I had intended to take a break from topics with obvious political overtones, but as a periodic browser of online bookstores and their linked purchase data, I couldn't pass up this study of related book purchases and what they reveal about how our politics and our science mingle. The researchers started with two political books with clear party affinity and followed the "Customers who bought this title also bought" links from those two books to all associated titles, and from those titles to their associated titles and … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Readers Who Read this Post also Read…
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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 the bracket to 64 contenders, voted out lesser lights (such as Luther, Calvin, Chesterton, Aquinas —I hope they make something of themselves some day!), and crowned our winner: Augustine's Confessions, the Best Christian Book of All Time.[1] You may have heard of the runner-up, a short tract by C.S. Lewis … [Read more...] about The Best Christian Book of All Time: One Year Later
What IS a Christian Book? (A Working Definition)
Like the proverbial quiet before the storm, we pause this week in our Best Christian Book of All Time Tournament (BCBATT). Nominations closed over the weekend, and the brackets won't be announced until next week. This seemed an appropriate time to ponder the question: What is a Christian book, anyway? When I called for people to nominate their picks for the “best Christian book,” I expected there to be some differences of opinion about what constituted a “Christian book,” as well as questions about how to choose which … [Read more...] about What IS a Christian Book? (A Working Definition)
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 of the books receiving multiple nominations: Augustine, Confessions Augustine, City of God Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The Cost of Discipleship Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion G.K. Chesterton, … [Read more...] about Best Christian Book of All Time: Early Nominations
What’s the Best Christian Book of All Time? (Call for Nominations)
We all have our favorite Christian books, as well as our favorite ones for undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, Urbana attendees, and so on. But which one is the best, the one book to which all others pale in comparison? Here on the Emerging Scholars Blog, we're going to find out. Next month, the best men's and women's NCAA basketball teams will battle it out in a single elimination tournament to determine the single best team in the land. While talking about basketball at Urbana, Tom and I thought, “What … [Read more...] about What’s the Best Christian Book of All Time? (Call for Nominations)