Book Review: "Making Haste from Babylon"
Making Haste from Babylon: The Mayflower Pilgrims and Their World By Nick Bunker Illustrated. 489 pp. Alfred A. Knopf. $30.00. Two eras of American history seem to be of perpetual…
The Christian Humanist Podcast, Episode 23: Fandom and Fanaticism
We’re a little rusty, but give us a break: It’s been a month. Also: No bibliography today. Also also: Our special guest is my wife, Victoria Reynolds Farmer. General Introduction…
A Primer on Religious Existentialism, Pt. 6: Apologetics
I grew up at the tail-end of the Evangelical Apologetics Explosion. Somewhat arbitrarily, I’m selecting as the apex of that movement the year 1999. (I use that date because of…
Short Takes: Against Specialization
I wrote a few months ago about the problems with the over-specialization that plagues the Academy. This morning I’m reading Aristotle’s Parts of Animals, which begins thusly: Every study and…
A Primer on Religious Existentialism, Pt. 5: Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal initially seems a rather odd figure to label as a Christian existentialist–or even as a forerunner to the movement. Other than his famous “wager” (about which I will…
No Lectionary Post this Week
My apologies to our readers who have come to expect a reflection on the lectionary texts. I preached yesterday in Sunday morning service at Athens Christian Church, and I chose…
More Hopeful than a Manifesto: A Review of Mere Churchianity
Mere Churchianity: Finding Your Way Back to Jesus-Shaped Spirituality By Michael Spencer 229 pp. Cascade Books. $13.99 Two influences obviously shaped my experience of reading this book: for one, as…
Suffering that Means Something: A Reflection on the Lectionary Readings for 18 July 2010
Revised Common Lectionary Page for 18 July 2010 (8th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C) Amos 8:1-12 and Psalm 52 • Genesis 18:1-10a and Psalm 15 • Colossians 1:15-28 • Luke…
Short Takes: I Write Like
I suggest the literary-minded among our audience head over to this website, which analyzes inputted text and tells you whom you write like. My answer, based on the post “Currency…
A Primer on Religious Existentialism, Pt. 4: Augustine
As I mentioned last week, the academic dean of the secondary literature on existentialism, Walter Kaufmann, points to the Christian theologians St. Augustine and Blaise Pascal as early examples of…
Motives in the Bible: A Reflection on the Lectionary Readings for 11 July 2010
Revised Common Lectionary Page for 11 July 2010 (Year C, 7th Sunday after Pentecost) Amos 7:7-17 and Psalm 82 • Deuteronomy 30:9-14 and Psalm 25:1-10 • Colossians 1:1-14 • Luke…
Short Takes: A Celebration of (Christian) Humanism
I stumbled across this two-part essay a couple days ago, and although each of the three Christian Humanist Podcasters would likely take issue here and there with points of theology…