The Archive

Every essay.

Matthew Loftus

2 gilead 2 handle - Doctors Without Boredom

I very much enjoyed reading this essay by Alissa Wilkinson about two fictional places called Gilead: the eponymous town in Marilynne Robinson’s book Gilead and the nation run by a pseudo-Christian cult in Margaret Atwood’s book The Handmaid’s Tale. The latter, recently […]

Matthew LoftusFamilyHealth & Medicine

"Let Me Stand" - Doctors Without Boredom

This is a tremendous essay on one victim of the opioid crisis, as narrated by her brother: Several years ago, I felt convicted to ask Tricia for forgiveness. She was in jail at the time. By appearances, I was a […]

Matthew LoftusFamilyHealth & Medicine

"Let Me Stand" - Doctors Without Boredom

This is a tremendous essay on one victim of the opioid crisis, as narrated by her brother: Several years ago, I felt convicted to ask Tricia for forgiveness. She was in jail at the time. By appearances, I was a […]

Matthew LoftusCulture

what if people want what's bad? - Doctors Without Boredom

This The New Atlantis article about Google, its power, and its struggles with regulation is very interesting. But the ending is perhaps the most troubling: Google links to a December 2016 Fortune article that explains, “Querying the search engine for ‘did the Holocaust happen’ […]

Matthew LoftusCulture

what if people want what's bad? - Doctors Without Boredom

This The New Atlantis article about Google, its power, and its struggles with regulation is very interesting. But the ending is perhaps the most troubling: Google links to a December 2016 Fortune article that explains, “Querying the search engine for ‘did the Holocaust happen’ […]

Matthew Lee AndersonFeatured

Mere Fidelity: Modern Atheism, with Joseph Minich - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

Joseph Minich, the author of Enduring Divine Absence: The Challenge of Modern Atheism, joins Derek and Alastair to talk about what’s distinct regarding contemporary atheism and how Christians should respond to it. If you’re interested in supporting the show financially, […]

Matthew LoftusFamilyCulture

the enduring absurdity of race - Doctors Without Boredom

This essay by W. Ralph Eubanks is a good introduction to the challenges of race’s enduring power in America: Race is an absurdity, having long ago been discredited as a valid biological category and, in the Brown decision, a defensible legal one. […]

Matthew LoftusFamilyCulture

the enduring absurdity of race - Doctors Without Boredom

This essay by W. Ralph Eubanks is a good introduction to the challenges of race’s enduring power in America: Race is an absurdity, having long ago been discredited as a valid biological category and, in the Brown decision, a defensible legal one. […]

Brandon D. SmithFeaturedEvangelicalismFormation

Loving Others Theologically - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

“How dare you?!” You might remember this phrase from Mark Driscoll, one of my early heroes in the so-called “New Calvinism” movement. His growl was aimed at men during a rant about how they misuse women sexually and otherwise. It […]

Matthew Loftus

"I surely am the degradedest woman that ever lived." - Doctors Without Boredom

I was delighted to find that one of my all-time favorite short stories (surpassed only by “Watch With Me”, the most profound exploration of community and mental illness I have read), “A Half-Pint of Old Darling” by Wendell Berry, is […]

Matthew Loftus

"I surely am the degradedest woman that ever lived." - Doctors Without Boredom

I was delighted to find that one of my all-time favorite short stories (surpassed only by “Watch With Me”, the most profound exploration of community and mental illness I have read), “A Half-Pint of Old Darling” by Wendell Berry, is […]

Guest WriterFeaturedhealth

How Bad Theology Hurts the Anxious, Depressed, and Suicidal - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

By Joshua Cayetano As Christian journeys from the “City of Destruction” to the “Celestial City” in The Pilgrim’s Progress, he and his companion, Hopeful, are captured by Giant Despair, the king of Doubting-Castle. In the dungeon, Giant Despair tortures Christian […]