Augustine's Confessons is a uniquely rich book, so deeply felt and so carefully constructed that it beggars description. It exhausts the critical resources of centuries of commentators, and keeps on drawing new admirers who find new things there.
Most well-constructed books have one central section, whether it comes early or late, whether it's a turning-point, a climax, or ...
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Scholars and students who have worked their way through Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s and Oliver Leaman’s masterfully edited work, A History of Islamic Philosophy (Routledge, 2001) will, if they had bother to read the two introductions by Nasr and Leaman respectively, come away with an appreciation for how difficult it was to define the parameters of “Islamic philosophy.” I...
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Since the violence-drenched, action-soaked, gore-marinated trailer, there has been much debate about the details of Two-Fisted Gun Monger with Knife Breath. What does his costume look like? How many guns does he mong? How do the knives come out on his breath? Here is a clearer drawing of him.
For this image, Freddy Age Ten avoids the splashy colors and sticks to pure contou...
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Several years ago, I headed up a project that put ten years of the old Biola journal The King's Business online. That means that anybody interested in Biola's early history (1910-1920), or conservative Protestantism, or California religion, can read these otherwise hard to find issues firsthand.
The site has been down for a while, but we recently got it functioning again, s...
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Sure, movies are violent these days. But in between the violent bits, there's always a bunch of dialogue and character development and stuff. What we really need is a movie designed for pure violence. What we need is a character who is designed for nothing but sheer violent mayhem. What we need is a hero (or villain, whatever) whose very name lets you know that you're in for wa...
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As an Anglican, what drew me to this book was Davis’ subtitle: An Evangelical Theology of Real Presence. I imagined that the book must be about the Eucharist (and it is) but as it turns out, it is so much more. The book is a kind of tour de force – a primer on pre-modern, modern and post-modern worldviews and they impact what one thinks is happening in Christian worship; a ...
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My favorite fifth grader recently read the classic book Where the Red Fern Grows, and had the homework assignment of writing a letter to the main character, consoling him for the death of his beloved hound. (Oh, by the way, retroactive spoiler alert there; my bad.)
The first draft said something like this:
Dear Billy,
Don't be sad.
God took your dog away from you.
H...
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In a class on Matthew's gospel, my students are learning how to hear the voice of Matthew the evangelist, to understand how he structures his arguments, how he tells his stories, and what his particular theological concerns are as he reports the words and actions of Jesus. After the initial rush of excitement about how much there is to learn from this gospel, we come to an a...
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Three hit songs in the last few months have pushed the same message: You are awesome. You're awesome just the way you are, even --no, especially-- if you don't fit in.
The three songs are "Firework" by Katy Perry, "Raise Your Glass" by Pink, and "Born this Way" by Lady Gaga. I don't know who is sending out the talking points for pop singers, but these three divas are on mes...
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The West is selling the illusion of freedom to the world, but not the demands of liberty.
We take for granted our liberty in the United States. Not everyone has to be liberated in order for us to parasitically ride their moderation, but no culture can stand too many parasites and remain strong. If too many abuse freedom, then we will lose all liberty.
Humans are truly fre...
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Talbot School of Theology recently launched a faculty team blog called The Good Book Blog.
It's a well-designed site with more than thirty contributors. That list includes a few Big Important Names, accomplished scholars you didn't think would ever condescend to appear in the tohuwabohu of the blogosphere. It also includes some profs whose names and work you've probably nev...
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Featured Essay
When I’m asked what I teach or what my area of expertise is, I am often unsure of how to respond. I have a Ph.D. in theology but I focused on the medieval period. I teach in a great books program that includes texts in philosophy, theology, history, literature, etc. I often write books and articles on monasticism or spirituality. But in addition to all of these I also sometim...
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