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Category: Christian Culture

  • The Hipster’s Theology Revisited

    I felt that yesterday’s post needed a bit of clarification. Although indirectly related to William’s comment, his point led me to realize I was probably equivocating on the word “hipster.” There are really two (or at least two) senses one could take “hipster” to mean. I think I had both in mind and that detracted from…

  • A Hipster’s Systematic Theology

    A couple of months ago, I finished reading The Christian Faith. A few weeks later, the class I had to read the book for ended as well. As my time at seminary dwindled, so did my interest in analyzing Horton chapter by chapter. For a recap of what I did accomplish, see here. For an…

  • A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas

    For those who read this blog regularly (both of you), I’m going to assume you’ve probably never heard of Chuck Klosterman (unless it was from a list on here). You probably didn’t read Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto, and so by extension you probably didn’t have any interest to read Eating…

  • Redeeming Sociology

    Author With this book on sociology, Vern Poythress has presented a God-centered approach on three subjects now. Having discussed science, and then language, Poythress turns his expertise to a closer look at sociology. He tells John Starke here more about the impulses behind the book. Poythress had the advantage of already having a doctorate from…

  • The Next Story

    Author I was first introduced to Tim Challies, like many people, through reading his blog. While not specifically a technology guru, Tim does web consulting and has been blogging and using the latest and greatest tech devices for a while now. He has clearly spent a good amount of time thinking reflectively about it, and…

  • Interpreting Myself Interpreting Inception

    In both his recent book on language and his just released book on sociology, Vern Poythress makes an Inception like argument for the ultimate context of human activity. As we all probably remember from Inception, the storyline culminates in a heist that takes place inside a dream, within a dream, within a dream. Whether or…

  • Metaphorically Thinking: Conduits

    In the 3rd chapter of Metaphors We Live By, we learn that while metaphors can illuminate our understanding of things, they can also obscure it as well. To illustrate, Lakoff and Johnson present the conduit metaphor: Ideas (or meanings) are objects Linguistic expressions are containers Communication is sending This is certainly a helpful metaphor, and…

  • Rain Men in the Church

    Everybody has seen Rain Man. Actually that’s not true. I’ve never seen it completely. I’ve seen enough to get the gist of it, though the only scene I can visibly recall is the one where Tom Cruise uses Dustin Hoffman’s supreme ability to remember and recall in order to make bank at blackjack. Hoffman’s character,…

  • Christianity and Literature

    [This review is part of the Christian Worldview Integration Series] Authors David Lyle Jeffrey is Distinguished Professor of Literature and the Humanities in the Honors Program at Baylor University. He is also a lifelong evangelical Protestant Christian with deep, equally abiding Catholic sympathies. Gregory Maillet is professor of English at Crandall University in Moncton, Canada.…

  • Metaphorically Thinking: Arguments

    Yesterday, I asked what metaphor we might use to conceptually structure our idea of arguments. With a little reflection, the answer should be clear: Argument is war. Pulling from Metaphors We Live By, consider how we tend to talk about arguments: Your claims are indefensible He attacked every weak point in my argument His criticisms were…