On writing, books, tech, and faith
Kevin Williamson of 'The Dispatch' recently gave his take on the popular religious TV show The Chosen. Noting how the producers took liberty to focus on the ordinary human concerns of the characters rather than on moral lessons that "slide into mythology", he writes: There isn’t any way to make a series about the life … Continue reading What ‘The Chosen’ Gets Right: Dramatizing a Perfect Storm
Isabel Fattel of The Atlantic reports on why so many people in America have left the church. While the more dramatic factors of abuse and political idolatry are briefly mentioned (and must be taken seriously!), there is a much larger and more boring reason---a reason that suggests more about Americans than the nature of church … Continue reading The Banal Reason Why People Leave Church: Career
Sometimes I think about a response I received after telling someone about heaven. We had been discussing how we talk to our kids about death (which sounds morbid, but as all parents know, children are remarkably candid about these matters), and I mentioned that the story I share with my children is entirely shaped by … Continue reading Christianity Doesn’t Work That Way
In my early college years, I was introduced to rhetoric, an ancient subject which has occupied the minds of great thinkers stretching back to Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Quintilian, and St. Augustine. I remember feeling surprised by the course. As a young student, I simply had no idea that behind the degree I was pursuing stood … Continue reading A Rare Example of Responsible Rhetoric
“Bitterness is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” ~Joanna Weaver There is nothing so easy in the world as finding angry people on the Internet. They are in comments and posts, videos and memes, comics and photos, essays and tweets. They are everywhere, and partly for good reason: there are … Continue reading Bitterness, Wrath, and the Problem with Biblical Counselors
Hundreds of years ago, the English theologian John Wesley wrote a moving commentary on the radical, self-sacrificial love commanded by Jesus Christ. It's remarkable how reading this passage today shows a stark contrast between biblical love and the type of love touted in the shallow memes of social media.
Jemar Tisby has done the church a great service in documenting its pattern of racism during key epochs in American history and showing a way towards repentance and institutional reform. This isn't just a historical survey of the distant past but of events as recent as Black Lives Matter and the election of Trump. At the very least, Tisby's analysis ought to prompt Christians to critically examine how racism manifests in their midst in subtle ways today, and determine how to fight it.
What if we are not primarily thinking creatures, but creatures of habit? What if we are not driven mainly by what we know, but by what we love? My review of this incredible book by James K.A. Smith.
Best-selling author Yuval Harari recently claimed that free will is a myth, humans are more hackable than ever before, and religion has no place in addressing the scientific and technological challenges of the future. Here's why he's wrong.
Historian Yuval Noah Harari does not believe religion has anything relevant to say about the technological challenges of the future. His argument reminds me of a passage from an award-winning novel that suggests otherwise.
Richard Rabil, Jr. 