Christopher Benson

Does First Things influence American culture?James Davison Hunter, a professor of religion, culture, and social theory at the University of Virginia, would probably say “No” in his latest book, To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern . . . . Continue Reading »

I am currently reading Carlos Eire’s A Very Brief History of Eternity (Princeton, 2009). Eire is the author of the memoir Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy, which won the National Book Award for nonfiction in 2003, and a number of works of religious history, including From . . . . Continue Reading »

I opened my mail box today and happily found a package with Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years (Viking, March 2010), a monumental work by Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford University and author of The Reformation and Thomas Cranmer, both highly acclaimed . . . . Continue Reading »

I meet people occasionally who think motion pictures, the product Hollywood makes, is merely entertainment, has nothing to do with education. That’s one of the darndest fool fantasies that is current . . . . Anything that brings you to tears by way of drama does something to the deepest roots . . . . Continue Reading »

I have been sojourning with the Israelites in the Book of Numbers. The twentieth chapter contains an enigmatic story. At Kadesh, on the borders of Edom, Moses displeased the Lord and was not permitted to enter the promised land. What is the nature of the sin and does it warrant the extreme . . . . Continue Reading »

To follow-up on my blog post “Sunday of Orthodoxy: Or, When Schisms Are Functionally Irrelevant,” the excerpt below has helped me to understand John Calvin’s treatment of idolatry. Understanding must precede criticism.From Charles Partee, The Theology of John Calvin (Louisville: . . . . Continue Reading »

Have you ever conceived of God as mother? Moses did.Tonight my paternalistic view of God was challenged in the Book of Numbers. Just as a hungry baby turns to his mother, so did the sojourning Israelite.Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann has a special gift for opening eyes to biblical texts . . . . Continue Reading »

Earlier this week, Hunter Baker was the Evangel messenger to announce that Ken Starr will become the next president at Baylor University. Permit me to announce that Philip Graham Ryken will become the eighth president at Wheaton College. The Chairman of the Board of Trustees wrote: “The . . . . Continue Reading »

This Sunday marks “Sunday of Orthodoxy,” also known as “Triumph of Orthodoxy,” a date that meant nothing to me a few years ago because it is only observed in the liturgical calendar of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Two of my close friends, one who converted to Orthodoxy from . . . . Continue Reading »

The excerpt below is from the introduction of a book that I highly recommend. Evangel readers will be treated to a concise survey of how beauty declined in modern religious thought and how it is slowly being reclaimed. The authors evaluate the gains and costs associated with contemporary theological . . . . Continue Reading »