InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network
The uniqueness of Winsome Persuasion is that it helps readers prepare to engage by laying the theoretical foundation for understanding what constitutes a counterpublic (section 1), discovering the rhetorical and philosophical tools necessary for engagement (section 2), and wrestling with issues specific to Christian counterpublics (section 3).Read more…
Evolutionary biology is a challenging topic; the history of the Christian church’s reaction to it, doubly so. Continuing a theme running throughout When Science and Christianity Meet, David Livingston identifies the human element as a major complicating factor. Read more…
As far as I can tell you are all the family I was born with, and to the extent it is up to me you are all also the family I choose.Read more…
How do you reconcile science and the Bible when one can be updated by new data and the other cannot?Read more…
If you can sing a children’s song about the Ark, you’ll probably agree with Janet Browne that the Noah story is “deeply embedded” in our minds and culture. A story so familiar and beloved must be addressed with care.Read more…
Start talking about morphallactic regeneration and now you’ve really got the attention of this biologist.Read more…
How can such a foreign idea feel so familiar? That was my recurring question from William Ashworth’s essay “Christianity and the Mechanistic Universe.” Ashworth’s approach is wide ranging, weaving threads from ancient Greek philosophy with the nascent science of sixteenRead more…
How comfortable are you with the role of chance in the study of history?Read more…
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…
I am persuaded that anyone interested in how we learn about God and why certain approaches are more fruitful than others will find this book enlightening.Read more…
To the extent that there really is a war on science, I would preferred more of a peace proposal than marching orders for one side.Read more…
An exploration of living in the tension of the glorious hope of Christian faith and the dark, unsettling realities of our lives through reflections grouped around the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of the Triduum of Holy Week. A great book to read reflectively during Holy Week [April 9 – 16, 2017].Read more…
In Os Guiness’s recent apologetics book Fool’s Talk, what role does rhetoric play? Literary scholar David Parry draws on his knowledge of classical and Christian rhetorical traditions to unpack one strand of Guinness’s ideas about apologetics. Read more…
Summary: Guinness argues for the recovery of the lost art of persuasion that combines good apologetic work with evangelism and is aware of the many people Christians address who are not open to their message.Read more…
Summary: Argues on the basis of the biblical texts for a reframing of the discussion of the relationship of men and women from one of power versus equality to one that focuses on the elements in the biblical texts around reversal, inclusion, unity and service.Read more…
Summary: Explores how the communal practice of reading in congregations fosters a learning community and shared social imagination the results in clearer congregational identity, sense of mission in one’s setting, and wider engagement with the environment, economics, and political order.Read more…
Summary: Traces the career trajectory of a college professor, identifying the factors that mark the successful passage from one “cohort” to the next, the risks to be negotiated in each season of work, and key resources for career development.Read more…
Summary: A series of reflections on the texts of Genesis 1-3 focused not on questions of beginnings and the controversies that surround these chapters but on what they show us of God and how this may lead us into worship.Read more…
Summary: An elegantly written biography of Desiderius Erasmus describing his life, thought and character as a scholar who hoped to awaken “good learning” and to bring about a purified Catholic church, and the tensions resulting from being caught between Reformers and Catholic hierarchy.Read more…
Summary: Volf argues that the twin globalizing forces of international economics and world religions, problematic as they may be, may also be the source of rich and holistic flourishing for the human community.Read more…
Summary: This is a fictional account of the life of St. Brendan, often known as the Navigator. Buechner traces his life from being taking by St. Erc at one through his early years, the establishment of his leadership in founding Clonfert and in making kings, and most of all his marathon journeys, one lasting seven years.Read more…
Although I appreciate the “glocal” vision of an indigenizing and incarnational “GloboChrist,” I see the global incarnated in the local and local informing the global in local communities which richly embody the Body of Christ.Read more…
Summary: Most advocacy and activism efforts have been organized around secular principles. The authors explore what organizing and advocacy work that is deeply and thoroughly rooted in Christian principles would look like and illustrate this from their years of experience.Read more…
Overall I appreciate that instead of attempting to summarize and update fifteen years of intense writing (including five Eerdmans publications); Wells delivered the essence of his work. But I wished from the beginning that he included a limited number of footnotes and/or recommendations for further reading beyond references to his previous titles.Read more…