Faiths and Worldviews
Items on religions, ideologies, philosophies, and other ways people interpret the world
Sire on Wright
Fri 01 Sep 2006 by Peter Edman
Dr. James Sire has a review in the current Christianity Today on Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense by N. T. Wright (Harper San Francisco, 2006).
I’ve mentioned this book in other posts, but I have not yet reviewed it here. In “Echoes and Voices from Beyond,” Dr. Sire essentially captures my thoughts on the book as a whole. It really is excellent. I have a few quibbles on Wright’s understanding of economics, but they do not detract from this overall recommendation.
Perspective, Perspective
Thu 20 Jul 2006 by Peter Edman
I am struck by the tone of the arguments over the stem cell veto by President Bush. Others have said most of what needs to be said, but I do want to link to this post on the weblog of Ignatius Press, publisher of the books of Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI.
After Carl Olson summarizes the one-sided and utterly histrionic (or else cynical) rhetoric of Mr. Bush’s critics, he refers us to a book by then-Cardinal Ratzinger, which has a quote on technology that is definitely going into a future revision of the technology curriculum (so many books, so little time). The quote below is from Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures.
Hassett Sanchez on Storefront Churches
Mon 17 Jul 2006 by TTF Staff
Senior Fellow Jody Hassett Sanchez has a feature segment on the July 14, 2006 episode of the PBS program Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.
The topic is Storefront Churches that operate in poor urban neighborhoods. You can read a transcript and view the segment here.
McClay on Auden
Fri 12 May 2006 by Peter Edman
Historian and humanities professor Bill McClay has an article in the Weekly Standard and the Ethics and Public Policy website, “Grappling with God: The faith of a famous poet.” in which he reviews a new book on the Christian wrestlings of W. H. Auden. It’s an important review of what looks like a solid book.
Also worth noting on Auden is an essay in Alan Jacobs’ Shaming the Devil, a collection about which I’ll be writing more shortly.
Faith Ensures a Future
Fri 05 May 2006 by Peter Edman
In an excellent piece from April, Cardinal Pell, the Archbishop of Sydney, assesses Islam and the West. This is precisely the tone—nuanced, respectful, confident, cheerful—I wish I heard more from Christians when considering their cultural context.
In “Islam and Western Democracies,” Cardinal Pell makes a useful survey of the history of the relationship of Islam and Christianity and considers the resources that each side brings to bear. He offers both an optimistic assessment and a pessimistic assessment of the chances for reform within Islam—and what is important, adds in a realistic and vibrant sense of Christian hope for the future. He also touches on the often vexed question of whether Islam and Christianity and Judaism worship the same God and the question of the respective influences of culture, religion, and politics.
Control. Fear. Hope.
Mon 24 Apr 2006 by Peter Edman
I just ran across a headline about how many leaders around the world are suffering from low popularity. It reminded me of a favorite book of mine.
Terry Pratchett’s Night Watch has been out for a few years now. It’s one of his Discworld series of fantasy novels, but don’t let that stop you: this is the novel that got critic Michael Dirda to compare Pratchett to Chaucer. The book is that good. What makes it so, at least for me, is the way it helps you think through the limits of leadership and what we can really control. Sometimes things are just complicated.
Hassett Buechner Panel Recording
Thu 20 Apr 2006 by TTF Staff
Senior Fellow Jody Hassett Sanchez moderated the response panel at the April 2006 tribute to Frederick Buechner at the Washington National Cathedral. Links to the audio or video are available here. At the event Buechner read from two of his sermons and the panel talked about preaching, truth, imagination, and the power of words among other subjects.
Responses to Brown
Wed 19 Apr 2006 by Peter Edman
I should start with the disclaimer that I personally am inclined to the camp that thinks the book and movie of Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code are best ignored lest further efforts to debunk his scholarship and historical claims actually contribute to the publicity campaign. But there’s no ignoring the fact that the publicity he’s already earned from the lawsuits and the dozens of debunking books and websites—combined with the novel’s own narrative drive, the human weakness for conspiracy theories, and the perennial desire to create a more comfortable form of religion—has made it a cultural force to be reckoned with.
Senior Fellow Bill Edgar is taking the lead for a new Da Vinci response site sponsored by Westminster Theological Seminary, The Truth About Da Vinci, which will also be including articles and multimedia from a variety of people we like, including Trinity Forum co-founder Os Guinness. The site looks winsome and non-defensive, attempting, as it says, to create “doubt about doubt.” But Bill & Co. are not the only ones out there—not even the only ones from the Reformed stream of the faith—making a stand.
On the Journey of Faith
Tue 21 Mar 2006 by Peter Edman
In
addition to our own seminar curriculum and study guide, The
Journey, these are books on the journey of faith and the search
for meaning that we recommend. If you have other books or resources
to suggest, please contact the .
The World Is Information
Tue 14 Mar 2006 by Peter Edman
I mentioned Kevin Kelly in an earlier post, and he just popped up again as the editor of an interesting interview in the current issue of Wired. He’s talking with the author of a new book on quantum mechanics who is arguing that the universe is one giant computer (as the Wired editors say in the blurb for the article, thank God it doesn’t run Windows). “The world is information,” says Seth Lloyd. “In the beginning was the Word,” says John. There’s a reason so many physicists are theologians.
