In this week’s Week in Review, new graduates dealing with the recession, some notable reviews of N.T. Wright’s new book, Justification, a new website for Christian lawyers, some additional coverage of A. N. Wilson’s conversion, and more! If you’d like to contribute to next week’s Review, add your link(s) in the comments, or send them to Tom or Mike directly.
Reminder: We start our ESN Book Club on Your Mind Matters next Tuesday, June 9. We’ll start with the forewords and Chapter 1. If you haven’t gotten your copy yet, you can download next week’s selection directly from IVP’s website as a PDF.
From Tom
For New Graduates, Recession Yields Frustration — and Freedom (Chronicle of Higher Education, 6/1/09): Why would just going to graduate school be a good path for a recent graduate to address a recession and find freedom? Are applied and service/professional fields being represented by some advisers as the most fiscally sound choices for such an approach? Is there a recommendation by some being given to find oneself in graduate school?
What Tenure Feels Like (Chronicle of Higher Education, 5/27/09): — What you’re supposed to do, like graduating from high school? Becoming an adult? Lucky?
I don’t know how tenure will feel five years from now, or 20. But right now, it feels like I have come out of the self-imposed prison of my self-absorption. It feels —in the immortal words of flight attendants everywhere —like I have secured my oxygen mask, and it is time to offer assistance to those around me.
From Mike
More on N.T. Wright and justification – Scot McKnight has been summarizing and leading a chapter-by-chapter discussion of Justification at his blog, Jesus Creed. You can see all of his posts about N.T. Wright here. Bob Fryling, Publisher of IVP, pointed me to this recent review of Justification by Craig Blomberg of Denver Seminary fame. Ben Witherington of Asbury Seminary has also written a review that is quite critical of Wright’s critics. Boyce College, the undergrad college of Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, hosted a panel discussion assessing the Piper-Wright debate with Tom Schreiner, Mark Seifrid, and Brian Vickers – you can download the audio here (I admit that I haven’t listened to it yet, so I can’t vouch for the quality). Piper, meanwhile, hasn’t yet weighed in on Wright’s book, so far as I can tell, but he has started tweeting and written an explanation of “Why and How I Am Tweeting” (link corrected) In the interest of equal Twitter time, I don’t think N. T. Wright is tweeting (yet!), but there is an N. T. Wright News Twitter stream that covers both Wright and issues related to his writing.
Cross and Gavel – A new website from Institute for Christian Legal Studies, a joint ministry of Regent University School of Law and the Christian Legal Society. Here’s how they describe the website:
Cross & Gavel is a comprehensive resource for Christian lawyers and law students who believe that faith is central to law practice and study. We understand that it is not always an easy task to faithfully walk out one’s calling in the law, and we desire to provide information, highlight resources, locate training, and network people seeking to be faithful ministers of justice in the kingdom.
Find a Mentor – The Art of Manliness Blog offers some pretty good advice on finding a mentor. The language is very gender-specific, but the advice is not. (FYI: In general, this blog defines “manliness” in a good way: a focus on responsibility, stewardship, being a good father and husband, disdain for machismo, etc.)
From the Community
Look Who’s a Believer Now (WSJ, 5/29/2009, HT: Jim Sire): So can a convert to Christ be a well-informed, public intellectual who had long made it his business to argue that faith is irrational? Yes, as we noted in The story is a great read! Take a few minutes to read InterVarsity Press author Timothy Larsen‘s reflections on A.N. Wilson’s adult conversion.
Tom enjoys daily conversations regarding living out the Biblical Story with his wife Theresa and their four girls, around the block, at Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church (where he teaches adult electives and co-leads a small group), among healthcare professionals as the Northeast Regional Director for the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA), and in higher ed as a volunteer with the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN). For a number of years, the Christian Medical Society / CMDA at Penn State College of Medicine was the hub of his ministry with CMDA. Note: Tom served with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA for 20+ years, including 6+ years as the Associate Director of ESN. He has written for the ESN blog from its launch in August 2008. He has studied Biology (B.S.), Higher Education (M.A.), Spiritual Direction (Certificate), Spiritual Formation (M.A.R.), Ministry to Emerging Generations (D.Min.). To God be the glory!