Like any other life-sustaining resource, language can be depleted, polluted, contaminated, eroded, and filled with artificial stimulants. Like any other resource, it needs the protection of those who recognize its value and commit themselves to good stewardship. -- Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies by Marilyn Chandler McEntrye (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2009), 1. A few weeks ago I shared a Celtic Christian prayer for our speech. I subsequently offered the prayer in a number of … [Read more...] about The High Calling of “Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies”
Quotes
Is Reality Secular? Part 2
What is real? . . . If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain (43) Material Naturalism With the above quote from The Matrix (1999), Mary Poplin introduces Part 2 of Is Reality Secular? What is the nature of reality? (Post on part 1). Morpheus' words and the exploration of Material Naturalism bring back memories not only of a decade of conversation at Carnegie Mellon University as an InterVarsity Campus … [Read more...] about Is Reality Secular? Part 2
Is Reality Secular? Part 1
Is reality secular? Is adequate knowledge secular? And is that something that has been established as a fact by thorough and unbiased inquiry? Is this something that today's secular universities thoroughly and freely discuss in a disciplined way? (11) Mary Poplin wastes no time in establishing the centrality of Dallas Willard's questions to Is Reality Secular? What is the nature of reality? (InterVarsity Press, 2014). Early in Chapter 1: Truth and Consequences, she relates the story of a seminar in which she asks, … [Read more...] about Is Reality Secular? Part 1
Is Reality Secular?
I am glad to call attention to this book by Mary Poplin of Claremont Graduate University. Is Reality Secular? is a challenge, by an insider to the secularism that is now assumed, with no significant evaluation, to be the height of intellectual respectability and that dominates the most elevated and the most inclusive levels of higher education. From there it pervades professional, social and official life in our world, with effects that severely diminish human aspirations of the type that have traditionally been upheld … [Read more...] about Is Reality Secular?
Quote: Simone Weil on Studying
The Week in Review is taking a vacation during the month of August, so that Tom and Mike can focus on preparing for the upcoming academic year. In its place, we'll be posting good quotes on the connection between faith, life, and learning. If you have a good quote, share it with us in the comments or by emailing it to Mike. Thanks! Simone Weil on school studies, from Waiting for God (HT: Academic Faithfulness blog) Students must therefore work without any wish to gain good marks, to pass examinations, to win … [Read more...] about Quote: Simone Weil on Studying