Category: Between Two Worlds

Justin Taylor

Blog can be found on:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/

By micoots

Why Christians Should Read the Short Stories of Langston Hughes

A guest post from John Mark Reynolds, President of The Saint Constantine School and editor of The Great Books Reader.

Langston Hughes (1902-1967) is the greatest American literary talent: poet, essayist, short-story author, and novelist.

Joseph Smith sells more books, but lacks his artistry.

Mark Twain is more frequently read, but he was no poet.

James Fennimore Cooper is one long series of adjectives.

Moby Dick is a great book, but Melville is not as consistently readable as Hughes.

A col..

By micoots

What Does It Mean to Be a Judge? The Answer of Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch

President Donald Trump announced tonight that he will nominate Honorable Neil M. Gorsuch (a 49-year-old judge in the Tenth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals) as a Justice on the Supreme Court, replacing the recently deceased Justice Antonin Scalia (1936-2016).

On April 7, 2016, Gorsuch delivered the 2016 Sumner Carnary Memorial Lecture at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, entitled “Of Lions and Bears, Judges and Legislators, and the Legacy of Justice Scalia.” It was lat..

By micoots

“The Single Most Illuminating Three Sentences I Have Ever Read about Our Civilization”

C. S. Lewis:

There is something which unites magic and applied science [=technology] while separating both from the “wisdom” of earlier ages.

For the wise men of old

the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality, and

the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue.

For magic and applied science alike

the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men;

the solution is a technique.

Philosopher Peter Kreeft calls this “the single most illuminating thre..

By micoots

Augustine for the 21st Century

If you need convincing that Augustine should be the patron saint of the 21st century, watch this lecture by James K.A. Smith.

This talk was delivered at Wheaton College on August 31, 2016, co-sponsored by the Center for Applied Christian Ethics and the Philosophy Department.

In this particular talk, the focus is on Augustine’s Confessions. To go deeper, see these four talks on the Confessions that he delivered at Laity Lodge.

To hear Professor Smith on the relevance of Augustine’s City of God..

By micoots

Scientifically, When Does Human Life Begin?

Three distinguished and brilliant professors:

Patrick Lee, the McAleer Professor of Bioethics at Franciscan University of Steubenville (author of Abortion and Unborn Human Life)
Christopher O. Tollefsen, College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina,
Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University (co-author with Tollefsen of Embryo: A Defense of Human Life)
have responded to the idea that there is no scient..

By micoots

4 Things to Remember When Thinking about the Curses in the Psalms

From Jack Collins’s “Introduction to the Psalms” in the ESV Study Bible:

Many psalms call on God for help as the faithful are threatened with harm from enemies (often called “the wicked”—frequently the unfaithful who persecute the godly, and sometimes Gentile oppressors). In a number of places, the requested help is that God would punish these enemies. Christians, with the teaching and example of Jesus (in passages like Matt. 5:38-48; Luke 23:34; 1 Pet. 2:19-23; cf. Acts 7:6), may wonder what t..

By micoots

Bonhoeffer on Why God Does Not Fill the Emptiness When a Loved One Dies

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, writing from his prison cell to Renate and Eberhard Bethge on Christmas Eve, 1943, fifteen months before his own death by execution:

There is nothing that can replace the absence of someone dear to us, and one should not even attempt to do so. One must simply hold out and endure it.

At first that sounds very hard, but at the same time it is also a great comfort. For to the extent the emptiness truly remains unfilled one remains connected to the other person through it.

It..

By micoots

The Real Reason Porno Shops Don’t Have Windows

From John Piper’s message Do You See the Glory of God in the Sun?

Do you know why there are no windows on adult bookstores? Or do you know why there are no windows on certain kinds of nightclubs in the city?

I suppose your answer would be, “Well, because they don’t want people looking in and getting a free sight.”

That’s not the only reason.

You know why? Because they don’t want people looking out at the sky.

You know why? The sky is the enemy of lust.

And I just ask you—you think back on ..

By micoots

Why Christians Should Refuse to Celebrate Women Fighting

I invited Alastair J. Roberts, author of the big forthcoming book, Heirs Together: A Theology of the Sexes (Crossway, 2017), to share his thoughts about the popular phenomenon of women like Ronda Rousey fighting other women in mixed-martial arts.

Tonight, Ronda Rousey returns to the ring, after last year’s surprising loss to Holly Holm, to fight Amanda Nunes in the UFC.

The Rise of Women in Mixed Martial Arts
Rousey is an important figure in UFC: she was the first to sign with them, was a cata..

By micoots

How Should We Think aboutt Watching Women Fight Women

I invited Alastair J. Roberts, author of the big forthcoming book, Heirs Together: A Theology of the Sexes (Crossway, 2017), to share his thoughts about the popular phenomenon of women like Ronda Rousey fighting other women in mixed-martial arts.

Tonight, Ronda Rousey returns to the ring, after last year’s surprising loss to Holly Holm, to fight Amanda Nunes in the UFC.

The Rise of Women in Mixed Martial Arts
Rousey is an important figure in UFC: she was the first to sign with them, was a cata..