Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

worldview

Book Response: Hollywood Worldviews, by Brian Godawa

As part of his Doctor of Ministry (DMin) in Ministry to Emerging Generations (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary), Tom’s written a number of book responses and given several short presentations (personal and group). In this series he not only “shares the wealth,” but also looks forward to your feedback as he refines his project: An argument for vocational discernment for graduate studies in the context of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (Stay tuned to learn more!). Earlier posts on the program: Ministry to Emerging Generations and The Big Picture of Ministry to Emerging Generations.

Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films with Wisdom and Discernment

Hollywood Worldviews
Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films with Wisdom and Discernment. Brian Godawa (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002).

Honestly I picked up Brian Godawa’s Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films with Wisdom and Discernment (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002) with reluctance. After skimming Hollywood Worldviews over a decade ago, it sat on my bookshelf largely unread*. What does another “Movie Appreciation 101” (20) have to offer? But I received hope as Godawa opened his Preface, “I am a screenwriter. . . . If you don’t have a good story, you won’t have a good movie, no matter who is acting in it or lighting it or directing it or producing it. If the story doesn’t work, the movie doesn’t work” (9). Yes, the writer creates and “the story is king” (10).
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Book Response: Desiring the Kingdom, by James K. A. Smith

As part of his Doctor of Ministry (DMin) in Ministry to Emerging Generations (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary), Tom’s written a number of book responses and given several short presentations (personal and group). In this series he not only “shares the wealth,” but also looks forward to your feedback as he refines his project: An argument for vocational discernment for graduate studies in the context of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (Stay tuned to learn more!). Earlier posts on the program: Ministry to Emerging Generations and The Big Picture of Ministry to Emerging Generations.

Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation

Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation by James K.A. Smith (Eerdmans, 2009).
Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation by James K.A. Smith (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009).

In Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009), James K.A. Smith hits the mark in “communicat[ing] to students (and faculty) a vision of what authentic, integral Christian learning looks like, emphasizing how learning is connected to worship and how, together, these constitute practices of formation and discipleship” (11). I have longed for a “cultural theory” “to push down through worldview to worship as the matrix from which a Christian worldview is born—and to consider what that means for the task of Christian education and the shape of Christian worship” (35, 11). Although only loosely connected with the Reformed tradition at present, what a joy to consider “the Reformed tradition as an Augustinian renewal movement within the church catholic,” one in which education isn’t “first and foremost about what we know, but about what we love” (14).

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Book Response: Transforming Worldviews, by Paul Hiebert

Transforming Worldviews: An Anthropological Understanding of How People Change Paul Hiebert (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008).
Transforming Worldviews: An Anthropological Understanding of How People Change. Paul Hiebert (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008).

As part of his Doctor of Ministry (DMin) in Ministry to Emerging Generations (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary), Tom’s written a number of book responses and given several short presentations (personal and group). In this series he not only “shares the wealth,” but also looks forward to your feedback as he refines his project: An argument for vocational discernment for graduate studies in the context of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (Stay tuned to learn more!). Earlier posts on the program: Ministry to Emerging Generations and The Big Picture of Ministry to Emerging Generations.

Transforming Worldviews: An Anthropological Understanding of How People Change

With Christmas and the Urbana Student Missions Conference less than a month ago, Paul Hiebert’s Transforming Worldviews: An Anthropological Understanding of How People Change (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008) opening considering of Santa Claus in a South Indian Christmas pageant hit a nerve. Although I have read a lot of material on worldview, I do not remember the “garbled” missionary message and responses–behavior, beliefs, and worldview in the context of a community–receiving proper attention. Yes, it is time to develop “An Anthropological Understanding of How People Change” and continue to refine its application in our “glocal” missional contexts (122). [Read more…] about Book Response: Transforming Worldviews, by Paul Hiebert

Scholar’s Call: An ecologist in the household of God

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Today Richard Gunton of Faith in Scholarship shares his perspective on how his Christian worldview and the discipline of ecology interact. We’re delighted to share pieces from FiSch members from time to time, and are grateful for Richard’s thoughtful reflections on ecology. Stay tuned for more on the FiSch ecology working group in tomorrow’s “Highlighting Community” post. 

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Book Review: The Soul of Atlas

The Soul of Atlas, Mark David Henderson. Lexington: Reason Publishing, 2013.
The Soul of Atlas: Ayn Rand, Christianity, a Quest for Common Ground. Mark David Henderson. Lexington: Reason Publishing, 2013.

The Soul of Atlas: Ayn Rand, Christianity, a Quest for Common Ground, Mark David Henderson. Lexington: Reason Publishing, 2013.

Summary: Is there any way to reconcile the thought of Ayn Rand and the Christian faith? Through a personal narrative of dialogues with his two fathers, one a Christian, and one an adherent to Ayn Rand’s philosophy (Objectivism) the author explores what possible ground could exist between Objectivists and Christians.

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