A couple of weeks ago, over at The Immanent Frame, I was asked to comment on Hanna Rosin’s Atlantic article which drew connections between the prosperity gospel and the subprime mortgage catastrophe. At that time, I suggested the following: So prosperity preachers are easy targets for blame—and they certainly deserve that. But what about the…
Over at What I’m Reading, I’ve now completed the retrospective of my Top Reads for 2009. And I’ve just added an “Honorable Mention” in each category as a kind of “bonus track.” The categories are: Fiction Poetry Nonfiction & Memoir Short Stories
Christmas Is Really For the Children By Steve Turner Christmas is reallyfor the children.Especially for childrenwho like animals, stables,stars and babies wrappedin swaddling clothes.Then there are wise men,kings in fine robes,humble shepherds and ahint of rich perfume. Easter is not reallyfor the childrenunless accompanied bya cream filled egg.It has whips, blood, nails,a spear and allegationsof…
Hanna Rosin’s Atlantic article, “Did Christianity Cause the Crash?,” has generated a fair bit of conversation. The core thesis is that something like Joel Osteen’s prosperity gospel planted seeds of greed that overstretched many–and that subprime mortgage sharks found these congregations to be, well, “prime” targets. The folks at Immanent Frame have pulled together a…
Over at “ThinkChristian,” Nathan Bierma poses a few questions to me about my argument in Desiring the Kingdom. Check it out, along with some of the other cultural commentary at the ThinkChristian site. Update: A slightly expanded version of the same Q&A is available on the blog of the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship.
Not wanting to be left out of the fun, over at What I’m Reading I’ve begun the annual ritual of reading retrospection, highlighting some of my favorite reads from the past year. I’ve begun with five of my favorite short stories read in 2009. I’m hoping to follow up with posts on poetry, non-fiction, and…