David F. Wells interview in Boston Globe

Here is a brief interview with David F. Wells, Gordon-Conwell theology professor and author of many books, including No Place for Truth, God in the Wasteland, Losing Our Virtue, Above All Earthly Pow'rs, and The Courage to Be Protestant.

Ed Stetzer on future of denominations

Union University has a solid line-up of speakers addressing the topic of Southern Baptists, Evangelicals and the Future of Denominationalism. Read about Ed Stetzer's address which wonders about the future of denominations here.

Deep Church review

Kevin DeYoung has a helpful review here. The review has even sparked dialogue with the author, Jim Belcher (see the comments section). Belcher says regarding DeYoung's review: "This is by far the most thorough review of my book, both in the overview it provides and the evaluation. It is well written, engaging and helpful, pointing out well the areas you agree and disagree on."

One of the things DeYoung challenges is the uniqueness of Belcher's "third way." This might be true, especially for DeYoung's Reformed background. As even Belcher admits in the book, what he is doing is what Tim Keller has been doing in NYC for two decades. However, for those of the low church, more mainstream evangelical ilk, Belcher's book is arguing for something very unique. (The confusion on this point might be due to Belcher's ill-defined "traditional church" category, another criticism that DeYoung notes--and one that Belcher recognizes as well.). In any case, I recommend both Belcher's book, Deep Church, and DeYoung's review of it.

The Baptist Messenger and the stagnation of a blog

FYI: I am going to be doing some research and writing for the Baptist Messenger. This means that this blog will suffer much neglect. I will, however, continue to link things (which is all I've been doing as of late anyway). If I have an energetic moment (the kind of moment that breathed life into this blog; by the way, notice the energy and frequency that marked the first month of this blog--I couldn't quite keep up) I may try to whip out a post or two.

Media and New Calvinists

Here is the Q&A from the Religious Newswriters Association meeting in Minneapolis. I found it both interesting and helpful.



For more, visit Desiring God.

HT: BTW

While we're at it...

YO JOE!

Battle of the cartoon theme songs

Kevin DeYoung has an exciting (and important) competition brewing. Click here.

On journalism

Are you a journalist that also happens to be a Christian? If so, here is a piece you might be interested in from executive editor of the Baptist Messenger, Douglas E. Baker.

Driscoll discusses idols

Mark Driscoll cruised Seattle with the ABC Nightline crew and discussed idolatry. Here is a post from Driscoll regarding their time together. The interview was for a Nightline series on the Ten Commandments.

HT: J. Dodson

On abortion

There is a helpful piece by Robert P. George in the latest issue of The City; it is taken from his opening comments from the National Press Club in D.C.

Having cited Obama's words at the 2009 Notre Dame commencement, George says:

The President is right. His view regarding the status, dignity, and rights of the child in the womb, and the view shared by Professor Kmiec and myself, are irreconcilable. A chasm separates those of us who believe that every living human being possesses profound, inherent, and equal dignity, and those who, for whatever reasons, deny it. This issue really cannot be fudged, as people sometimes try to do by imagining that there is a dispute about whether it is really a human being who is dismembered in a dilation and curettage abortion, or whose skin is burned off in a saline abortion, or the base of whose skull is pierced and whose brains are sucked out in a dilation and extraction (or "partial birth") abortion. That issue has long been settled--and it was settled not by religion or philosophy, but by the sciences of human embryology and developmental biology.

So it is clear that what divides us as a nation--and what divides Barack Obama, on one side, from Robert George and Douglas Kmiec, on the other--is not whether the being whose life is taken in abortion and in embryo-destructive research is a living individual of the human species--a human being; it is whether all human beings, or only some, possess fundamental dignity and a right to life. ("Obama and Abortion," The City (Summer 2009): 68)

Each group seeks to protect individual rights, and couches their case in "rights" language. The differences lay in how each camp understands those rights. For pro-lifers, individual rights are extended broadly, reaching the unborn. For those on the pro-choice side, individual rights are directed to the mother's right to choose. Pro-choice people do not believe individual rights should be applied to those humans that are unborn and unwanted.

HBU's The City

I have received my second issue of Houston Baptist University's The City, and it has yet to disappoint. The latest issue has a number of particularly thoughtful articles. The journal is reminiscent of the Catholic periodical, First Things.

Subscribe for FREE here.

Get more information on the journal here.

For those considering PhD

I am currently pursuing a PhD in theology. It has been a great and difficult journey (commenting on my studies at this point is like a runner trying to describe his joy for the marathon at the 20th mile; more will come on this when I complete).

A decision to do a PhD is a major commitment on a number of levels. For those considering, here are some sources you may find helpful (these sources, save one, are focusing on PhDs in religion/theology fields):

1) There is a glut of PhDs out there. This means that academic jobs are scarce. This NY Times opinion piece delves into this (and other) problem(s). See here. HT: Taylor Worley

2) Justin Taylor has provided excerpts and a link to Carl Trueman's article in Themelios. See here.

3) Ben Blackwell has done a service to all prospective PhDers at his blog, Dunelm Road. Click here for a link to some of his PhD pointers.

4) Like Ben, Nijay Gupta has a plethora of helpful posts at his blog, including this lengthy essay on the PhD.