David Hume (1711–1776) was a Scottish philosopher and historian well known for his arguments against traditional Christian theism that had a great impact on the Enlightenment. Read more…
Faith and Reason Part 4: Locke
An important part to Locke’s project concerned epistemology, a branch of philosophy that defines knowledge. Epistemology deals with questions such as “What is knowledge, and how do we know when we have it?”Read more…
Faith and Reason, Part 3: Aquinas
Scholars who study Aquinas are divided about whether he believed that some propositions about God, for example, statements about his existence, can be adjudicated through reason alone, or whether they also require faith. Read more…
Faith and Reason, Part 2: Augustine
Augustine was instrumental in promoting the “faith seeking understanding” conception of knowledge.Read more…
Faith and Reason, Part 1
The work of the Holy Spirit and a reasoned case often go hand in hand in Scripture. Read more…
What we learn about Godly Scholarship from Hebrews
Hebrews has a lot to teach us as Christian academics. Read more…
Academic Lessons from the Life of Joseph
What can Christian academics learn from Joseph? Read more…
Faith and Doubt in Emily Dickinson’s “This World is not Conclusion”
What is fascinating about Dickinson’s poetry is her wrestling with the mystery of faith, oscillating as she does between the comfort of traditional faith and the gnawing presence of doubt.Read more…
Browning’s “Karshish the Arab Physician”
Robert Browning’s “An Epistle Containing the Strange Medical Experience of Karshish, the Arab Physician” is another fine example of dramatic monologue in which the character speaking reveals things about himself he is unaware of, but through the irony of self-disclosure, the reader readily sees. Read more…
Piercing the o’erstretched doubt: Browning’s Apologetic in “A Death in the Desert”
What is often forgotten about Browning today is the seriousness of his Christian faith, and his response to some of the intellectual challenges to belief in his day. Read more…
Aesthetic Experience and the Existence of God (Scholar’s Compass)
Does aesthetic experience point us to God? Read more…
Book Review: A Change of Heart, by Thomas Oden
Oden writes a riveting tale about his own turn from theological liberalism to classic Christianity.Read more…
Seeing Anew This Year
As we ring in the New Year, much ink will be spilled, again, on New Year’s resolutions and promises. Frankly, I gave up on New Year’s resolutions long ago, as I realized that they didn’t make much difference in my life anyway.Read more…
The Fruit of the Spirit in Academia, Part 3 (Scholar’s Compass)
All nine virtues Paul lists make up this one fruit of the Spirit (karpos, singular in the Greek). When we are filled with the Spirit we manifest God’s true character, his love, power, and patience. Read more…
Interview with John Walton
ESN Writer Mark Hansard interviews John Walton, author of The Lost World of Adam and Eve. Read more…
The Fruit of the Spirit in Academia, Part 2 (Scholar’s Compass)
There is no more relevant place to demonstrate patience with others than the competitive world of the academy. The Spirit’s patience is needed, for example, to answer a hostile questioner during the reading of a paper, or the snide comment of a colleague who believes our work is a waste of time.Read more…
The Fruit of the Spirit in Academia, Part 1 (Scholar’s Compass)
The academic world can be cut-throat, competitive, and harrowing. The constant pressure to publish, to win grants and to achieve tenure are just a few of the tensions that weigh on academics every day. What does it look like to manifest the fruit of the Spirit in such an environment?Read more…
Review: The Lost World of Adam and Eve, by John Walton
John Walton’s book The Lost World of Adam and Eve (InterVarsity Press, 2015) is a fresh, compelling look at Genesis 2-3. Walton marshals an impressive array of Hebrew expertise and familiarity with Ancient Near Eastern texts to make his case.Read more…
Ambition and Identity: Interview with Bruce Huber
I hope that Christian scholars will be emboldened to excel in their work while wholly immersing themselves in the story of God. Integrating faith and scholarship is difficult in many fields. We haven’t always been very imaginative in how we’ve undertaken that. We should do all we can to nurture conversation and push the frontiers of thought in that connection.Read more…
A Biblical Basis for Secular Knowledge (Scholar’s Compass)
Reading Daniel 1 Reflection In an evangelical world in which “secular” knowledge is sometimes not valued, it’s important to remember that the Bible itself, at least in a couple of instances, supports the learning and use of what’s sometimes termedRead more…
Review: Benefit of the Doubt (Greg Boyd)
Boyd begins his book by critiquing the idea that in order for us not to doubt, we must have certainty. He relates the story of a time he and others were praying for the healing of a church member, and how he tried to make himself believe that the person would be healed. Read more…
Scholar’s Compass: Persevering in God’s call to Graduate School
Sometimes a graduate program, especially a Ph.D. program, can seem like an endless journey in which it’s hard to know if it will ever end, or end in success. Read more…
Scholar’s Compass: Preparing for Epiphany
Epiphany, the season after Christmas and before Lent, is a celebration of the revelation of Jesus. On January 6th the Western church celebrates the coming of the wise men, who divined from the stars the appearance of a new Jewish King. Who the wise men were, and what methods they used to discover the coming of Jesus are mysterious in Scripture, but they represent the Light of Christ coming to the Gentiles.Read more…
Scholar’s Compass: Remembering Sabbath
We live in an age in which production is cherished above nearly everything else in the workplace. How can we be counter-cultural in this day and age in which our work follows us with our smart-phones everywhere we go? One way is to keep a 24 hour Sabbath.Read more…