored motives, a relativistic lens on happiness and life satisfaction, and a whole lot of sin . . . the Church has dosed off and drifted off…
By: Dawnel Volzke on March 20, 2015
Religion, as a consumable, shouldn’t come as a surprise given that we are living in a consumer driven society. Yet, I believe that people have become so acustomed to this way of life that they fail to see the dangers within the walls of the church. Miller’s book, Consuming Religion, examines the consumer driven culture…
By: Brian Yost on March 19, 2015
The books Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture by Vincent Jude Miller and Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire by William T. Cavanaugh did a great job of cutting to the heart of consumerism. It is easy to miss the key issues related to consumerism and revert to redirecting blame. The…
By: Jon Spellman on March 19, 2015
Commodification Commodification – “To turn into a commodity; make commercial; to treat as if a commodity.”1 I would like to expand this definition just a bit, not alter it, just expand it. Commodification – “To make something (or someone), not originally intended to be bought or sold, into an item to be exploited, used…
By: Nick Martineau on March 19, 2015
For my end of the semester research project I’ve been reading and writing about how the world has been skewing our view of true leadership. Miller and Cavanaugh helped me see that consumerism has played a pivotal role. Consider this…Who would write, let alone read, a book about a stable, small company providing useful service…
