Items included on this page come from a variety of sources. The perspectives conveyed may or may not express a Lutheran ethos. They can serve our instruction as discussion-starters, examples (positive and negative), and illustrations of intersections between God’s two kingdoms, intersections sometimes characterized by tension, sometimes by congruence. Inclusion does not imply endorsement.
Can Monasteries Be a Model for Reclaiming Tech Culture for Good? Monasteries ushered civilization through the Dark Ages; perhaps unMonasteries, sparing the dogma and self-flagellation, can keep alive the promise of a liberating Internet as companies like Google and Facebook tighten their grip. Hackers are transforming an ancient city into a prototype for the future. As […]
What’s the Value of Utility? A brief essay that can help students quickly reconsider assumptions about value, what is important, why, how we assess value, versions of moral calculus, different ethical theories, and personal and public policy. The greatest happiness for the greatest number may sound like a noble idea, but exactly how are we supposed to […]
Christian but Not Religious: “’Spiritual but Not Religious’ is a phrase many young Evangelicals now use to describe themselves, in order to highlight their personal relationship with Jesus. As someone who studies law and religion in America, I’m embarrassed to say that this was new to me.” The writer, Mark Movsesian, co-directs the Tradition Project at the St. […]
30 Years After Explosion, Challenger Engineer Still Blames Himself: A shuttle engineer for the Challenger has carried a burden of guilt for thirty years. Says Bob Ebeling, “That was one of the mistakes God made. He shouldn’t have picked me for that job. But next time I talk to him, I’m gonna ask him, ‘Why me? You […]
God’s Dice: Randomness is distinct from the Greek concept of chance. Conflating the two imports to science the sense that random events are gratuitous. Mathematician James Bradley discusses Darwin, Einstein, Bohr, and explores the theme that indeterminacy in God’s creation can be purposeful.
NAE, LifeWay Research Publish Evangelical Beliefs Research Definition: Because researchers use different tools to identify evangelicals, results vary in polling. Lifeway Research has developed, reviewed, and tested an evangelical beliefs research definition for accurate and consistent use among researchers. (Could such a research definition be developed for Lutherans or Catholics?)
The Institute of Religious Studies at Baylor University, hosted by The National Press Club, examines the statistics and survey reports about religion in the U.S. and what some critics are calling “the secularization myth.” Although surveys have found a decline in membership for Mainline denominations, many actually changed to other denominations from which they grew up in. Yet […]
Mathematicians agree that we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of understanding fractal geometry. You don’t have to look hard to notice aspects of nature that clearly don’t fit the Euclidean framework. Rivers, mountains, coastlines, lightning, our circulatory system: Where’s the symmetry and structure? Where’s the order? The answer, as mathematicians are discovering more and more […]
Welcome to the first global Christian hackathon, where programmers speak of transformational love and pastors wield code. In 13 cities, 800 Christian coders, developers, programmers, designers, pastors, and artists gathered together for a 48-hour simultaneous hackathon. They scripted, designed, collaborated, and competed to develop new apps and websites for global and local adherents to the […]
The Great Math Mystery: this 60 min. NOVA program on the nature of math addresses an old question that many students have never considered: is math a human invention that we impose on reality, or is math part of the nature of reality and already “put in place” which we then discover? One’s answer to […]
