Yet another round of social commentary has been unleashed in the aftermath of Lia Thomas’ recent victory at the NCAA swimming nationals. In case you’ve been living under a rock, Lia is a biological male, who, until last year, swam on the men’s team at Penn. But this year, swimming in the female category as […]
Wednesday, 04 May, 2022 by Joshua Pauling
What is a trickster tale? According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, “the trickster-tale genre of folklore appears in some form in every culture” and usually features “a protagonist (often an anthropomorphized animal) who has magical powers and who is characterized as a compendium of opposites.” The trickster-hero frequently “serves as a sort of folkloric scapegoat onto which […]
Wednesday, 13 April, 2022 by Joshua Pauling
There is a nostalgic allure associated with the family farm and home industry of yesteryear, where once upon a time families labored together towards a common goal, with achievements physically manifested in the world; a field plowed, a fence mended, a crop harvested. It’s easy to romanticize this pre-industrial norm, overlooking its challenges and difficulties: […]
Friday, 11 March, 2022 by Joshua Pauling
*** Just and Sinner Publications | 2021 | 241 pages (paperback) | $24.00 With his Union with Christ, Jordan Cooper adds a second publication to his “Contemporary Protestant Scholastic Theology” series. This publication is projected to be volume six in the overall series, by which Cooper is attempting to rejuvenate seventeenth-century Lutheran Scholasticism, a high […]
Tuesday, 01 March, 2022 by Joshua Pauling
“To me, everything that is is magical and mysterious,” explains Byung-Chul Han in a recent interview. He continues, “I would say that I am not a romantic, but a realist who perceives the world the way it is. It simply consists of magic and mystery.” Intriguing words from a philosopher who has written numerous precise […]
Friday, 11 February, 2022 by Joshua Pauling
What are bodies for? Why do we have bodies? John Kleinig sets out to answer such simple, yet profound, questions in his recent book Wonderfully Made: A Protestant Theology of the Body. As Kleinig puts it, such an inquiry “is not a theoretical question for idle speculation, something for philosophers to consider. It is a […]
Friday, 14 January, 2022 by Joshua Pauling
Denominations across the spectrum are facing the reality of youth attrition. Findings from Pew Research Center suggest that upwards of three-quarters of today’s religious “nones” were “raised as a member of a particular religion before shedding their religious identity in adulthood.” Historically, at least a portion of those who left the church would return when […]
Monday, 08 November, 2021 by Joshua Pauling
A lively debate over how central Christian worldview thinking should be has been going on for many years. Some posit that worldview is the catalyst that brings Christian doctrine into faithful practice, through applying biblical teaching to cultural issues. Take for example, Al Mohler’s daily program The Briefing, which opens each day with, “this is […]
Friday, 01 October, 2021 by Joshua Pauling
Recently, I found myself at a fairly typical community church for an educational event. It was a lovely occasion, bustling with the pleasant sight of young and old, families and children. I’m always grateful to see a church with substantial resources and facilities all well-kept. There was an extensive educational wing, a fellowship hall and […]
Monday, 06 September, 2021 by Joshua Pauling
Image: Copyright © Edward Riojas. Used by permission. The May-June print edition of Modern Reformation provided stimulating reflections on beauty, goodness, and art—something Protestants have not been known for historically. In his article, “Theology and Beauty: An Enquiry,” Bo Helmich laments that Protestants “have long been criticized for treating beauty with indifference, suspicion, and hostility.” He […]
Friday, 09 July, 2021 by Edward Riojas, Joshua Pauling
Joshua Pauling (JP): Thank you, Jeff, for agreeing to discuss your new book, Reading the Times: a Literary and Theological Inquiry into the News. To start, the book has an interesting origin—what was the impetus for writing the book? Jeffrey Bilbro (JB): This is somewhat ironic, but as I acknowledge in the preface, the catalyst […]
Monday, 07 June, 2021 by Jeffrey Bilbro, Joshua Pauling
In part 1, I explored how our current cultural and political moment offers opportunities for developing new coalitions. There are exiles from the Left and the Right who show a common interest in developing a parallel polis of sorts, where communities of humane scale can form and thrive, independently from ideological a prioris that put […]
Monday, 10 May, 2021 by Joshua Pauling