Short Takes: Morality, Monkeys, and Confirmation Bias
Here’s a headline designed to set off the irony sirens: “Expert on Morality Is on Leave after Research Inquiry”. Turns out the story’s more about confirmation bias than about hypocrisy:…
Dante 2010: Purgatorio
Series Index for 2015 Dante Read-Through Dante 2010: Inferno Dante 2009: Paradiso Dante 2009: Purgatorio Dante 2009: Inferno Dante 2008: Paradiso Dante 2008: Purgatorio Dante 2008: Inferno Being a bit of…
An Outbreak of Muggings!
At long last, the design phase is complete for five–five–new mugs! Three are occasional, in honor of our special summer episode guests, while the last two have been longstanding requests…
A Primer on Religious Existentialism, Pt. 7: The Draw
Thus far in this series, I haven’t really discussed any theologian who might be rightly considered an existentialist, as opposed to an influence or proto-existentialist. (The exception is Karl Barth,…
Dante 2010: Inferno
Dante 2009: Paradiso Dante 2009: Purgatorio Dante 2009: Inferno Dante 2008: Paradiso Dante 2008: Purgatorio Dante 2008: Inferno Those of you who read my blog over at Hardly the Last…
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…