While I’ve been critical of Mark Lilla in the past, his article in last week’s New York Times Magazine, “The President and the Passions,” hits the nail on the head. In a way reminiscent of Charles Taylor’s critique of “intellectualist” philosophies of action, Lilla notes that Obama’s failures might stem from his over-estimation of the…
David Robinson, maestro behind The House, the Anglican campus ministry at the University of Ottawa, alerted me to a few clips from my recent lecture, “Beyond A/Theism: Postmodernity and the Future of Religion.” A DVD of the entire lecture is available from their website.
“Practical theology,” in our still-Schleiermacherian theological curricula, has always been a bit of a stepchild in the seminary–an appendix to the “serious” work of systematic theology and biblical studies, the place in the curriculum for a few tips and tricks about how to conduct a funeral or do hospital visits, the “touchy-feely” enclave down the…
There’s a lot at play just in the title of D.G. Hart and John R. Muether’s Seeking a Better Country: 300 Years of American Presbyterianism. The title itself is a double entendre. On the one hand, it is a backhanded critique of what they discern as a key failure of American Presbyterianism: its assimilation to…
A number of folks have been sending me links to the various viral videos that document “flash mob” performances of Handel’s Messiah in mall food courts and department stores. Here’s a sample: These are coming to me, I’m guessing, because Desiring the Kingdom opens with an extensive analysis of the “liturgy” of the mall–outlining how…
Dear Baptist Reviewer, Thanks very much for your interest in Letters to a Young Calvinist: An Invitation to the Reformed Tradition–and for taking the time to read my little tome of missives. I really appreciate that you’re willing to engage the book. In many ways, it was written with you in mind. I know we…