Matthew Lee Anderson

Tonight, we express our sorrow at the news that blog-neighbor Michael Spencer (the Internet Monk) has gone home to be with the Lord.Michael has been in the Christian blogging community for a long time, and it’s no lie to say that his voice and witness are irreplaceable.   He will be . . . . Continue Reading »

I for one am thrilled to hear that John Piper has asked for, and been granted, an eight month leave from each of his ministries.But I don’t quite know why I’m so excited by his decision.  After all, eight months is a relatively short amount of time, and I don’t know Piper at . . . . Continue Reading »

By adding my own.In case you missed it, folks have been listing the ten books that either influenced them, they liked the most, or are best in their category (like Dr. Sanders’ theology list).Problems of determining ‘influence’ aside, then, here’s my list of ten books (plus . . . . Continue Reading »

Over the past 72 hours, I’ve been engaged in various debates about the contents of our newly minted-health care system and the effects of the executive order that was issued to appease Bart Stupak and his ilk. The central question in the debate is whether the bill will– does –fund . . . . Continue Reading »

In light of Rhett Smith’s interesting (and true!) thoughts on what novels do for us, I was intrigued to read Francis Watson’s rather critical comments of their form in western literature: The assumption that ‘love’ (or ‘romantic love’) is the primary basis for . . . . Continue Reading »

One of the distinctive aspects of the Theology of the Body is its beautiful expression of the mutual relations of men and women, a mutuality that originates in and is best expressed by a sexual act which is constituted by self-giving. It’s a position that I am sympathetic to. But Francis . . . . Continue Reading »

There’s not much to say, other than “Lord, have mercy.”The latest update from his wife:It is with a heavy heart that I bring my latest update on Michael. We have learned that his cancer is too advanced and too aggressive to expect any sort of remission. Our oncologist estimates . . . . Continue Reading »

Focusing on the practices of the church is all the rage these days. James K.A. Smith’s Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation an excellent and thought provoking book is only the latest volley in a long list of theologians attempting to reorient the center of . . . . Continue Reading »

I have always thought that every academic–or wannabe, like me–ought have one or two hypotheses that are held very loosely, are somewhat defensible but impossible to prove, and just fringe enough to make academic parties interesting. One such hypothesis that I have occasionally advanced is that . . . . Continue Reading »

Christopher Benson and Matthew Milliner have been doing the Lord’s work over at Evangel in agitating for the recovery of a non-pragmatic understanding of church architecture. Of course, they’re swimming up stream among us evangelicals: one whole wing of our happy movement doesn’t . . . . Continue Reading »