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Cancer “treatments”

I am convinced that future generations will look back on the way we treat cancer patients with the same horror and judgement we use when considering how the sick used to be bled to remove bad blood. Our first president was bled four times and had his feet blistered to treat a throat infection. In…
November 16, 2022
Blog

Love Divine and the Rings of Power

Has it been long enough yet since Amazon Prime’s series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power concluded its first season? Long enough that I may discuss the finale without spoiling it for latecomers? Long enough that the passions surrounding it have cooled? For make no mistake, gentle reader, passions there have been…
November 14, 2022
Blog

Book Review – The Future of Christian Marriage

Probably by most Westerners’ reckoning, the institution of marriage has changed dramatically from what it was even seventy years ago. While a majority of Westerners still get married, it is becoming less common; young adults are delaying marriage longer (the age in developed nations now averages around 30); sexual activity is no longer reserved for…
November 10, 2022
BlogIntroduction

Introducing The Christian Scholar’s Review Fall Issue

It’s not surprising that a consistent finding across multiple subfields of psychology is that people are creatures of habit. We mostly go through our days with preferred rhythms of sleeping, eating, working, playing, and engaging with others. But habits and preferences shape more than daily big-ticket items. They also influence the nano-second processes by which…
November 9, 2022
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Gratitude: Our Most Important Virtue

I begin each class session by telling students that I am glad to see them. I end every session by thanking them for coming. A student asked me why. I replied, “Because every time you come to class I am honored and blessed.” “Wow,” he said, “I never thought of it that way.” Neither had…
November 7, 2022
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An Accidental Visual Reminder of Humility

I have an image pinned to the noticeboard by my desk that resulted from a moment of incompetence but seemed worth keeping in view. It was generated while working on data during a recent research project. With a team of colleagues (Steve McMullen, Kara Sevensma, and Marj Terpstra), I was investigating the impact of technological…
November 3, 2022
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 Are Your Students Quiet Quitting or Imbibing Hustle Culture? Consider a Third Way

Despite working with college students well beyond Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000-hour “mastery” threshold and being a parent of three between the ages of 18-24, I (Kenman) regularly stumble while trying to span the generation gap. This divide became apparent again on a recent trip to see my older daughter. Perfectly overlapping academic calendars and Covid shutdowns…
October 28, 2022
Blog

Working at Home, Calling, and Vocation

One of the significant changes to come out of the COVID pandemic was the increased prevalence of working at home (or remotely at other locations). Many of us have now experienced prolonged periods of work at home, and as might be expected, people have varying opinions on how much they like it. The phenomenon of…
October 25, 2022
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Public Libraries as Places of Hope

I did not plan to start a career in in public libraries. In fact, when I applied for a job at my local library, my only intention was to make a bit of money during my last semester of seminary before jumping into “real ministry.” Of course, in his providence, God’s lessons and plans for…
October 24, 2022
Blog

Star Shake, Glass Break, All to the Good

In the mythology of modern art, there are a few old chestnuts that get repeated again and again. There is the time Vincent van Gogh cut off his ear and then bore witness through confessional portraiture. There is the time Pablo Picasso unveiled his first masterpiece, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, and declared it an “exorcism.” (For…
October 21, 2022
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A Few Words in Favor of Reticence

Reticence is not much of western virtue. In Shakespeare's King Lear, the words of Edgar, son of the Earl of Gloucester, to “speak as we feel, not what we ought to say” illustrate the tragic cost of withholding one’s authentic thoughts and feelings toward others and perhaps even more tragically from oneself. After all, pulling…
October 20, 2022
Blog

Can Christian Higher Education Stay the Course?

Not far from our home in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is one of southern Ontario's premier universities, McMaster, known internationally as a centre for advanced scientific and medical research. What few remember is that the university once had a connection with the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Québec, the only remnant of which is the presence…
October 13, 2022
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Author’s Response to Jenell Paris’ Review of Strangers and Scapegoats, Extending God’s Welcome to Those on the Margins

Strangers and Scapegoats is the culmination of some 20 years of my learning to think sociologically while teaching undergraduate students to cultivate their own sociological imaginations. The concept of imagination—of perceiving old things in new ways—plays a central role in the book, and is, for me, key to addressing the perennial problem of the stranger.…
October 11, 2022