Skip to main content
Blog

How Coaching Youth Sports Helped My Thinking about Christian Character

The most important activity that helped refine my view of character education was not taking classes on epistemology and ethics from Dallas Willard. Nor was it taking all my other Ph.D. classes that addressed virtue or moral development. It was coaching youth league sports. Granted, readings in philosophy, ethics, and theology led me to recognize…
June 25, 2025
Blog

AI and the Grammar of Descent

Recently, there’s been even more press than usual about AI proliferation and its associated risks. The hype has been driven, in part, by the now infamous Ross Douthat interview with Daniel Kokotajlo, executive director of the A.I. Futures Project, in which Kokotajlo suggests that AI could take over civilization—and “then kill all the humans”—by 2027.…
June 24, 2025
Blog

God Made All Nations from One Blood: The Origins of a Biblical Argument against Slavery

In 1526, William Tyndale’s ground-breaking translation of the English New Testament appeared. In this translation, Tyndale used a unique phrase that was not in John Wycliffe’s original English translation. Instead of translating a key passage from Paul’s sermon to the Athenians in Wycliffe’s original way, “ made of one all the kind of men” (Acts…
Blog

Mirrors Transformed by Light:Meditations on the God Who Is Light

I’d like to propose a thought experiment -- one that may transform your understanding of something you see every day. Thought experiments can change the world, or at least your understanding of it. Einstein’s great scientific breakthroughs started with a thought experiment, something like this one. For our experiment, imagine how a mirror works. If…

Subscribe

for new content notifications, access to video and audio conversations with our writers, and invitations to our events.

Blog

The Peril of “Illumination”

When is illumination, as light shined upon knowledge, no more than sound and fury—signifying nothing? Are there times when illumination is even perilous? I have been on a tear this summer reading books whose copyrights have expired, allowing me to download them for free. I recently read the 1896 novel, “The Damnation of Theron Ware;…
September 9, 2021
Blog

Those Data Points Are People

Trying to keep abreast of the relevant findings about SARS-Cov-2 is a fully time job for someone, but it is a real challenge for a busy college professor with a host of other responsibilities. I am grateful for the work of public health organizations that curate high quality scientific publications and summarize those most pertinent. CIDRAP,…
September 8, 2021
Blog

Death and Lipstick

Among the modern artists my students resonate with most are the German Expressionists who worked mainly in the years just preceding and including the First World War. Something about their frank, garish and often gruesome work feels honest. With its jagged lines and dark narratives, it doesn’t sugar-coat or lie. It’s jarringly autobiographical, shamelessly confessional.…
September 7, 2021
Blog

Being Christian in the Time of Climate Change

The recent publication of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) sixth report reminds us again of the challenges facing humanity in regards to human-caused climate change.IPCC, 2021: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate…
September 2, 2021
Blog

Fall Plans and the Delta Variant

Two weeks ago, a meme circulated with two pictures, labeled “My Fall Plans” and “The Delta Variant.” Usually the former image was cheerful and the latter considerably more dark. I saw most of these posted by my professor friends, asking a very good question: How can professors be expected to write a syllabus in this…
September 1, 2021
Blog

Anger Reconsidered

The Prince of Peace said, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Mt 10:34). Amid the ubiquitous anger of 2021 America, especially virulent on college campuses, Christians and non-Christians alike can see the truth of this paradox. A paradox that is harder to see, but could be a key to restoring peace,…
August 31, 2021
Blog

Encouragement for the Class of 2025

Dire prognostications have been floating around based on the supposed lack of preparation incoming college students are likely to have because of the tumultuous disruption in their education caused by COVID. I worry that the class of 2025 will get discouraged by these pronouncements to the extent that they become a self-fulfilling prophecy. To help…
August 30, 2021
Blog

Is Your Institution Serious about Its Christian Identity? Learning from a Comprehensive Diversity Initiative

Some colleagues and I recently undertook a national study of Christian faculty development programs at Christian colleges and universities. Although I will share a link to the academic publication containing the results when published, I want to share one of our conclusions. We realized in the end that Christian institutions need some fresh ideas in…
August 27, 2021
Blog

Guest Post – The Dehumanization of the Athlete: A Christian Call to Love

Prior to and throughout the recent Tokyo Olympics, we heard story after story about the sacrifice, determination, perseverance, and relentless pursuit of mastery and excellence characterizing various selected athletes. This is to be expected—networks strive to generate deep interest and, principally, maximize revenues through meticulously crafted, compelling narratives. Getting viewers to care will get viewers…
August 26, 2021