ESN is delighted to present 3 fall online reading group options. You can choose your area of interest and time commitment level: Scripture engagement (10 weekly meetings), faith & work for scholars (6 meetings, mostly in October), or environmental restoration (4 monthly meetings). Learn more and sign up to receive further details!
ESN Book Club
Summer reading: “Welcome to the [Wright] Revolution!”
(N.T. Wright sings “Genesis” at Hearts and Mind, https://vimeo.com/4214987) Last week Mike asked what’s on our various summer reading lists. I’m going to be reading some works by the story-telling minstrel Rt. Rev. N.T. (Tom) Wright, Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. As some of […]
Outrageous Idea 6: Building Academic Communities
The final chapter in George Marsden’s The Outrageous Idea of Academic Communities Christian Scholarship [Oops! – Ed.] proposes that even the most impressive work of individual Christian scholars is not enough; Christian scholarship needs “a strong institutional base.” Scholars, like everyone else, depend on communities. If like-minded academics do not form their own sub-communities, then […]
Outrageous Idea 5: The Positive Contributions of Theological Context
Are there positive contributions to be offered by a theological context? George Marsden responds with a hearty yes. Why? Because he believes (or should I say thinks, understands, or perceives): Scholars do not operate in a vacuum, but rather within the frameworks of their communities, traditions, commitments, and beliefs. Their scholarship, even when specialized, develops […]
Outrageous Idea 4: What difference could it possibly make?
In chapter 4 of The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship, George Marsden asks, “What difference could ‘Christian scholarship’ possibly make?” He quotes a critical reviewer who wants to know whether Notre Dame teaches “Roman Catholic chemistry” or if Calvin offers “Presbyterian anthropology”. Marsden answers with two suggestions: the analogy of a gestalt image, and the […]