Twenty-five years ago, some futurists foresaw a major global crisis arriving in about the year 2020. In 1995 I published EarthCurrents: The Struggle for the World’s Soul. The book discussed a variety of issues, including
Marina Warner has written an intriguing book, Once Upon a Time: A Short History of Fairy Tale (Oxford: 2014, 201 pp.). The book plunges deep into the well of fairy tales. From various angles it
Let’s ponder the promise and peril of populism. Or maybe the triumph and terror of populism. Follow the news for a random hour, and you’ll probably hear the words populism and populist. “Populist revolt.” “populist
I walk into a shopping mall. In a central courtyard is a beautiful floor made of different colors and sizes of tiles. Admiring the floor, I start to wonder whether the tiles are laid
Reading keeps our minds sharp and helps us stay current in our understanding of our mission. Shannon Sigler shares some recommended reading for worship, culture, and the arts.
So the figures in the book of Judges have been blurred out of focus by tradition, VBS programs, and perhaps also our inability to see biblical characters as real people. In short, the main characters
Those of you who remember my last post on Tarantino and the Bible recall I asked what are really some silly and pointless questions. Maybe you were thinking, boy if this is how lame his questions
Another piece of poetry I always pull out and savor at Easter is the Easter Homily of John Chrysostom. I have not gone back and found the actual “official” published version of it, and I’m
I love that parable of David Foster Wallace about the two fish, swimming happily along, when they meet and old fish swimming toward them in the other direction. He passes, saying “How’s the water, boys?”
I ended the last article by referring to the Hebrew term שֵׁכָר or šēkār, traditionally translated “strong drink” and noted that we now understand that this likely refers to beer. Now, before you start imagining King David
Of course, it depends on who “they” are. In the last several years evangelicals have been talking about alcohol. Historically, American protestant evangelicals have tended though never unanimously, toward the position of total abstinence, a position
A recent writing project sent me back to a type of literature scholars typically call “heroic.” It’s the ancient version of the action-adventure flick. I won’t bore you with the details, which you can read about in my
