This new year, I would like to begin the Christ-Animated Learning Blog by presenting a four-part series about some advanced skills necessary for Christ-animating learning. Today, I begin by discussing one advanced skill that I think should be a major component of advanced forms of Christ-Animated learning, yet I rarely see it. For example, in…

The Christmas tree is tall and wide, and its sharp smell fills the room. It seems to own the space around it, and the rest of us hover in its shadow, coming and going like ghosts or puffs of wind. Somehow, the tree feels more real than the thing we call “reality.” My child self…

If poetry is ever going to matter again to Christians, we’ll need interesting, winsome, accessible teachers and books to explain the value of verse and show us how it works. One doesn’t naturally “develop a taste” for poetry. We must be taught. Abram Van Engen’s Word Made Fresh can refresh our palate and nourish our…

When the angel Gabriel visits Mary to announce Christ’s birth, his final words are “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37 KJV). This proclamation resonates with Genesis 18:14, where the Lord asks Abraham, “Is any thing too hard for the Lord?” These two verses also resonate with a time later in Luke, when…

As the new academic year began, it seemed the whole nation turned its attention to artificial intelligence. News feeds such as “White House Announces New AI Education Initiative,” Esther Wickham. “White House Announces New AI Education Initiative,” AOL The Center Square, September 8, 2025, https://www.aol.com/articles/white-house-announces-ai-education-000000126.html. “Confusing School AI Policies Leave Families Guessing,”Megan Morrone. “Confusing School…

Good days rarely feel remarkable when we are in the midst of them. Their goodness is often something we recognize only in hindsight, when loss sharpens memory and meaning. I learned this lesson on what became my sister’s last good day. In the final week of her life, six days before she passed away, my…

Recently, Tamar Shirinian, a University of Tennessee assistant professor of cultural anthropology, filed a lawsuit against the UT administration, contesting termination over social media posts about the assassination of Charlie Kirk.Keenan Thomas, “Tamar Shirinian Sues University of Tennessee for Suspending Her after Charlie Kirk Comment,” Knoxville News Sentinel, October 30, 2025, https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/education/2025/10/30/professor-sues-university-of-tennessee-over-charlie-kirk-comment-suspension/86950647007/ She is not…

Over the past five years, Christians have had much to say about Critical Race Theory (CRT). Unfortunately, the most widely heard voices have tended to favor demonizing over perspective-­taking. Thankfully, there is now an accessible book on CRT that corrects this error. Author Ed Uszynski not only has the academic credentials to write on this…

Though this is a special theme issue of Christian Scholar’s Review, partly under the editorship of a guest editor, the reviews section is not part of the special issue. This does not mean, of course, that the reviews are not special—indeed, we are blessed with a multitude of insightful contributions. It simply means that they…

Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2024 is “polarization,” defined as “division into two sharply distinct opposites; especially, a state in which the opinions, beliefs, or interests of a group or society no longer range along a continuum but become concentrated at opposing extremes.” Pope Leo XIV, in his first meeting with the media, calls…