The Christian Humanist Podcast, Episode 24: A New Beginning
A short episode to lead off season three. We’ll be back to our usual length next week. Our new standard theme music (you won’t hear it that often–only when I…
Book Review: "Super Sad True Love Story"
Super Sad True Love Story By Gary Shteyngart 334 pp. Random House. $26. Gary Shteyngart’s third novel, the awkwardly if endearingly titled Super Sad True Love Story, is a dystopian…
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,…
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…
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…
A Primer on Religious Existentialism, Pt. 3: Hellenism and Hebraism
There’s a degree to which it’s legitimate to claim Judeo-Christian roots for almost all Western philosophies (including the scientism that seeks, in its more recent and ugly manifestations, to destroy…
The Christian Humanist, Episode #22.1: Science
Our outro music this week comes from Michael Knott’s 1994 record Rocket and a Bomb. The song’s called “Jan the Weatherman.” Hey, “Jan” rhymes with “Dan,” and our special guest…
Short Takes: Proof of Divine Intervention
I couldn’t help but thinking of the final climactic action of John Updike’s Couples when I read this story. Let’s be logically consistent. If Hurricane Katrina and John Piper’s tornado…
A Primer on Religious Existentialism, Pt. 2: My Kind of Atheist
It is not reasonable to expect everyone to share the same religious views, and since it can be difficult to see God’s hand in our violent and hate-filled universe, I…
Short Takes: Are You a Hipster Christian?
Our blog and podcast seem to attract readers and listeners from all over the theological and political spectrum, so I’m very interested in the results of this survey, from Brett…