Christianity, Philosophy, and Natural Theology
While some may associate the subject of philosophy with eggheads who talk about old, dead Greeks and Romans, the truth is much more layered and exciting than that: Fundamentally, philosophy concerns our views of life, truth, the world, ethics, and other topics that form our basic worldviews. Consequently, it is relevant to our Christian confession. Yes, it includes discussion about history, but it is not limited to that by any means....
Christianity, Philosophy, and Presuppositions
Approximately one year ago, in the spring of 2020, I was invited to begin teaching Welch College’s offering of Christian Philosophy, which occupies a place in the general education curriculum. Since that time, I have taught four iterations of the course and have loved every minute of it. The subject of philosophy is not simply about philosophers and their ideas. It is also about what and how we think; to that extent, it is relevant to...
Book Review: Retrieving Augustine’s Doctrine of Creation: Ancient Wisdom for Current Controversy
Two seemingly distinct areas in theological studies have enjoyed renewed interest in recent years. A variety of authors have emphasized both the doctrine of creation and the method of theological retrieval. Each area is rich for theological discovery and construction. While some have recently sought to apply theological retrieval specifically to the doctrine of creation, fewer have looked to the early church fathers.[1] Thankfully,...
Recommended Books (Spring 2021)
Christians are most in need of building strong communities of faith and practice during times of cultural strife and alienation. Rod Dreher’s recent publication, Live Not By Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents, builds on his earlier work to argue this point well. Specifically, he reports that persecuted Christians in the Soviet Union clung desperately to good literature and historic theological works as they labored to remain...
Rod Dreher’s Live Not By Lies: A Review
Christianity Today’s Samuel James says that it presents a “surprisingly weak case.”[1] Southern Seminary’s Al Mohler offers a more favorable review: “I think it’s, if anything, an even more important book than The Benedict Option.”[2] Undoubtedly, these men put forward contrasting analyses of Rod Dreher’s newest book, Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents.[3] I first encountered Dreherupon reading his book, Crunchy Cons,...
Recommended Books (Winter 2021)
What societies read, or do not read, has a significant effect on the nature of political discourse in modern democratic countries. Historian Paul Johnson argues that the press, as we now know it, first set “the pace of political change in all the advanced societies” during the 1820s with the invention of the steam press.[1] In the intervening two centuries, the printing industry has gone through massive changes that have surely...
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