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John Calvin: A Pilgrim’s Life

Following up Frank’s post I was reminded of the best book I read in 2009. Last year seemed to be the year for important birthdays as both Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin turned 200. Not to be forgotten is arguably the most influential Reformer within Christian history, John Calvin who . . . . Continue Reading »

Settled Science Based on Unsettled Data

Science requires the collection and interpretation of data. Consensus, therefore, requires that there be no significant dispute on either the data (e.g., its relevance) or it interpretation. The debate over whether there is a “consensus” about anthropogenic climate change has tended to . . . . Continue Reading »

Once More, With Feeling

So Philip Pullman, he of The Golden Compass , is preparing to disgorge The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ into an Amazon shopping cart near you. It seems that Pullman’s contribution to something called the “Myth Series” is the earth-rending idea that there was a historical . . . . Continue Reading »

A follow-up on the Death of Evangelicalism

A while ago I posted a few thoughts on the idea that Evangelicalism is somehow dying, and while we’re waiting for the next round of statistical data to roll in, the Christian Science Monitor — which first popularized the idea that Evangelicalism is about to collaspe — has come up . . . . Continue Reading »

Traditional Liberalism

A solid and interesting report , in the Times of London, on the walking disaster of Human Rights Watch. How does an organization that began as “Helsinki Watch,” dedicated to revealing human-rights abuses behind the Iron Curtain, turn into an institution so ragingly anti-Western that the . . . . Continue Reading »

The Tournament of Novels – Round 3

Compared to the tempestuous beginning of upsets, blowouts, and close-calls, Round 2 proved to be quite tame. The powerhouse books trampled their competition without much effort. (The lone surprise was that the low-brow favorite Hunt for Red October trouncing the literary champ, Herzog .) Each of . . . . Continue Reading »

Intimidating Intelligence Dims the Brights

Over on the Evangel blog, Gayle Trotter reviews Mary Eberstadt’s new book, The Loser Letters : The Loser Letters, Eberstadt’s first published work of fiction, draws on a long satirical tradition from Juvenal to The Screwtape Letters. Eberstadt’s protagonist, a young woman named A. . . . . Continue Reading »

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