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: Deve Persad on April 16, 2015
“What is truth?” that was the sharp reply given by Pilate, the highest authority in the city, to the prisoner that stood before him, Jesus. Pilate’s inner dilemma and outward declaration reveals a battleground that continues to this day (John 18:28-19:22). In the words of William Raeper and Linda Edwards in their book, A Brief…
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: Liz Linssen on April 16, 2015
“Knowing God is not like knowing an object in the world and so, to know God, human beings have to go beyond the rational through a ‘leap of faith’ into believing something objectively uncertain.” [i] Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Kant, Sartre, Aquinas and many other great men have all spent their lives pondering the great philosophical questions…
By: John Woodward on April 16, 2015
I heard an ad on NPR the other day that confused me. It began by asking if you were tired of all the politics and opinions that you hear on the radio. If so, they had the cure: Listen to Science Friday where, for one hour a week, you could listen to “facts.” Science, they…
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: Carol McLaughlin on April 12, 2015
I’d like to introduce you to my friend. So begins the right of introduction. Depending upon the circumstances and situation a handshake may be exchanged; depending upon the culture the handshake may be replaced with a bow. Names become known and inferably the question is asked, “What do you do?” This is not only a…
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: rhbaker275 on April 11, 2015
In July of 2012, the Evangelical Alliance in the UK (United Kingdom) released the fourth in a series of survey documents on “21st Century Evangelicals: A Snapshot of the Beliefs and Habits of Evangelical Christians in the UK.” The focus of the fourth survey was on the question, “The World on our doorstep? Are we…
By: Michael Badriaki on April 11, 2015
Lewis, Donald M. and Richard V. Pierard’s book Global Evangelicalism: Theology, History, and Culture in Regional Perspective, provides an impressive and detailed account of modern global evangelicalism. The authors explain the historical, cultural and theologically complexities of the evangelical movement. The volume is divided up into three major sections. According to the authorship: The…
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: Stefania Tarasut on April 10, 2015
I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about the Gospel and what it means to be lived out. As I look around my community I notice more and more that we’ve lost the simplicity, the purity, the joy and the power that comes through building our lives on the Gospel. We’ve complicated things so…
By: Julie Dodge on April 10, 2015
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And…
By: Mitch Arbelaez on April 10, 2015
I have found the topic of globalization fascinating. Why? Because globalization has many effects, but one of the most important is the dramatic increase in the opportunity and need to interact with people who are culturally different from ourselves.[1] With me writing, or will soon be writing, a dissertation about cultural intelligence and the need for…
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: Richard Volzke on April 10, 2015
Reading Lewis and Pierard’s book, Global Evangelicalism: Theology, History and Culture in Regional Perspective, reminded me of the training I received as a missionary. I was involved in a project to translate outreach and training materials into the native language of the countries that the mission was working in. The project was being implemented on…
By: Liz Linssen on April 9, 2015
Prior to emigrating to South Korea, I had very little opportunity to gain ministry experience. Although I had studied Theology up to Master’s level, my opportunities for ministry remained limited to what they were prior to ministry training: helping to lead worship and teaching children the Scriptures. As much as I enjoyed these opportunities for…
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: Deve Persad on April 9, 2015
The teaching of math has been a source of frustration for me over the course of this year; well it’s probably been growing for the last few years, but this year it seems almost inescapable. Teachers are telling students to memorize and to download apps in order to solve equations. They are not challenging students…
