…according to our dominant legend, the route of success or career advancement or the realization of one’s “potential as an individual” has led away from one’s origins in family and community and into the “public sphere.” By now the rural […]
Archives for March 2023
What is an intellectual? Some thoughts on Ibram X. Kendi’s piece in The Atlantic
In his recent piece at The Atlantic, Ibram X. Kendi describes how he has “struggled over what it means to be an intellectual.” Kendi is a National Book Award winner and a leading proponent of anti-racism from his perch aa […]
Seven Mountain Dominionism used to be a “stealth” operation. No longer.
In November, 2010, Lance Wallnau, the founder and head of an organization called “Lance Learning Group,” visited Modesto. It was his second visit to the California city. Mark S. Vasche, editor of the The Modesto Bee, wrote about Wallnau’s visit. […]
What is popular this week at Current?
Here are the most popular features of the week at Current: Here are the most popular posts of the last week at The Way of Improvement Leads Home blog: Here are the most popular posts of the last week at The Arena blog:
Memento Mori
Living grace lingers—for now
What I am reading: binge-reading Vodolazkin on the fly
It has been an unusually excitement-packed couple of weeks for the Williams household. Last week, Dan traveled to Wheaton College to give a lecture on the fragmentation of American evangelicalism (and you can read his blog post about it). This […]
MAGA evangelical leader tells churches to take political control of their towns
Yesterday I posted about MAGA prophet Lance Wallnau’s idea of evangelical Trumpists taking over their communities when they hear God say the word “diamond.” Today we have Floyd Brown encouraging local evangelical churches to take over their towns. Watch: Brown […]
Can liberal professors save the GOP by teaching the best of the conservative tradition?
Check out Claremont-McKenna College political scientist Jon Shields New York Times piece on conservative thought in American colleges and universities. A taste: Every year I ask my students, most of whom are quite liberal, to read books in this conservative […]
Is the MAGA movement really populism?
Grove City College historian Gillis Harp asks this question and provides some historical context today at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Here is a taste: Is Donald Trump’s “MAGA” movement real populism? Is it a genuinely democratic movement that truly works to benefit common […]
Evangelical roundup for March 23, 2023
What is happening in Evangelical land? D.G. Hart on the Asbury revival. Evangelicals and Lent Coming soon: George W. Bush sends Bible verses to his kids. What is happening at Northern Seminary? More here. Who will win the CCM March […]
Praise God for suffering? Reformed evangelicals say yes
When Nadya and I visited a Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) congregation in Atlanta this past Sunday, one of the worship songs we sang was Shane & Shane’s 2021 rendition of Psalm 42 (“As the Deer”), which includes this riff […]
Ron DeSantis is heading to Liberty University
A visit to the Liberty University convocation has become a rite of passage for GOP presidential candidates. (Remember Donald Trump’s “Two Corinthians” blunder?) Florida governor Ron DeSantis is obviously aware of this. He will be at Liberty next month. Here […]
“Prophet” Lance Wallnau: Steve Bannon should speak in tongues and the Trump family should be “Charismatic Pentecostals”
Lance Wallnau has been on a roll of late. Some of you know Wallnau. He’s the guy who: He now wants to win MAGA “thought leaders” to Pentecostalism: Wallnau recently spoke at the “Fire and Glory Live” event. Here is […]
We now live in a world where the Christian Right defends a president who gave hush-money to a porn star
This morning I read Ross Douthat’s thoughts on the political ramifications of a Trump indictment in the Stormy Daniels case. Here is a taste: …the political question is inescapable: Will an indictment help Trump or hurt him in his quest […]
Trump calls into the “Pastors for Trump” prayer call
Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, and Donald Trump participated in a “prayer call” Monday night with Jackson Lahmeyer and the Pastors for Trump movement. Some of you may remember Lahmeyer as the 2022 Senate candidate who tried to unseat Jim Lankford […]
“It’s possible that up to a third of students at evangelical colleges are not physically at their schools.”
Michael Wear gets it right: Some of us are taking it seriously–very seriously. But as I have said over and over again, most Christian colleges are now in the business of making sure that they keep the doors open. This […]
The Author’s Corner with Scott Hippensteel
Scott Hippensteel is Associate Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. This interview is based on his new book, Sand, Science, and the Civil War: Sedimentary Geology and Combat (University of Georgia Press, 2023). JF: […]
Meaning in the Age of Maybe-ism
Work, marriage, and worship require more than a shrug
Ideas in progress: Joseph P. Slaughter on Christianity and gun culture
Joseph P. Slaughter is Assistant Professor of the Practice in Religion and Associate Director of the Center for the Study of Guns and Society at Wesleyan University (Middletown, Connecticut). The Arena caught up with him to pose some questions… What […]
On the privileged progressives who preach anti-racism
Over at Christian Century, a liberal Protestant magazine, Baylor University ethicist Jonathan Tran argues that “privileged progressives have turned their attention from structures and systems to sentimentalism.” Here is a taste of his piece: Detached from practiced commitments and practical […]