At church on Sunday, a friend leaned over and asked me what Bible I was using. It happened to be the ESV Study Bible; she asked because of the many (and long) footnotes, margin references, etc., but this is only one of the Bibles that I use on a regular basis. In my experience, academic types tend to have strong opinions about their Bibles, especially on a few key points. Then again, maybe this is just me: Which translation (if any)? Bible translations come in many varieties, with several different … [Read more...] about Which Bible do you use?
spiritualformation
Best Books on Knowing Yourself?
Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. —John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 1, Section 1, Paragraph 1 I've been wrestling with some personal decisions lately, so I decided to read a book that has been gathering dust on my "To Read" shelf: M. Blaine Smith's Knowing God's Will: Finding Guidance for Personal Decisions. It has been excellent, but it also got me to thinking: in ESN, … [Read more...] about Best Books on Knowing Yourself?
Too Good to Be True?
"Confession" isn't the right word for what I'm about to write, because I'm not sure sin is involved and I doubt that real confession involves broadcasting to anonymous hordes, so I'll call this an "admission" instead: I fear my own death. I've struggled with this fear off and on for about five years — basically, since I've come on InterVarsity staff, which is interesting timing if you're of certain theological persuasions. Strangely, this fear appeared even as my belief in resurrection has deepened. Books like … [Read more...] about Too Good to Be True?
Bobby Gross: Living the Christian Year
Here at the ESN blog, one of our main topics is spiritual formation in higher ed: Christian practices like prayer and Bible study that shape us more and more into the image of Christ. The stress of Christmas may seem to be an unlikely time for spiritual growth, but for centuries, Christians have set aside the season of Advent as a time of spiritual preparation. I had the opportunity to interview Bobby Gross, Vice-President InterVarsity Graduate and Faculty Ministries about his book, Living the Christian Year: Time … [Read more...] about Bobby Gross: Living the Christian Year
Announcing a Few Changes Around Here (Updated)
When Tom Grosh and I launched the Emerging Scholars Blog last August, we had some ideas about what we wanted to write about, but very few ideas about what others would want to read or discuss. After 9 months and over 150 posts, we have a much better idea about what topics resonate with the community that is gathering around this blog. We've also learned the importance of consistency in blogging. We know how frustrating it can be to visit one of your favorite websites for new content and not finding any. So, today we … [Read more...] about Announcing a Few Changes Around Here (Updated)