From The Christian Century: There’s a peculiar thread that runs through the more recent writings on the multiverse. It feels like, for lack of a better word, despair. This despair takes two forms. First, any hope for a grand unifying theory, for completeness of understanding is shattered. Second, the nonlinear, atemporal infinite of the multiverse hypothesis destroys narrative, […]
From The New York Times: It’s as if Jesus’s parable about the workers in the vineyard—where latecomers got the same pay as those who worked all day—has come to life. Earlier this year, Dan Price, a graduate of Seattle Pacific University and CEO of Seattle-based Gravity Payments, made headlines nationwide after announcing plans to raise […]
From Sojourners: “Sex is great–and it will destroy us all!” This brief essay considers how modern purity movements among teenagers are built around a drive for a pure and strong nation — and fear of a looming apocalypse. The article may be useful for exploring with students such themes as holiness theology and purity movements […]
From Lutheran Forum: Christopher J. Nagel at Concordia Irvine reviews Sean Doherty, Theology and Economic Ethics: Martin Luther and Arthur Rich in Dialogue by Sean Doherty (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 228 pp. Doherty’s aim is to present not so much a study in economic ethics but an understanding of a Lutheran method and rationale of economic thinking. The […]
From The Boston Globe and Mercatornet: When those without philosophical training speak with authority on philosophical issues, problem ensue. The authority they hold in one domain – say, science – doesn’t translate in the way they imply. Richard Dawkins is arguably the most prominent example, but others – such as Neil deGrasse Tyson – are […]
From the Becket Fund: Betty and Richard Odgaard were forced to shut down their Gortz Hause Gallery when the Iowa Civil Rights Commission tried forcing them to personally host a same-sex wedding ceremony in violation of their religious beliefs. The state’s prosecution began after a same-sex couple filed a complaint against the Odgaards for declining to plan […]
From RNS: While churches have been feeding the homeless since the beginning of time, these newer ministries are taking advantage of food trucks’ growing popularity among middle-class urban dwellers and they’re dishing out high-end fare that’s several notches above the standard church menu of hamburgers and warmed-over frozen pizza.
From the Economist: “Whether dealing with terrorism, extremism, racism or privacy concerns, the European default solution seems to involve chipping away at freedom of expression,” argues Jacob Mchangama. Moreover there has been a clear movement in the wrong direction of suppressing religious freedom. In a short essay published this week, he cites an impressively, almost improbably […]
From the WSJ: When President Obama announced new “Clean Power Plan” regulations to help mitigate climate change, religious leaders were quick to offer their blessing. Some 170 evangelicals—pastors, religion professors, nonprofit directors and others—sent an open letter to the president “to offer our support and encouragement for your efforts to overcome the climate challenge.”
On natural settings and religion: a Baylor University study, published in the journal Sociology of Religion, found that U.S. counties with nicer weather and prettier natural surroundings see lower rates of religious affiliation. The study authors suggest that, yes, people tend to use nature as a spiritual resource, making it a competitor with organized religious institutions.
