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An Evangelical Philosopher and an Exvangelical Walk into a Coffee Shop

“Exvangelicalism” is a relatively new term for a much older phenomenon: those who’ve been raised as evangelicals coming to realize that they no longer identify as such, and intentionally reckoning with the continuing impact of that tradition in their lives. Philosophers have not had much to say about this phenomenon – until now.  These four…
July 22, 2022
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Moving Beyond Racial Division

Book Review: George Yancey, Beyond Racial Division: A Unifying Alternative to Colorblindness and Antiracism. IVP, 2022. Does George Yancey have any friends? His new book Beyond Racial Division rejects dominant models for racial engagement, an unpopular approach that clears space for a third way. In challenging colorblindness, the perspective probably held among most evangelicals, he…
July 21, 2022
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Book Review – The Empathy Diaries: A Memoir

I first encountered Sherry Turkle years ago when a colleague in philosophy mentioned her to me as someone to keep an eye on. Later, I received from him a copy of one of her early books, The Second Self. Turkle’s more recent books, Alone Together and Reclaiming Conversation, contain remarkable insights into how technology shapes…
July 19, 2022
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Book Review – Science and the Doctrine of Creation: The Approaches of Ten Modern Theologians

Evangelicals do not have a reputation for wise and irenic engagement with modern science. Scholars at The Henry Center at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School have been trying to change this characterization of hostile defensiveness, especially through their “Creation Project” that has brought evangelical scholarly focus to the doctrine of creation over recent years, of which…
July 12, 2022
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Superstitions in Sport: A Brief Theological and Sporting Perspective

{The following excerpt comes from Matt Hoven, J.J. Carney, and Max Engel, On the Eighth Day: A Catholic Theology of Sport (Cascade/Wipf & Stock: Eugene, OR, 2022), 115-7. Used with permission from Wipf and Stock Publishers. Available for purchase at wipfandstock.com, Amazon.com, and elsewhere}. The vast majority of elite athletes practice superstitions—despite the fact that…
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Seeing Relationships through the Kelp Forest

Giant kelp. It’s a species of algae that can grow over 50 meters tall, making it the largest marine algae.  It’s also one of the fastest growing living things on our planet.“Giant Kelp.” SIMoN. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://sanctuarysimon.org/dbtools/species-database/id/40/macrocystis/pyrifera/giant-kelp. On its own, giant kelp is an impressive part of God’s creation. However, I’d argue that…
July 7, 2022
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Performative Prayer at Athletic Events: An Important Free Exercise Freedom with Limited Christian Importance

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”                         Matthew 6:1 I rarely see so many public intellectuals misunderstand the implications of a Supreme Court case as the recent Kennedy v. Bremerton School District decision…
July 6, 2022
BlogBook Review

Book Review – Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation

“Owning a piano does not make the pianist.” This wisdom from folklore also pertains to the fine art of parenting. Having children does not guarantee successful outcomes.Jerry Bigner and Clara Gerhardt, Parent-Child Relations: An Introduction to Parenting, 10th ed. (Pearson Publishing, 2018), 6. Hence, emotionally vested parents and coparents will go out of their way…
July 5, 2022
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Guest Post – What’s in a Name?

My husband and I are called by nicknames from our middle names. Needless to say, this can make for some confusing, if not frustrating, moments when legal documents are involved to prove that this is indeed the real me. However, the upside is I immediately know if it’s a salesperson on the phone if they…
June 30, 2022
BlogBook Review

Book Review – Survival: A Theological-Political Genealogy

Perhaps the first thing to say about Adam Stern’s book is that it demonstrates deep erudition and analytical capability in the author’s quest to interrogate the concept of survival in a theological and political sense. Stern carries out his exercise primarily through interaction with texts by the Jewish scholars Hannah Arendt, Walter Benjamin, Franz Rosenzweig,…
June 28, 2022
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Fleeing from Quarrels toward Creole

(Curtiss DeYoung (lead author) and contributing authors Jacqueline J. Lewis, Micky ScottBey Jones, Robyn Afrik, Sarah Thompson Nahar, Sindy Morales Garcia, and ‘Iwalani Ka’ai,  Becoming Like Creoles: Living and Leading at the Intersections of Injustice, Culture, and Religion Fortress Press, 2019). In 1 Timothy, Paul warns against “unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words…
June 24, 2022
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Guest Post – Resisting the Tyranny of Immediacy: Cultivating Patience in Digital Spaces

In Western culture, and especially in America, patience is rarely considered a virtue. Increasingly, we celebrate impetuosity. The punchline of a recent New Balance commercial, for example, is “impatience is a virtue.” This tactic is ostensibly deployed for marketing purposes—mere hyperbole meant to highlight that company’s corporate social responsibility initiatives (i.e., when it comes to…
June 23, 2022
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Fatherlessness, Whether Chosen or Not, Is Still a Tragedy 

Take up the cause of the fatherless.Isaiah 1:17 America currently has the largest percentage of children raised without two parents in the world (23% compared to 7% for the rest of the world). We also have the highest-ever number of children living without fathers in America (same web source). Our children and society will experience the…
June 17, 2022
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Teaching with the End in Mind

I earned my master’s degree as a single mother while working full time. It was as intense as it sounds. Once or twice a week for about two years, I’d leave work and immediately drive an hour east to my night classes at the closest state university. Afterward, I’d get home around 10:00, stay up…
June 16, 2022