The ever-tyrannical majority over at Wikipedia may have won the word-battle to spin Ben Stein’s Expelled as an uninteresting documentary “for Christians and the Discovery Institute,” but no matter… The truth is not killed when angry people stamp on it. Rather, angry people die eventually, and truth sprouts up, ever-young. Only time will tell whether [...]
Archive for April, 2008
April 28, 2008
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The Message of Mission: Leslie Newbigin on the Mission of the Church
By Matthew Lee Anderson in Theology (Church)In theological circles, the idea of ‘mission’ is clearly the concept du jour. While the idea of the missio Dei–the mission of God–extends at least as far back as Saint Augustine’s magesterial De Trinitate, the notion that the Church should likewise be ‘missional’ has only caught fire in the last decade. In other words, the [...]
April 24, 2008
1
Goodness, Evil, and Darwinian Science
By Matthew Lee Anderson in ScienceNoah Millman, in commenting upon the Derbyshire dust-up, writes: I continue to believe that both sides of the Darwin vs. Christianity battle are missing the most telling point. We should all agree that religious dogma has no bearing on the truth or falsity of a scientific theory. Heliocentrism is true; geocentrism is false. There is [...]
April 24, 2008
1
Is Religion Relative?
By Matthew Lee Anderson in Epistemology, UncategorizedIn a recent homily, Pope Benedict described the current intellectual climate in the world as a ‘dictatorship of relativism.‘ While the phrase was welcomed in many corners (like mine), it was challenged as disingenuous and incoherent at The Corner by John Derbyshire, one of the Corner’s resident atheists. Of course religious belief is relativistic. Religious [...]
April 23, 2008
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(Post)Modern Politics: The Personal is the Political
By Matthew Lee Anderson in PoliticsIn a post-modern political environment, the personal becomes the political not because we are interested in questions of character or integrity–questions that might affect the officeholder’s ability to perform the functions of his office–but because the media needs the dynamism of ‘personality’ to make politicians more ‘dramatic.’ In a typically insightful piece of analysis, Ross [...]
April 22, 2008
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The Overly Salvific Gospel(?)
By Matthew Lee Anderson in Theology (Christian Life)How are ‘salvation’ and ‘the Gospel’ related? In a mildly controversial answer to that question, Mark Byron (whom you should be reading every day) writes: Salvation is important, but it isn’t the entirety of the Gospel. My mind goes to the euphemism “Full Gospel” that some Pentecostal types use to describe themselves, insinuating that garden-variety [...]
April 21, 2008
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Willow Creek’s Transformation and the Mission of the Church
By Matthew Lee Anderson in Theology (Church)One of the more interesting stories to come out in recent months has been the shift that Willow Creek has been undertaking. For those not aware, Willow Creek has been the flagship for ‘seeker sensitive’ congregations. However, in recent months, they have revealed that their own methodology of tailoring their church services to non-believers has [...]
April 19, 2008
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Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
By Keith E. D. Buhler in Reviews (Films)Delightful, shocking, informative, perpetually light-hearted while deadly-serious, at times almost moving… Ben Stein’s documentary on the “Big Science’s” resistance of “smart new ideas” in biology, physics and cosmology, is a must-see. Stylistically, the film cuts back and forth from 50′s black-and-white film clips to recent interviews with some of the world’s leading scientists. The cut-away [...]
April 18, 2008
2
Laughter and Wealth
By Keith E. D. Buhler in Happy & Sad, Money and BusinessGod, Nature, Evolution, or whatever has so ordained that we come to the most interesting conclusions only means of the most boring arguments, and that the most immediately fun and interesting topics of conversation take us to the most boring of places. This is why Thomas Aquinas is so famous yet so arduous to read, [...]
April 15, 2008
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The Great Schism and Icons – History of Christian Spirituality, 7th-15th Century
By Keith E. D. Buhler in Christianity and Culture, Theology (Church)I have the privilege of taking “The History & Traditions of Christian Spirituality” with Dr. Greg Peters, a terribly sensible junior faculty member of the Torrey Honors Institute. In good classical education fashion, rather than simply lecturing to us for three hours a week, he lectures for two hours, and forces us students to do [...]
April 14, 2008
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The 2008 Evangelical Outpost/Wheatstone Academy Symposium
By Matthew Lee Anderson in NewsI am excited about the Symposium that Joe Carter is hosting at Evangelical Outpost, and quite honored to be a judge. I would strongly encourage all my Mere-O neighbors to enter, as I think the topic is particularly stimulating (not to mention a refreshing break from the political realm!). Here’s the question: If the medium [...]
April 13, 2008
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In Memorium: Clyde Cook
By Matthew Lee Anderson in BiolaAs many people have noted, Clyde Cook–the president of my alma mater Biola University for 25 years–passed away this past Friday in his home in Fullerton, California. Memorials abound, including this post by Professor John Mark Reynolds. A group of journalism students at Biola has also created a blog to chronicle stories about Dr. Cook. [...]
April 10, 2008
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More ISI, Less CPAC: Rod Dreher on the Future of Conservatism
By Matthew Lee Anderson in Politics, UncategorizedThe most interesting aspect of the 2008 race on the Republican side was the discussion that emerged about the future of the party. Weighing in relatively frequently on the issue was Rod Dreher, whose perspective on issues I sometimes disagree with, but always admire. That conversation has continued, with this latest installment from Dreher. As [...]