James K.A. Smith
*** Baylor University Press | 2021 | 253 pages (hardcover) | $44.99 James K. A. Smith’s readership has surged in recent years through accessible books, such as You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit (Brazos Press, 2016). You Are What You Love argues persuasively for Christian discipleship focused on habits, virtues, and […]
While few will argue that Christendom was a glorious era of gospel proclamation and liberation from pagan superstition, it did have its occasional advantages—most notably the right (or the obligation) to worship without fear of molestation by either man or state. The Christian narrative of redemptive history was generally accepted as a rational position, rather […]
Eerdmans, 2014; 160 pages (paperback), $16.00 In graduate school, one of my professors made a connection between two mythological figures who encounter the sirens on separate occasions. When passing the sirens on his voyage home, Odysseus has his crew plug their ears and tie him to the mast, thereby avoiding the enchanting song. Orpheus, however, […]
The image of the “nuclear” family has always been an ambiguous one for me. Of course, it’s meant to convey a picture of a centered family, anchored by a mom and a dad, with children orbiting around them as satellites, together comprising one of the basic units of society—an “atomic unit,” if you will. (Part […]
The relationship of Christianity and culture and its implications for education continue to be fascinating topics. In Desiring the Kingdom, James K. A. Smith, philosophy professor at Calvin College, has written one of the most interesting and thought- provoking studies of Christianity and culture in recent years and provides, by his own admis-sion, some fairly […]
