Jude: Building one another up in an upside down world

It doesn’t take much to convince us that something is not right—the world is not the way it is supposed to be. For Christians, there is a kind of clarity to this judgment: we live in a “fallen world” and look forward to the day when God will fully restore all of creation to its pre-fallen state. But for now, it is as if the world is turned upside down.

3 reasons why you should read (and my favorite books of 2013)

One of the great pleasures in life is reading a good book. I love to read. I always have a book in my hand (or nearby). I’d hate to find myself with some extra time and nothing to read—I’d probably end up (horror) wasting that time flipping through Facebook on my phone—and miss out on the chance to enter the world of story or learn a thing or two about philosophy or science or theology.

What Best Explains the Mind to World Fit?

A deep fact about the nature of our universe is the remarkable conformity of our human minds to its patterning. According to John Polkinghorne, “we live in a world whose physical fabric is endowed with transparent rational beauty.”[1] From the large-scale structure of our universe described by cosmology to the small-scale processes described by quantum theory, our universe is characterized by a wonderful order that is expressible in concise and elegant mathematical terms. The Laws of Nature are breathtakingly simple—and suggestive—it is as if the universe is haunted by a Mind behind it all.

C.S. Lewis, Religion, Rocketry, and Other Worlds

In his essay “Religion and Rocketry”—originally published in 1958 as “Will we Lose God in Outer Space?”—C.S. Lewis raises the question of alien life in a world created by God. What if life was discovered on other planets? What would such a discovering mean for Christianity? Would such a discovery be the basis for a new attack on Christianity? Or seized by the faithful as the basis for a new defense?

The Return of the Logical Positivist

Logical positivism was a philosophical movement that flourished in the 1920s and 1930s in Europe and the 1940s and 1950s in America. At its core, the movement represented a commitment to empirical science and its technical apparatus (mathematics and logic), a new way of doing philosophy, a radical anti-metaphysical stance, and the rejection of synthetic a priori statements. The movement was largely abandoned in the 1960s and 1970s. Even so, its spirit survives.

Talks

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Favorite Books of 2023

January 1, 2024

Fueled by the conviction that stories sustain us because we were made to be nourished on the good, the true, and the beautiful, I determined to read one fiction book a month for this past year. And I read some very good stories! In addition to fiction, I have benefitted greatly this year from some solid works in philosophy, theology, biography, and spiritual formation. Without further ado, here are my favorite books read in 2023. As is custom, in my book log, I record the book title, author, and date completed, along with a one sentence description. This has been my practice since 2009. My book log now includes 635 entries. This year I read 43 books.

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Favorite Books of 2022

January 3, 2023

I love to read. Of course, being a professor helps. I get to read as part of my job. That’s good. But I also love to read for the sheer pleasure of it. When it comes to fiction, I love entering into secondary worlds and journeying along with the characters of the story. Often non-fiction reads like a good story too: life is life, story is story, and often the two kiss (a loose paraphrase of one of my favorite nonfiction stories of the year, All that is Sad is Untrue). (more…)

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Favorite Books of 2021

January 10, 2022

I love to read. It’s partly why I’m an academic today. What could be better than reading, writing, teaching, and learning every day? Reading books awakens me: to truth, goodness, and beauty. I try, each year, to read broadly. This year, I managed to read 47 books. I’ve been recording every book read in a book log for over 10 years now. Whenever I finish a book, I list the date finished, the title, author, and a one sentence summary of the book. As has become my custom, I offer to you my favorite reads of the past year in philosophy, apologetics and theology, fiction, and non-fiction. (more…)

Posted in Sample Post 1, BRILLIANT AND BEAUTIFUL BLOG