Quality interweb mischief from Jared Bridges
Fred Sanders examines the opposing worldviews of Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy: In fact, I have long thought that there are basically two kinds of people in the world: Tolstoy people and Dostoevsky people. Sanders quotes literary scholar George Steiner on the differences between the two authors: “Dostoevsky, advancing into the labyrinth of the unnatural, … Read more
Before regular posting here resumes tomorrow (really–no foolin’!), there are two items I highly recommend reading: Colby Willen’s 2-part (of a promised 3) series on the “Call to Ministry.” It’s a seldom seen perspective within the church on a phenomenon that’s too often abused. Part one, and part two. Read them now. Eaten Alive: An … Read more
[I don’t normally do re-postings here, but this from a few years ago is still appropriate today.] What is so good about Good Friday? Long before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah had this to say about him: Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten … Read more
“I’m just gonna vote for the lesser of two evils.” I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard that phrase from evangelical Christians in recent weeks. Usually this has been in the context of Mitt Romney and John McCain. There’s a great problem in the statement, and it has little to do with McCain … Read more
Let’s not forget this Christmas that the babe in the manger now sits on a throne, that the gentle child is a warrior king who commands vast armies, and that he fights that we may rest in him. The God who is incarnate is making and will make all things new. As he told the … Read more
This observation by Eugene H. Peterson is noteworthy: We live in a culture that has replaced soul with self. This reduction turns people into either problems or consumers. Insofar as we acquiesce in that replacement, we gradually but surely regress in our identity, for we end up thinking of ourselves and dealing with others in … Read more
The relationship between religion and politics, always a perennial subject of much consternation, is yet again at forefront of the national discussion. One of the chief questions that always arises out of such debates has to do with whether or not faith even belongs in the public square. The faithful say “yes!,” the unfaithful “no!,” … Read more
I’ve always been uneasy with the concept of the “living will,” known in technical terms as an advance health care directive. Part of my uneasiness stems from the fact that I do not know at this moment, in this situation, what I would want to be done in a potential situation where my life circumstances … Read more
In a brilliant essay in this month’s Touchstone magazine, Donald T. Williams examines an obvious missing product of evangelical writers: good literature. Viewing this problem through the lens of one of my favorite writers, Flannery O’Connor, Williams observes: O’Connor complained that too many Catholic writers were too utilitarian in their approach, but at least their … Read more
Here’s a quote from Lesslie Newbigin that should give evangelical Christians both pause and comfort: The radical conversion of the heart, the U-turn of the mind which the New Testament calls metanoia, can never be the calculable result of correct methods of communication. It is something mysterious for which we can only say that our … Read more