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…
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…
Kings and Prophets: A Reflection on the Lectionary Readings for 4 July 2010
Revised Common Lectionary Page for 4 July 2010 (Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Year C) 2 Kings 5:1-14 and Psalm 30 • Isaiah 66:10-14 and Psalm 66:1-9 • Galatians 6:(1-6), 7-16…
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…
Three-Dimensional Responses to One-Dimensional Challenges: A Review of “God Is Dead” and I Don’t Feel So Good Myself
“God Is Dead” and I Don’t Feel So Good Myself”: Theological Engagements with the New Atheism Edited by Andrew David, Christopher J. Keller, and Jon Stanley 185 pp. Cascade Books.…
On Burying Fathers: A Reflection on the Lectionary Readings for 28 June 2010
Revised Common Lectionary Page for 28 June 2010 (Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, Year C) 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 and Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20 • 1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21 and Psalm 16…
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…