Month: September 2020
Tethered Still
I am a mother and a theologian. These two facts belong together, inextricable as they are for me and my experience of them. I was pregnant with my first child as I began my doctoral work; I carried her to...
An Appeal from a Christian Liberal Arts University President
According to legend, thousands of years ago the mighty King Croesus of Lydia consulted with the oracle of Delphi to determine whether he should battle the great Persian Empire. The oracle famously replied, “If Croesus goes to war he will...
What is an Institution?
Jake Meador, Editor-in-Chief at Mere Orthodoxy, joins Matt and Derek to discuss religious institutions. Listen in to hear discussions on what makes institutions different than websites, how to avoid institutional drift, what to do when charismatic figures effectively function as...
The Dust Bowl, Remembered
In clean, cool air the morning after a thunderstorm, while blazing pink and golden light spills over the horizon before becoming a deep cerulean crown over a sweltering summer afternoon, it is difficult to imagine the conditions in Texas only...
Can Justice Be Saved? Part Three: On Hope
In the previous two essays of this triptych, I have attempted to sketch how the Gospel of Jesus Christ might shape our understanding of justice in order to clarify what our responsibilities as Christians might be in our own time....
Book Review: Strange Rites by Tara Isabella Burton
Matthew Arnold mourned the long withdrawing roar of faith in the 19th century. Fin de siècle European culture moved to the rhythm of Nietzsche’s poetry-by-jackhammer that proclaimed the death of God and the rule of the value-less Last Man. The...
A Theology of Faces: Notes on the Costs of Masking
I have heard it said time and time again: “Wearing a face covering is a small sacrifice to love your neighbor.” All this in the context of discussing face masks ever since the CDC and, some experts, decided that it...
The Market Made Me Do It: The Scandal of the Evangelical College
Mark Noll’s The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind turned twenty-five last year. If we know a classic by its ability to speak across eras, one single event from this past summer is enough to assure everyone of the continuing tragic...
Can Justice Be Saved? Part Two: On Charity
It was an ordinary Sunday afternoon in the Anderson household a few years back, full of books and tea and other comforts. My wife had momentarily interrupted my reading by giving me a kiss, seemingly without cause. It captured just...
We Don’t Need Revival
“We need revival.” ~The Teeming Masses This phrase, ubiquitous among broad evangelicals, has transmogrified from banal cliche to axiomatic mantra. Having been chanted with such frequency that there is virtually no quarter among popular Christianity where it doesn’t reverberate, it...