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Michael J. Stell, MATS

Book Review: Frankenstein

October 26, 2018 by Michael J. Stell, MATS 1 Comment

This year marks the 200th anniversary of one of my favorite books – Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Actually, its full title is Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus. And that is a good reminder that this novel is really about Frankenstein the man, not about his creation. Frankenstein is the one who steals from the gods (God?) the ability to create life from that which is lifeless. And, as long as we are clearing up misconceptions, the novel is not about re-animating the dead, as is often popularly shown in the movies, … [Read more...] about Book Review: Frankenstein

Filed Under: Book Review/Discussion Tagged With: Adam, Book Review, creation, Creator, creature, Frankenstein, John Milton, Mary Shelley, Paradise Lost, salvation, Satan, sin, the fall, virtue

We Are Ahab – Both  Hunter and Hunted. A Book Review of Moby Dick

October 7, 2018 by Michael J. Stell, MATS 2 Comments

Like most who are part of the academe, I consider myself a well-read person, though we all admit that the more of an expert you become in one area, the more you realize how ignorant you are in others. My focus is the 19th Century American religious environment and even when I stray from there to another research focus, I always come back because I find the century so interesting. Sometimes, to get a more complete view of the period, I will read fiction from the era since it gives a window into the period's views about … [Read more...] about We Are Ahab – Both  Hunter and Hunted. A Book Review of Moby Dick

Filed Under: Book Review/Discussion Tagged With: Book Review, Moby Dick, whale

Book Review: The Romantic Rationalist: God, Life and Imagination in the Work of C.S. Lewis

October 4, 2016 by Michael J. Stell, MATS 2 Comments

I seldom give much consideration to the title of non-fiction books other than from the perspective of whether it is a book which might be worthy of my time and (perhaps more importantly) of my limited dollars. However, as I read the first couple of essays on the thought of C.S. Lewis in this book by well-known evangelicals, I was struck by the thought that the book was misnamed. The book should be called, “Why we think it is ok for evangelicals to like Lewis.” They go so far as to call Lewis “the patron saint of … [Read more...] about Book Review: The Romantic Rationalist: God, Life and Imagination in the Work of C.S. Lewis

Filed Under: Book Review/Discussion Tagged With: apologetics, C. S. Lewis, David Mathis, evangelicals, heaven, john piper, Miracles, myth, salvation, Scripture, The Romantic Rationalist

“In the Fullness of Time” – An Advent Devotional on the theology of time

December 14, 2015 by Michael J. Stell, MATS Leave a Comment

Advent is a time of both beginning and anticipation. In human history, we have always tracked time from the perspective of the beginnings which define a person, a culture or a nation. We celebrate our birthdays and anniversaries as beginnings: the beginning of life, the beginning of life together. In the Old Testament, Israel orients their calendar year, really their time, around their defining event, the Exodus. In our modern period, we in the United States, though we follow the standard Western calendar, still orient … [Read more...] about “In the Fullness of Time” – An Advent Devotional on the theology of time

Filed Under: Advent Tagged With: Advent, Advent 2015, C. S. Lewis, calendar, time

Cur Deus Homo. An Advent Devotional

December 20, 2014 by Michael J. Stell, MATS 1 Comment

In the eleventh century, Anselm and theologians like him began to interact with a larger world of ideas, specifically the Muslim theologians who were challenging some of the central tenets of the Christian faith. In the centuries previous, theology had largely been an increasingly ad intra  discussion among the theologians of Christendom. As Muslim writings (and even the occasional Muslim thinker) began their movement into Europe, they began to challenge theological positions which had been taken for granted. It is in … [Read more...] about Cur Deus Homo. An Advent Devotional

Filed Under: Christ and the Academy Tagged With: Advent, Anselm, Anselm of Canterbury, apologetics, C. S. Lewis, Cur Deus Homo, incarnation, Mere Christianity

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