Theology & Philosophy
| What might a Protestant Lent look like? Steve Wilkins has some idea...more. |
| What is the world for? Can stuff be good? A little Francis Farrar Capon-inspired pontificating can be found here. |
Collision is playing at Camelot Theaters in Greenville (located near McAlister Square) on Thursday December 10, at 7pm. Brief Q & A will take place afterwards. Seats are limited, so reserve yours now, $5 per seat. |
| Is there sex in heaven? You'd better believe it, says Peter Kreeft. There's an annoying laugher haunting this audio, but it's well worth listening to. |
| Perhaps God did not create ex nihilo. Perhaps Genesis should read "In the beginning God separated the Heaven and the Earth." That, at least, is the claim of Ellen van Wolde...read more. |
| Blue Like Jazz's Donald Miller has a new book out, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. A three-part video interview of Miller is available from the publisher here. |
| Sweet, sweet liberalism, the political theory that holds that all human beings are by nature free and equal, that government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed, and that government’s task is to secure the equal rights of all citizens, has been made completely secular and purified of God...hasn't it? |
| Nicholas Wolterstorff on the place of faith in the public square...and he is interviewed by Miroslav Volf!...more. |
| Without mentioning the fabulous eyebrows, Rowan's Rule discusses Rowan Williams for good and for ill...more. |
| Duncan Forbes and his church history rap...work it. |
| Read Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin in a year with Princeton Theological Seminary HERE. Buy a printed edition to follow along HERE |
| Read and Search the Complete Works of Jonathan Edwards Online for FREE at Yale University. Check it out HERE. Buy Printed Editions HERE |
Morton Smith and Gershom Scholem: Correspondence, 1945-1982 by Guy G. Stroumsa, ed. All the drama of secret gospels, accusations of forgery, and sex. Read about it. Then buy it. |
History & Current Events
| Is Tim Tebow the messiah of the long-in-coming evangelical sports revolution? The chosen son of the evangelical conspiracy to take over sports in America? YOU BE THE JUDGE!...more. |
| As time passes, more and more Western intelligence documents are being declassified. Chronological distance can actually increase interest in some of these stories as new details emerge...or as new stories entirely come to light. A new book on the history of the British MI5 has come out...read more. |
| Two new books on the emergence of "total war" and Sherman's campaign of fire through the South...more here. |
| Twenty years ago, John Updike let us all know why he was not a dove...more. |
| Brent Nelsen (an elder at Redeemer Presbyterian Church PCA in Traveler's Rest and teacher at Furman) is considering running for Governor of SC. Read more here. |
| Messy politics in Iraq as a sign of progress...more. Max Boot is the author of, among others, The Savage Wars of Peace. |
| The Bird & Baby Philosophy Club just got its first press mention. And oh, yeah, there was something about the closing of a l'il ol' bookshop called The Silver Chair...more. Actually, almost none of the stuff about the club made the online story, but you could buy a Greer Citizen. |
China has been "investing" heavily in Africa. The heavy hand of colonialism?...more. In this sci-fi series, there are no more Africans. |
| To retreat from a willingness to commit violence is to encourage the continuation of war...more. |
| Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle for Palestine by Jonathan Schanzer. Read about it here. Buy it here. |
| As the IDF operates in Gaza, the debate over the use of "disproportionate force" rages...more. |
Arts & Culture
| What place does "shock" have in literature? Discuss with Joffre here. |
Here we make available all but the last two minutes of Will Gray's fascinating talk on The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot. Blame Joffre for corrupting the very end of the talk, but it's still a wonderful presentation. Understanding The Waste Land, Part 1 Understanding The Waste Land, Part 2 Understanding The Waste Land, Part 3 These mp3s are available to members of The Bird & Baby at no charge. We request that non-members make a $1.50 donation to the club. Enjoy! Make your donation here. Â |
| Epics should have you looking out, not in, but it's just possible that's a circular concept. Is Sufjan Stevens losing his humanity in his work?...more. |
| Ah, the sweet, sweet madness of government powers defined nebulously! If you're blogging and endorsing, you could be in trouble with the feds...more. |
| Is love a feeling of satisfaction and contentment? Where do we locate love...in ourselves, or in others? The answers to those questions could save a marriage...more. |
| Lisa Hannigan composed an ode to love, and Maeve Clancy made a pop-up book out of it...see it. |
| Gene Wolfe talks about a "best of"...more. |
| Are you bringing your kids up the way George Orwell did? Better buy them helmets...more. |
| You know you want your spaghetti sauce chunky. Or do you even know what you want?...more. |
| Here's a fantabulous and easy-to-make recipe from a prince of Brazilian cooking...Raw Moqueca. |
| Ole! Elizabeth Gilbert (of Eat, Pray, Love) on the genii of creativity...more. |
| "My irony detector won't work." "What's wrong with it?" "It detects everything except irony." Also, Catholics can't rock...more. |
| A new beer podcast emerges...hopcast. |
| Greenville theater critic Stephanie Young is into mountains, bombs, and light...more. |
| Sufjan Stevens has a friend. His name is Vito. He's a pastor in the PCA. He has a new album, produced by Sufjan himself. Sufjan writes a series of articles on his friend's musical effort...more. |