By Living Waters

On February 29th, George Weigel (author of Faith, Reason, and the War Against Jihadism: A Call to Action) and Philip Jenkins (author of God’s Continent: Christianity, Islam, and Europe’s Religious Crisis) engaged in a discussion regarding their slightly different visions of the future fate of Europe. The audio (mp3) is available for download at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Their respective concerns and comments are well worth pondering . . . prayerfully pondering.

This morning I awoke to yet another installment from one of the Biblical studies discussion groups to which I subscribe. Seldom do I have the time or interest to following the discussions these days. But around Easter time people tend to submit thoughts or items that for many reasons interest me. This morning I was directed to an essay by Dr. John Dickson, the director of the Centre for Public Christianity and an honorary associate of the Department of Ancient History at Macquarie University. In his essay, “Facts and friction of Easter,” Dickson writes of the extremes his finds between skeptics, accommodationists and apologists when it comes to the resurrection of Jesus. Much of what he writes is fair enough. But here’s an excerpt that contains some thoughts that I believe are vulnerable and worth pondering. (more…)

As I mentioned before, I recently became fully aware of Hugh Hewitt. I had stumbled across his name last year when his book endorsing and promoting Mitt Romney darted across my field of vision. I didn’t get a copy of that book, however. Perhaps I should have. As a former Mormon I often was asked what I thought about a Mormon president. My response was perplexing to some and confirming to others. (I’ll not bother to elaborate on that here.)

A few weeks back I got a copy of Hugh’s book, In, But Not Of: A Guide to Christian Ambition and the Desire to Influence the World.

A subsequent paperback edition has been released under the title, A Guide to Christian Ambition: Using Career, Politics, and Culture to Influence the World.

I think this is a great book to help a young Christian student develop a vision for his or her future. I’ve recently corresponded with Hugh and it appears that he may speak at some of our summer seminars. If funding presents itself, he may also speak to our students at Summit Oxford.

While I’m only part way into this book (reading it in small, bite-sized portions), it is a book I commend to you: Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam. The authors are a surprising duo: Pope Benedict XVI and Marcello Pera. Pera is a professor of the philosophy of science and the President of the Italian Senate. Pope Bene . . . well, you know who he is. Here’s a blurb from the preface.

It is up to the readers to decide whether our intention — to examine and reflect on the great issues of our time, including the West, Europe, Christianity Islam, war, and bioethical questions — has achieved its goal. Whether our concerns can be addressed. And whether our suggestions deserve to be pursued.

We hope nevertheless that these pages will help to pierce the curtain of reticence and timidity that impedes discussion of our destiny today. The only thing worse than living without roots is struggling to get by without a future.

George Weigel provides a foreword. Perhaps my suspicions are a bit premature, but I predict that absent from their lament of the rootlessness growing in the West will be any disapproval of Darwinism. It remains of interest to me how so many such laments accuse, disapprove, critique and demonstrate the heartlessness and fundamental irrationality of secularism while granting Darwin complete amnesty. It is as though they fail to discern the main ideological root (to my mind) from which secularism grows and is sustained.

Recently I purchased Tim Keller’s book, The Reason for God. Yea, while I differ with him here and there, and would say some things differently, I have found the book a wonderful read with some exciting tidbits here and there. His approach at times is refreshing.

Recently he spoke at Google. His presentation now is available at YouTube.

There are also some helpful and encouraging sermons at the book’s website.

Enjoy!

In his book, Time of Transitions (150-151), the methodologial atheist, German philosopher, Jürgen Habermas — whom the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy describes as, “one of the most influential philosophers in the world” — wrote the following:

For, in the West, Christianity not only fulfilled the initial cognitive conditions for modern structures of consciousness; it also fostered a range of motivations that formed the major theme of the economic and ethical research of Max Weber. Christianity has functioned for the normative self-understanding of modernity as more than a mere precursor or a catalyst. Egalitarian universalism, from which sprang the ideas of freedom and social solidarity, of an autonomous conduct of life and emancipation, of the individual morality of conscience, human rights, and democracy, is the direct heir to the Judaic ethic of justice and the Christian ethic of love. This legacy, substantially unchanged, has been the object of continual critical appropriation and reinterpretation. To this day, there is no alternative to it. And in light of the current challenges of a postnational constellation, we continue to draw on the substance of this heritage. Everything else is just idle postmodern talk.

I have some questions about these remarks, and yet I find his candid admission commendable.

Thomas Sowell remarks:

It would be devastating to the egos of the intelligentsia to realize, much less admit, that businesses have done more to reduce poverty than all the intellectuals put together. Ultimately it is only wealth that can reduce poverty and most of the intelligentsia have no interest whatever in finding out what actions and policies increase the national wealth.

Something worth reading:

“Scientology Taking Hits Online,” by David Sarno, Los Angeles Times

I’m very pleased to say that our Summit Oxford program is developing quite nicely. While students are sure to have a delightful time with us, it will not be an easy time. Not only will the weeks with Oxford tutors be challenging, the Summit part of the program will be as well. More on that in the future.

The cost of tuition for the term is $20,000, which may sound astronomical except for the fact that other such programs are running between $16,000 and $17,000 right now, with the expectation of increasing their fees due to the weakness of the US dollar. So, our program is priced a bit higher than their programs. But our program offers much more, in our opinion. Nevertheless, money is money, and thousands of dollars naturally contributes to one’s selection of educational options. That is why I’m very pleased to announce that due to the generosity of some, every student who’s application is accepted by Summit Oxford will receive a grant of $5000 toward their tuition fees, effectively lowering their costs to $15,000 for the term (not including travel, food, and other expenses). As such, while competition is likely to be fairly aggressive, those who find a spot in our program will be much pleased, I believe.

In his most excellent book, In, But Not Of: A Guide to Christian Ambition, Hugh Hewitt offers these remarks:

Go abroad for at least one semester and preferably for a couple of years. Postgraduate credentials from abroad are enormously valuable in the United States when an American carries them. (p. 31)

Christian schools can be tremendous sources of inspiration and learning, but some will put you at a significant disadvantage for credentials. Non-Christians and even some Christians are simply not aware of the reputations of such institutions and will assume that they are inferior academically. Unless your faith needs the support (and this is true for many people), do not reflexively rule out secular schools. If you do attend a Christian university as an undergraduate, pursue your graduate degree at a secular university. (p. 32)

Students in our precursor program have found that if they do good work, their Oxford tutors often offer to provide them with a letter of reference/recommendation without the students even having to ask. When they do have to ask, the letter often is offered quite enthusiastically. Such letters can provide great leverage with applying to degree programs here in the UK, as well as in the US. Something to think about.

I found this relieving.

“Fathers and Sons: On Francis Schaeffer, Frank Schaeffer, and Crazy for God,” by Os Guinness