InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network
Answering Jihad: A Better Way Forward, Nabeel Qureshi. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016.
Summary: Contends that there is a basis in the foundations of Islam for violent, and not merely defensive, jihad, which neither can be ignored, nor assumed of all Muslims, but calls for a proactive response, particularly of Christians, of love and friendship with the hope of breaking the cycle of violence.
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What role have Christians played in the #BlackLivesMatter movement in St. Louis, and what lessons have they learned? This panel discussion at the Urbana Missions Conference brought together black and white faith leaders to reflect on these movements and gave an opportunity to a packed theater of attendees to ask questions.
From Dec 27 – Jan 1, volunteers with our network of early career Christian academics are liveblogging seminars at the Urbana conference, a mission-focused student gathering of 16,000 Christians from across North America and the world. This post was co-written by Nina Thomas and Galina Pylypiv. Photos are by Galina.
The Cross and Gendercide: A Theological Response to Global Violence Against Women and Girls
By Elizabeth Gerhardt
My rating:Â 4 of 5 stars
There is a war going on that knows no national borders or physical territories. It is a war that occurs in clinics, ritual ceremonies, sweatshops and brothels, college campuses and religious homes. It is a war against half of the planet’s population. It is the war against women. One manifestation of this war is that there is not a woman I know who feels safe walking alone at night. Sometimes the warfare is expressed “merely†in leering looks or harassing comments. But the war is far more serious in many parts of the world. [Read more…] about Book Review: The Cross and Gendercide
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 values of their faith — the dignity of humans in the image of God, the servant way of Christ, the care of creation. Along the way, Volf also discusses why believing people have often chosen the extremes rather than this third way.
By any account, media coverage this week has been saturated in violence. We have been inundated by graphic and raw descriptions of the Boston bombings, a live-birth abortionist, and even the Senate’s rejection of expanded firearm background checking. These are public tragedies: public displays that evoke charged words like evil, hellish, terror, moral failure. They are also riveting, partly because their scale is rare, but also because they have taken such personal forms. Each of these were made more horrific because they involved the slaughter of children and innocents: an eight-year-old torn to pieces while waiting for his father, a baby crying before having its spinal cord snipped, a piece of legislation driven by an elementary school massacre.
The more personal such tragedies become, the more we struggle with the concept of evil. I live on a city block rife with violence. Last year, Parenting Magazine rated it as the Number 1 worst place to raise your children. At one point, I woke up to the sound of gunfire at least once a week. One shooting occurred at an interÂsecÂtion I had driÂven through moments earlier; I heard the gunÂshots while trying to park my car and, after seeÂing peoÂple runÂning away through the same lot, promptly ran from cover and into the house. It is a draÂmatic story and I tell it often, someÂtimes for sensation’s sake but mainly because that was when “the shizÂzle got real†for me. At that moment, livÂing in the city lost an eleÂment of its romanÂtic ideÂalÂism and things became more polarized.
By polarÂized I mean sevÂeral things. For one, good and evil became more tanÂgiÂble and proÂfound. This is a necÂesÂsary thing for the chronic doubter, cynic, and modÂernist inside me, because I like to think of the world in shades of gray, to imagÂine that its moralÂity is comÂplex and malÂleable. I like to avoid an uncomÂfortÂable comÂmitÂment to absolutes, linÂgerÂing politely in the shadÂows of relÂaÂtivism where there is no need to talk about heaven or hell, conÂdemÂnaÂtion or salÂvaÂtion. I like to preÂtend there are no demons or angels, no slayÂers of men or savers of souls, that there are only broÂken instiÂtuÂtions and negÂaÂtive behavÂior patÂterns in need of rehaÂbilÂiÂtaÂtion and/or medication.
I think this is why I used to shy away from the Psalms and other porÂtions of the Old TesÂtaÂment that talk about the wicked and bloodÂthirsty and the evilÂdoÂers. I used to think it sounded archaic, unforÂgivÂing, and graceÂless. Can peoÂple be so malevÂoÂlent, feckÂless, and predaÂtory? Surely not, I thought; we are more modÂern now, more civÂiÂlized and more progressive. [Read more…] about Public and Personal Encounters with Evil