The Enigma Variations is one of the most enjoyable set of variations that classical music can boast. What makes them particularly interesting is that Elgar wrote a variation for each of his friends, making the reconstruction of their personalities a fun exercise for any music novice. Join the party, then, and meet the guests. And [...]
Archive for January, 2007
January 31, 2007
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At a Party with Elgar: The Enigma Variations
By Matthew Lee Anderson in All Things Lovely, Reviews (Music)
January 30, 2007
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Blogging for Books
By Matthew Lee Anderson in Life in general, NewsBlogging to have you take them away, that is, and give me money. I’m unemployed, and so spending my times organizing my life and discarding books that I no longer need. If only I could make a full-time job of it! Hence, I invite you to peruse my Amazon.com store and my Half.com store. If [...]
January 29, 2007
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The Community of the Word: Ecclesiology and the Perfection of God (Part Two)
By Matthew Lee Anderson in Evangelicalism, Theology, Theology (Church)In the first essay, I attempted to summarize John Webster’s essay where he locates evangelical ecclesiology under the perfection of God. His moves, of course, raise questions about the nature of the visibility of the Church, as it is the visibility of the Church that evangelicals have often struggled to incorporate into their dogmatic systems. [...]
January 27, 2007
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FRC Blogger’s Briefing: Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay
By Matthew Lee Anderson in FRC Conference Calls, PoliticsIt was an honor and a privilege to listen to former House Majority leader Tom DeLay opine on all things political. Delay was candid in his assessment of the sucesses and failures of the Republican party the last few years, and in the need for better cross-issue organization among Conservatives. It was an especially enjoyable [...]
January 25, 2007
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Terror-Free Oil: Idealism Meets Capitalism On the Streets of Omaha
By Tex in America, Economics, Money and BusinessJoe Kauffman, spokesman for the Terror-Free Oil Initiative, has decided to take a popular water cooler issue head-on by announcing the grand opening of the world’s first Terror-Free gas station. Opening in the first part of February in Omaha, Nebraska, Heartland consumers will have the opportunity to let their actions speak as loud as their [...]
January 25, 2007
1
Loving Home While Craving Adventure in Chesterton’s Orthodoxy
By Andrew McKnight Selby in LiteratureI wrote the following article for a Christmas newsletter for homeschool students participating in Torrey Academy, the program I teach in. Though it was written with the yuletide season in mind and for the particular plight of homeschoolers, I think any reader will find its themes universally applicable! Perhaps one of the most impossible tasks [...]
January 24, 2007
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The Community of the Word: Ecclesiology and the Perfection of God (Part One)
By Matthew Lee Anderson in Evangelicalism, Theology, Theology (Church)As discussions about the nature of evangelicalism have been prevalent around Mere Orthodoxy in the last few years (see here, here, and here), I turned to The Community of the Word with more than an academic interest. As I am continuing to wrestle theologically, culturally, and personally with what it means to be an evangelical, [...]
January 16, 2007
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As Below, So Above: Cleaning Up After Haggard
By Matthew Lee Anderson in Evangelicalism, Theology (Christian Life), Theology (Church)We blogged about it a lot at Mere O when it happened. Offered some pretty strong opinions, too, especially about the response by the people at New Life. Ted Olsen at Christianity Today posted this recap of the followup by New Life. there is much to be encouraged about. It seems the church has entered [...]
January 16, 2007
2
The Politics of Happiness: Britian and the “Department of Happiness”
By Matthew Lee Anderson in Happy & Sad, Philosophy, PoliticsFrom the Christian Science Monitor comes this report that “subjective well being” is quickly becoming the measuring rod for British policy. Of course, that’s just a high-falutin way of measuring whether governments are succeeding in enabling individuals to find the happiness that all those political philosophers say is their true end. Of course, empirically measuring [...]
January 16, 2007
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Theater of the Absurd: A Review of “Little Miss Sunshine”
By Matthew Lee Anderson in Reviews (Films)My brother has been kicking around existentialism in relation to Children of Men. He writes, “Watching the film, I came to realize that most people evade the true force of “the absurd” because we know life goes on for others, even when we’re gone.” The description could not be more fitting for Little Miss Sunshine, [...]
January 15, 2007
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Full Video of MLK’s “I Have a Dream”
By Andrew McKnight Selby in America, Education, Politics, SociologyIn honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. do yourself and your countrymen a favor by watching the video of what many consider the second greatest speech in American history. After all, “We cannot walk alone.”
January 15, 2007
2
People of the Numbers: Christian Smith on Evangelicals and Statistics
By Matthew Lee Anderson in Evangelicalism, SociologyChristian Smith, who has made a living correcting mistaken notions about the lives of evangelicals, recently reprimanded evangelicals for their inappropriate use of statistics. Drawing from the extreme and bogus “only 4% of young Christians will remain Christian” stat, Smith laments the reactive and alarmist attitude that evangelicals–and their non-profit ministries–thrive on. His challenge to [...]
January 15, 2007
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The Presence of the Past: Cremation and Death
By Matthew Lee Anderson in Philosophy, The SoulLast night, Joe Carter argued that we have obligations now to people we will meet in the future, such as our spouses. I pointed out (in the comments) that this would entail that we have obligations now to people in the past as well, a point that Joe agreed with (raising the inevitable question of whether [...]