Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

Scholar's Compass

Aesthetic Experience and the Existence of God (Scholar’s Compass)

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Reflection Recently I found myself reading excerpts from James Sire's book, Apologetics Beyond Reason. (You can read ESN's review here). As someone with a literature background myself, I found Sire's description of the purpose of literature, and an aesthetic experience through great literature as a pointer to the transcendent, very interesting. Sire says “When we read great literature’we are lifted out of ourselves into another world.” When we have an aesthetic experience through such literature, we have “direct … [Read more...] about Aesthetic Experience and the Existence of God (Scholar’s Compass)

Not What I’d Planned (Scholar’s Compass)

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My flesh and my heart may fail but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. - Psalm 73:26 Reflection Chronic illness is not what I'd planned. Chronic illness is not the path I would've chosen. Yet chronic illness is the laboratory where I'm learning to be a better wife, mother, daughter, professor, and friend. … [Read more...] about Not What I’d Planned (Scholar’s Compass)

What Are You Waiting For? (Scholar’s Compass)

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Reading “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:14 Reflection As academics, we are frequently waiting. In graduate school, we wait in hallways to learn if we passed our defenses. On the job market, we wait to hear from departments that, like our high school crushes, all too often do not call. As junior faculty members, we wait to learn if we will be promoted to tenure. At all career stages, we wait to learn if we received the grant, if our article will be published, if our paper … [Read more...] about What Are You Waiting For? (Scholar’s Compass)