Inspired by lengthy conversations at Urbana Student Missions Conference (12/27-31) regarding resources on/practices in faithful witness and my family returning with a suitcase full of books, I am launching Read…Quote…Reflect.Read more…
Faith and Reason, Part 2: Augustine
Augustine was instrumental in promoting the “faith seeking understanding” conception of knowledge.Read more…
Science Book Club: When Science & Christianity Meet Ch 1
We’re in the first week of our blog book club on When Science & Christianity Meet and taking a look at chapter 1.Read more…
Interview with John Walton
ESN Writer Mark Hansard interviews John Walton, author of The Lost World of Adam and Eve. Read more…
James K.A. Smith on “Liturgical Discipleship”
Discipleship, becoming Christ-like, empowered by the Spirit to image God to the world is not magic. Nor is it merely intellectual. It’s a matter of re-forming our loves, re-narrativing our identities, re-habituating our virtue. And that is centered in the practices ofRead more…
Is Evolution Compatible with belief in God as the Creator?
This is the third in a series of blog posts concerned with Christian questions about evolution. In my last post we saw that science does not rule out God because it is not competent to address the question of God.Read more…
The Best Christian Book of All Time: One Year Later
About a year ago, we announced our call for nominations for the Best Christian Book of All Time, and you — our readers — responded with great enthusiasm. From a nomination pool of over 140 worthies, we first narrowed theRead more…
Book Review: The Passionate Intellect (2)
Alister McGrath holds a doctorate from Oxford and is an atheist convert to Christian faith. This book is an attempt by McGrath to demonstrate both the value to the Christian of an engagement with Christian theology and to directly engageRead more…
Late Have I Loved You
In last night’s Christian Devotional Classics (Evangelical Seminary) a fellow student shared how much he appreciated Gungor‘s “lifting” of the words of Augustine’s Confessions in Late have I loved you. As you may remember Augustine’s Confessions won ESN’s Best Christian Book of All Time and this is aRead more…
The Best Christian Book of All Time: The Winner
We have a winner! Out of our original bracket of 64 books, one book has been chosen by Emerging Scholars Network members as the Best Christian Book of All Time. The Winner Confessions by Augustine has defeated Mere Christianity byRead more…
Best Christian Book of All Time: The Ultimate Showdown!
It has come to this. The two best books in the history of Christianity have been chosen by you, our readers and Emerging Scholars Network members, and we’re ready to answer the question of which book is the best Christian book ofRead more…
Best Christian Book of All Time: Final Four
Over the weekend, voters made their choices for the Final Four in the Best Christian Book of All Time Tournament. Unlike the NCAA’s Final Four, ours was marked by fewer upsets and fewer broken legs. (Please – if you don’tRead more…
Best Christian Book of All Time: Final Elite Eight Selections
Did Dante’s Divine Comedy or C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia make it to the Elite Eight? Read more…
Best Christian Book of All Time: Elite Eight Update
The first teams books have arrived in the Elite Eight! Fittingly, this region paired two giants of 20th century apologetics and two giants of theology. Will this regional final answer the question of whether readers prefer accessible apologetics or densely arguedRead more…
Best Christian Book of All Time: The Sweet Sixteen
After a frantic week of voting, our original field of 64 has been whittled down to the Sweet Sixteen! Check out the Round 2 scores below, download the official bracket, and then head to Facebook to begin voting for ourRead more…
Best Christian Book of All Time: Final First Round Results
The first round results for the Fiction & Poetry and Memoirs, Devotionals, & Spirituality brackets are in. Higher seeds mostly held serve, with one or two upsets to keep things interesting. Here’s the updated bracket for your office pools. Vote for RoundRead more…
Best Christian Book of All Time: First Round Update
The first round has closed in the Theology & Apologetics and Christian Life & Discipleship brackets of our Best Christian Book of All Time tournament. Download the updated bracket for your office pools, and head to Facebook to vote forRead more…
The Best Christian Book of All Time Selection Show
The nominations have closed, the selection committee (of one) has met, and we’re ready to announce the official bracket for the Best Christian Book of All Time Tournament! Download your printable bracket for your office pool, and head over toRead more…
Best Christian Book of All Time: Early Nominations
The nominations are coming in for our Best Christian Book of All Time Tournament (BCBATT for short). So far, more than 140 different books have been nominated, ranging from the 2nd to the 21st centuries. Here are a few ofRead more…
Insights from works by people from other worldviews?
James W. Sire addresses another excellent question from Micheal Hickerson, ESN Blog Contributor: Should Christians worry if they find themselves enjoying or gaining insight from artistic, literary or academic works by people from other worldviews? I know that this has beenRead more…
“What, then, is time?”
As some of you know, I’ve been enjoying ESN blogger/mentor Kevin Birth‘s provocative Objects of Time: How Things Shape Temporality (Palgrave Macmillan, New York, NY: 2012). Augustine of Hippo wrote, “What, then, is time? If no one asks me, I know;Read more…
When God Talks Back by T.M. Luhrmann
For the past several weeks, I’ve been reading T.M. Luhrmann’s When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God. The book addresses a simple, but profound, question from the perspective of a nonbeliever: how can seemingly rational, otherwise normal people claimRead more…
Finding Mentors Who Share Your Faith
Last week, I gave some general thoughts on finding good mentors as an undergraduate. This week, I’ll talk a bit about finding mentors who share your beliefs. This is not in any way to minimize the value of mentors whoRead more…
A Lenten Reflection Break: Transformation
God gave us instructions about how to live a righteous life (Ex 24:12-18). God is holy and loves justice, and we offer him our worship and praise (Psalm 99). We pay close attention to Scripture and the words of JesusRead more…