https://vimeo.com/285895688 As we press into the daily grind of 2019, set aside time to join me in checking / resetting our compass by prayerfully considering: Who is this Jesus I / we follow? Is Jesus my / our first love -- receiving primary allegiance? Do I / we "trust and obey" -- placing hope (short / long term) in Jesus? How do I / we share the love of Jesus with others in our messy context? … [Read more...] about Call to Faithful Witness in 2019
Pluralism
Science Corner: A View From the Poles
Summer, or at least the summer school holiday, is winding down, but it's not too late to take up a summer project. I was challenged by an interview I heard with New York Times' columnist David Leonhardt to reconsider my point of view on an issue. While perhaps not exactly the kind of political issue Leonhardt may have had in mind, the first issue I thought of was the value of conflict--not a physical donnybrook but points of genuine disagreement or contrast in perspective on matters philosophical, theological, … [Read more...] about Science Corner: A View From the Poles
Book Review: The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas
The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas: Paul's Mars Hill Experience for Our Pluralistic World By Paul Copan and Kenneth D. Litwak My rating: 4 of 5 stars Relevance and faithfulness. Any teacher of any religious tradition is faced with this tension as they move from one cultural context to the next. One has to connect both with the thought world and life experiences of one's hearers in terms they readily grasp, and one needs to faithfully communicate the substance of one's religious beliefs without … [Read more...] about Book Review: The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas
“Uncommon Decency” in the context of Pluralism
Christian hearts must be open to other people. God wants that of us. That is what I have just been arguing. But just how open are we supposed to be? We live today in the midst of many lifestyles, many systems of thought--don't we run the risk of having our hearts pulled in so many different directions that we finally have no center of our own?" -- Richard J. Mouw, Uncommon Decency: Christian Civility in an Uncivil World (Revised and Expanded, InterVarsity Press, 2010), 80. It's not surprising that Richard J. Mouw … [Read more...] about “Uncommon Decency” in the context of Pluralism
Book Review: A Public Faith
Miroslav Volf (Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology / Founding Director, Yale Center for Faith & Culture)* believes it is possible to be unapologetically Christian, or otherwise religious, in a pluralistic world without resorting to violence or, alternatively, isolating yourself into a cultural ghetto. In A Public Faith: How Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good (Baker, 2011), he argues that Christians can choose a third way of seeking the public good while remaining faithful to the core … [Read more...] about Book Review: A Public Faith