Loving Valid Questions
Embracing Our Questioners by John Castelein I do like to toot my own tradition’s horn when I can, and The Christian Standard, our weekly publication, last Sunday had this nice…
Old Habits Die Hard: A Reflection on the Lectionary Readings for 23 May 2010
Revised Common Lectionary Page for 23 May (Pentecost, Year C) Acts 2:1-21 or Genesis 11:1-9 • Psalm 104:24-34, 35b • Romans 8:14-17 or Acts 2:1-21 • John 14:8-17, (25-27) I…
Bible, Tradition, Authority part 3: Forgetting the Giants
In a recent conversation with fellow Christian Humanist Michial Farmer, I noted a certain paradox about my relationship with Brian McLaren and other public Christian intellectuals who often get labeled…
More on Populism
I have no idea where Gilmour and Grubbs have been–unless the end of the semester came with such a rush of relief that their heads exploded. I’m working on a…
Breaking Our Silence for Walker Percy
Walker Percy, the guy on the far right of our banner, died twenty years ago today. His death was in its way a victory. He’d contracted tuberculosis in the early…
Which Sport Has the Most Home Runs?
“Separate Truths” by Stephen Prothero Relationships between traditions are my intellectual bread and butter. When I started studying the various influences of Anglican sacramental life, Presbyterian church polity, Scottish Enlightenment…
The Christian Humanist Podcast, Episode #21: Literary Criticism
That’s the end of Season 2, folks. We’ve had a great time doing the show, and we’re glad you listen. We explain our summer plans in the show itself. Keep…
Whose Apostolic Succession?
When I was (briefly) a catechumen in the Orthodox Church, one of the big sticking points for me was the concept of apostolic succession. When an Orthodox Christian, reciting the…
An Excuse for a Missing Lectionary Post
Revised Common Lectionary Readings for 1 May 2010 (Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C) Acts 11:1-18 • Psalm 148 • Revelation 21:1-6 • John 13:31-35 A thousand apologies to our…
Attack of the Pathetic Fallacy
I do not recall when I first encountered the notion of a pathetic fallacy: a literature course, doubtless, but I’ve had many of those. I was almost certainly an undergraduate,…
Media Ecology and the Reformation: Some Brief Thoughts
The Christian Humanist crew got an email from Ford Seeuws, listener and friend of Michial Farmer, last week, and the questions were interesting enough that I wanted to deal with…
Commercial Break II: Erasmus and Calvin
For our next pair of mugs, we’ve chosen another pair of familiar faces: Desiderius Erasmus, the CHP poster boy, and John Calvin, the subject of our second podcast. (Seems so…
The Christian Humanist Podcast, Episode #20: Judas Iscariot
This week’s theme music is “Judas Skin” from the Vigilantes of Love record Slow Dark Train. General Introduction – What’s on the blog? – An historical moment for the Christian…
Book Review: The Bridge
The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama By David Remnick 656 pp. Illustrated. Alfred A. Knopf. $29.95 Early on in his massive new biography of Barack Obama, cryptically…