The Pearl of Great Wisdom: The Deep & Abiding Biblical Roots of Western Liberal Education — The rich tradition of liberal learning in the West has in fact remained at the most fundamental levels more biblical than classical. From the fountain of biblical study flowed not only a high order of widely applicable interpretative skills ( techné), […]
Parsonage and Prophecy: The Reformation opened up new doors for women—and closed many others. Women’s roles in the church shifted, subtly but certainly, as Katherine von Bora Luther’s had done—away from the church itself and into the home. It was the management of the clerical household, not the theological defense of clerical marriage and an egalitarian […]
Pastor’s Suit Dismissed Under Ecclesiastical Abstention Doctrine: The Michigan Court of Appeals applied the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine to dismiss a suit brought by a Lutheran pastor challenging actions that forced his resignation from St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church. He claims this led to his “blacklisting” in the church and his inability to practice his profession. The court […]
Mind, Matter And Materialism: If mind rests on matter, this must include admitting just how murky our understanding of matter is at the deepest levels. Our job in thinking about the world is to distinguish what science has actually found out about the world from the metaphysical commitments for which the findings of science are often mistaken. We […]
Cracking the Gender Code: Douglas Farrow at McGill University has been developing some concise discussions on the gender identity language and perspectives. Students can assess his efforts in this article and in a piece at First Things titled The Right to Be Yourself.
March Mildness? Americans Say Sports Isn’t All About Winning: 52 percent of Americans describe their philosophy of sports by saying, “It’s not whether you win or lose—it’s how you play the game.” Most Americans want players to play the game ‘the right way’ and not potentially endanger others simply for the sake of winning. 40 percent of Americans […]
Hey Journalists: Who is the Face of the Religious Left? — This audio program seeks to examine the recent history of politics and religion, the labels for the factions, and the issues embedded in those factions and labels. Students might use this discussion to explore their own perceptions and what they hear in the news […]
What motivates moral outrage? — Expressing outrage could reflect an underlying concern with justice. Research shows bystanders’ level of moral outrage can predict their willingness to pursue justice for a victimized group. From this perspective, outrage is driven by differing conceptions of what is just. From our perspective, such public displays of outrage make more sense if […]
