Proving that the Bush administration has created some strange political bedfellows, the January issue of the liberal American Prospect, which I picked up this weekend, features an article on the war on terror by libertarian Ivan Eland, as well as an article in praise of William Jennings Bryan, the anti-Darwinist scorned by H.L. Mencken and…

Think it’s only flag-waving red state Republicans who make and enjoy country music? Jesse Walker reviews a book detailing the complicated and sometimes surprising politics of some of country music’s greats.

Christians have two central beliefs about life after death. The first is that we believe in the “resurrection of the body” and this belief is rooted in the prior and more foundational belief in Jesus’ resurrection as the “first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (I Cor. 15:20). Because Christ has been raised we…

I’m really about the last person anyone should be coming to for music recommendations – my efforts at “keeping up” with contemporary pop music range from pathetic to nonexistent – but hey it’s my blog. Here are a few albums I’ve been enjoying recently: Corrosion of Conformity, Deliverance (1994) I plugged CoC’s newest album In…

Here’s a nifty little essay from Polish philosopher Leszek Kolakowski called “How to be a Conservative-Liberal-Socialist” from his book Modernity on Endless Trial: Motto: “Please step forward to the rear!” This is an approximate translation of a request I once heard on a tram-car in Warsaw. I propose it as a slogan for the mighty…

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, this is from the introduction to Rowan Greer’s Christian Hope and Christian Life: The point I am trying to make is that a “here-and-now” Christianity, at least in my view, runs two risks–reducing the Christian life to a moralism of some kind and making the world of our experience…

It’s often said, to the point of being a truism, that American Christianity is obsessed with personal salvation and life after death. But is this really true? Theologian Rowan Greer, in his book Christian Hope and Christian Life, disagrees. He says that, if anything, American Christians have lost their sense of an otherworldly hope, and…

James Bovard points out that it’s quite a pass we’ve come to when a secret court of political appointees that virtually never denies a request for a warrant is considered too restrictive of the President’s powers. (via Antiwar)

In Chapter 4, “Understanding Biblical Teaching about Salvation,” Keith Ward argues against a reading of the biblical witness that suggests that only a tiny number of elect are destined for salvation. Rather, he argues, the thrust of the biblical teaching is toward a cosmic vision of the salvation of all things. He takes his cue…

Geologist Alan Cutler says that the much heralded (or lamented) “war between science and religion” is largely a myth: The historical relationship between science and religion has been as complex as any human relationship. There is no reason to think that this will change. The warfare thesis suits the polemical purposes of partisans in certain…