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From Violence Loop to Conversion Spiral: Mimetic Theory and Communities of Care for Children with Disabilities

This collaboration between a social work researcher with expertise in systems of care for those with disabilities and a literary scholar asks whether mimetic theory can shed light on relational dynamics surrounding children with intellectual disabilities. Data came from two sources: field experience with organizations in China and interviews with stakeholders of organizations in Michigan.…
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Mimetic Theory: Some Pointers for Christian Economists

Mimetic theory has received very little attention from economists. This essay by an ap-plied microeconomist may be the first article written on mimetic theory directed primarily at an audience of mainstream Anglo-American economists. It outlines the potential con-tributions of mimetic theory to economics, discussing Rene Girard’s core ideas in terms of economics terminology and concepts.…
January 15, 2021
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Without Rival: Mimetic Theory in a First-Year Seminar

In a global digital culture of influencers, followers, and attention-deficit disorders, mimetic theory helps show that imitation shapes much more of human behavior than once thought and that even desire is mimetic. People want what they see others wanting, which often means conflict. It is an idea with complex implications, but its kernel is simple…
January 15, 2021
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Evangelizing Atheism: Missing the Mark in Recent Christian Film

Many Christian films released in the last two decades often pitch themselves as a means of evangelizing unbelievers and reassuring the faith of believers. This article uses the film God’s Not Dead as an example of the recent trend in Christian films and argues, using historical parallels, that these films undermine their stated purposes and…
November 12, 2020
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Economics, Theology, and a Case for Economic Growth: An Assessment of Recent Critiques

Economic growth is controversial. While economists tend to support it, in recent decades economic growth has been vigorously critiqued from multiple points of view, including from Christian theology and ethics. In this article Edd S. Noell and Stephen L. S. Smith analyze economic growth in light of both economics and Christian theology, and make a…
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“I am Inclined to Look at Everything as Resulting from Designed Laws”: Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species as a Specimen of Natural Theology

In the description of Darwin’s life and work, a common assumption is that he gradually lost all belief in God, eventually becoming an atheist. In this article we demonstrate that, while Darwin became more and more sceptical of some aspects of traditional Christian beliefs, he nevertheless saw himself as standing in the natural theology tradition,…
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Shaping Prophetic Voices for the Public Sphere

“Shaping Prophetic Voices for the Public Sphere” discusses the role of the church in the formation of the Christian intellectual’s concern for the common good. It draws on examples from Scripture and formulates the biblical mandate and theological rationale that undergird the need for Christian intellectuals to live out their call in community and for…
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Seeking the Common Good by Educating for Wisdom

It is a noble aspiration that Christian scholars contribute in more constructive ways to discussions in the public arena about the common good. Careful thinking, however, needs to be done about where and how such voices will be cultivated. The university has an essential and indeed imperative role in such formation, but it will need…
July 15, 2020
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From “Stranger” to “Neighbor”: Neurodiversity’s Visionary Opportunities as Public Intellectuals Promote the Common Good

“Neurodiversity’s Visionary Opportunities” creates caring definitions, establishes philosophical principles supporting the common good, offers transcendent ethics of conduct, and proposes biblical, practical life applications. Social science and neuroscience research, understood through a Scriptural lens, is joined to vocational possibilities for neurodiverse individuals. Evangelical scholars have both the legacy of forward thinking and the responsibility to…
July 15, 2020
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Introduction to the Theme Issue: Public Intellectuals and the Common Good: Christian Thinking for Human Flourishing

Todd C. Ream is Professor of Higher Education at Taylor University, the Senior Fellow for Programming for the Lumen Research Institute, and the publisher for Christian Scholar’s Review. Previously, Ream served on college and university campuses in residence life, student support services, honors programs, and as a chief student development officer. He is the author…
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Subversive Christian Allegory in In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Overlooked by film critics, screenwriter Stirling Silliphant crafted subversive Christian allegory into his Academy Award-winning adaptation of mystery novel In the Heat of the Night. This essay demonstrates that Silliphant reframed both the book’s main character, Virgil Tibbs, and the book’s murder victim as countercultural Christ-figures who confront the lifeless and racist cultural Christian religion…
April 15, 2020
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Reading to Listen and Writing to Speak: A Pedagogical Challenge for the Selfie Age

This essay examines the intersecting pedagogical and theological stakes of conflating our practices of reading and writing. With attention to ongoing “turf wars” within English departments, as well as to broader university trends toward prioritizing ROI, assessable artifacts, and marketable skills, it argues that we should de-couple reading and writing, recognizing them as distinctive practices…
January 15, 2020
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Plagiarism as the Language of Ownership: Aligning Academic Liturgy with Christian Virtue

Policies regarding plagiarism and academic integrity are among the most common liturgies in American higher education, yet Christian teachers and scholars have given minimal attention to the ways such liturgies shape students’ assumptions about the ownership of words and ideas. While analyzing handbooks, honor codes, and academic policies, Rachel B. Griffis considers concepts of plagiarism…
January 15, 2020