By: Chad McSwain on April 14, 2024
“No one ever asks me about my sex life.” I have quipped on more than one occasion at my church. Interesting conversation to be having at church, you might think. You would be right. This is a sign of the times, if you will. Sexuality is a topic of conversation in the denomination I serve,…
By: Tonette Kellett on April 14, 2024
Introduction Our readings this week were two-fold by Carl Trueman. The first book I read through was The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution. [1] This was an exhaustive look at the sexual revolution, going back not merely to the 1960s but over two hundred…
By: Mathieu Yuill on April 14, 2024
In Toronto, Canada, a pastor with a compelling backstory and distinctive style—tattoos visible and all—captured the hearts and minds of many by founding The Meeting House. This church, initially gathering in cinemas, represented a fresh expression of faith, resonant particularly with those disenchanted with traditional forms of worship. The pastor, known for his relatable sermons…
By: Michael O'Neill on April 14, 2024
I love learning a new word. My family and I often enjoy sharing new words we’ve learned, although I find it much more challenging than they (my mom and wife) do to weave them into my everyday conversations. I often write them down (I have pages of Dr. Clark’s ‘one-liners’) or highlight them in books.…
By: Akwese on April 14, 2024
We live in a hyper-politicized society where one can readily see the world’s brokenness on multiple levels. This has often birthed arguments fueled by anger and grief, causing many to lash out at/demonize one another or avoid engaging in the sociopolitical arena altogether. However, rather than start a yelling match or excuse ourselves from the…
By: Joel Zantingh on April 13, 2024
When Christians equate evangelism with undermining cultural ideologies, it can quickly become white noise and easy to dismiss. In my work in the Canadian context, this distortion of evangelism that leads to less positive engagement, and more pushback even from within a marginalized Christian community. In September, 2021, Alpha Canada held a “Life Shared Summit”…
By: Audrey Robinson on April 13, 2024
Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution by Carl R. Trueman explores how some progressive thinkers were trailblazers and paved the way for the sexual revolution we are experiencing today. Trueman reflectively considers the ideas of Descartes and Rosseau, Marx and Nietzsche, Freud, and Wilhelm Reich, even though…
By: Caleb Lu on April 12, 2024
At the heart of his book, Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution, Carl Trueman explores the effect expressive individualism has on modern society, especially in regards to the sexual revolution, and seeks to trace how its influence became ubiquitous.[1] His hope seems noble. He doesn’t seek to…
By: Laura Fleetwood on April 12, 2024
In the book, Dominion, author and historian, Tom Holland, takes his reader on an adventurous journey through the past to expose how Christianity has impacted the moral fiber of the Western world despite popular attempts to extinguish it. From Antiquity through Christendom to Modernitas[1], Holland provides vignettes of people and cultures that followed Christ’s call…
By: Jean de Dieu Ndahiriwe on April 12, 2024
Carl Trueman’s book Strange New World & The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, must be one of those books that I will love to read and spend much time on in the future. After Dominion with Tom Holland last week, one will agree that these books are excellent and have the potential to…
By: Jenny Steinbrenner Hale on April 11, 2024
“Today’s world has reached a state which, if it had been described to preceding centuries, would have called forth the cry: ‘This is the Apolcalpyse!’ Yet we have grown used to this kind of world; we even feel at home in it.”[1] Trueman’s Works Carl Trueman, in his book, The Rise and Triumph of the…
By: Jana Dluehosh on April 11, 2024
I have mentioned in the past that I am a PK, my grandpa was a pastor, my uncle was a pastor, my brother-in-law is a pastor and sister a pastor now, my husband and I were pastors. I have put a lot of thought into pastoral families, and while reading J.R. Woodward’s book The Scandal…
By: Shonell Dillon on April 11, 2024
As I sit here trying to remember what I heard when listening to Trueman explain Strange New World in an interview, I am drawing a blank to his explanations. What does stand out to me is how he laughed when speaking about homosexuality and transgender individuals. Many jokes have been made about this subject but…
By: Dinka Utomo on April 11, 2024
I am proposing that the only way to overcome the Powers is through imitation of Christ, in particular his desires, which always leads to how we act. -J.R. Woodward- Scandals in the leadership of clergy in the church are a phenomenon that has existed for centuries and occur in any part of the world…
By: Adam Harris on April 11, 2024
I’m currently in Washington, DC attending an educational workshop at the Holocaust Museum to foster healthier Christian-Jewish relationships, biblical teaching, and interfaith dialogue. My group has around seventeen members and consists of Jewish rabbis, pastors, priests, seminary students, lay people, and chaplains from around the United States. The first thing we are required to do…
By: Julie O'Hara on April 11, 2024
It was March 2020 and my long-suffering husband’s world was turned upside down when three vessels of estrogen and education invaded his work space, our home. One afternoon we all came home, not for dinner, but to stay. School was online and jobs were on hold. Let me introduce the players. Me: A fifty-ish woman…
By: Todd E Henley on April 11, 2024
“If the light inside you is not greater than the light upon you, the light upon you will destroy you.” – Scott Dickie’s mentor. The above quote is an excellent summarization of the book, The Scandal of Leadership by JR Woodward. I will soon tell you why the quote resonates with the book, but first,…
By: Kristy Newport on April 11, 2024
Carl L. Trueman, as a professor of biblical and religious studies, provides a commendable analysis of our culture and its current views on sexuality in his book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self. [1] He paints a history of how pornography has impacted how we now think and behave in the chapter entitled…
By: Shela Sullivan on April 11, 2024
Evangelization and Ideology: How to Understand and Respond to the Political Culture by Matthew Petrusek,[1] is a hard book to absorb, nevertheless it is thought provoking and confusing at the same time. Questions like, “What does it mean?” “Wait, what?” This is definitely a coffee table book to discuss with my friend Barry. I re-read…
By: Chris Blackman on April 11, 2024
In 1972, I was the 13-year-old son of two very conservative, far-right republican Catholic parents. It was what I knew. They had a very solid stance on politics and religion. It was tradition for me, my older brother, Mom, and Dad to share dinner and conversation every night. Also, in 1972, Richard Nixon was running…
