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In this essay Daniel R. Allen reviews nuclear deterrence, the most crucial theoretic construct for nuclear weapons policy. A wide range of positions exists with respect to belief in the deterrent utility of nuclear weapons. The positions of deterrence optimists rely entirely on a presumption that human rationality undercuts the motive for nuclear weapon use.…

In this essay Tyler Wigg-Stevenson situates the new international discourse on the “humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons” as the latest historical phase of nuclear weapons governance, involving a shift in focus toward the risks and effects of nuclear weapons, rather than the political ends they serve. Read in light of a Christian political theology that…

Steven McMullen notes that in recent years, a number of theologians and philosophers, following John Milbank, have drawn on continental post-modern philosophy to form a critique of capitalism and modern economics. Often called the “Radical Orthodoxy” movement, these scholars argue that the problems with capitalism lie not with its results, but its underlying metaphysics and…

Christians have been active in philosophy of mathematics in recent years, but Steven D. Boyer and Walter B. Huddell III argue that the classical work of Augustine of Hippo in this field has been largely misunderstood or distorted even by its supposed advocates. This essay corrects that distortion and shows how the traditional Augustinian awareness…

As Christ-followers become increasingly active in social justice, what is motivating their efforts? Steve L. Porter argues that the sustainability of Christian social action is ultimately dependent on receptivity to the energizing presence of Christ. Felicia Heykoop, Barbara Miller, and Todd Pickett each reflect on the practicalities of implementing such a model in a college,…

Twentieth century English composer Benjamin Britten demonstrated an unusual capacity to evoke transcendent dimensions of reality. In this essay David A. Hoekema argues that certain works for accompanied solo voices and some non-operatic stage works achieve an intensity of musical and emotional expression that seem to encompass both divine and human realms. Examples of this…

Marcia Webb contends that previous attempts at psychological interpretation of the Book of Job have often focused upon psychoanalytic or psychodynamic analyses of the text. In this essay she attempts instead to integrate biblical analysis of the ancient manuscript with contemporary empirically-based theory from trauma research and religious coping studies from the psychology of religion.…

The classic Protestant teaching about work has led evangelicals to view work as a vocation. In changing economic times, however, Scott Waalkes argues that we should rethink the classic teaching. He analyzes three “ideal type” views of vocation: a Reformational view, focused on “stations” or divine commands; a mystical view, focused on inner meaning; and…

Many writers have commented on the theological elements within the strange world of Flannery O’Connor’s stories. In this essay, Derek C. Hatch asserts that O’Connor’s work has deep theological resonances with twentieth-century Catholic ressourcement thought, especially that of French Jesuit Henri de Lubac. While there is no genealogical link between them, O’Connor’s fiction evidences an…

John M. DePoe points out that Alvin Plantinga’s evolutionary argument against naturalism is often considered to follow similarly to an argument given by C. S. Lewis. However, in this essay he suggests there are significant differences in their arguments against naturalism, which his analysis of their arguments emphasizes. The most significant contrast is the standard…

Many liberal arts colleges express a commitment to educate the whole person; yet, educating for emotional formation rarely receives explicit attention. In The Abolition of Man C.S. Lewis argues that proper moral education essentially involves emotional formation informed by an understanding of emotions as recognitions of objective values that function together with reason to yield…

Writings in theological discussions of beauty evince certain problematic tendencies with respect to “spirit” language. Whether it is the paucity of such language or an idiosyncratic usage of it, “spirit” language is often evacuated of specifically pneumatological content. In this essay W. David O. Taylor attempts to re-conceptualize the Holy Spirit’s role with respect to…

What affects students’ views more, their gender or the type of college they attend (that is, Christian or secular)? Thomas Knecht and Emily Ecklund argue that women at Christian colleges generally have more in common with women at secular colleges than they do with men at their own schools. Nevertheless, students at Christian colleges part…

For all the credence given to the fact that teachers impact student learning, research has yet to pinpoint the exact nature of this supposed causal connection. The veracity of this crucial connection is affirmed both biblically and intuitively but not prescriptively or empirically. After an extensive review of the literature, in this article William F.…

In this essay Stephen Moroney provides an updated map to help readers grasp several ways that faith and learning intersect for professors and for students, in the academy and in the classroom, in the curriculum, and in lived experience. Integration approaches often focus on relating the content of the Christian faith to the content of…

Despite nearly fifty years since structural changes predicated the “model minority thesis” and “culture of poverty” arguments, these beliefs continue to be employed as cultural abstractions. Henry H. Kim elucidates how these concepts emerged in the 1960s and re- emerged in the twenty-first century and critiques these beliefs via historical sociology. A modified version of…

Keith D. Wyma argues that a coherent, well-grounded Christian perspective on civil dis- obedience is possible, and can be found in the work of Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas gives crisp guidelines regarding when civil disobedience could be morally allowable—or even obligatory—and supplies a “test” to determine whether a given method of disobedience is morally appropriate. The…

The faith-integration model, with its working assumption that “All truth is God’s truth,” has become the standard approach for many scholars at evangelical colleges and universities as they seek to understand the relationship between faith and learning. In this essay, Kevin D. Miller proposes that the integration model harbors an imperialistic impulse and proposes instead…

Sociologists Michael Emerson and Christian Smith asked in their book Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America: will the evangelical church remove the color line? Phillip Luke Sinitiere offers a “history” of Divided by Faith since its publication in 2000. This article traces out the book’s impact on scholars, accounting…

Introduction The American religious landscape is increasingly dominated by the influence of megachurches. A common criticism of megachurches is that they reinforce the bad habits of consumer culture. They do so by commodifying religion for the easy consumption of the religious consumer. Using Vince Miller’s account of consumer culture, and Michel De Certeau’s theoretical project…