BY FAITH WE UNDERSTAND

Proof of what is unseen.

ABOUT MARK WARD

BY FAITH WE UNDERSTAND

Proof of what is unseen.

ABOUT MARK WARD

The First Thing I Ever Wrote That I Still Have

This is so random, and I don't know who would care—but I just stumbled across the very first document I saved in what ultimately became my Dropbox/Academics folder. It was an exercise I wrote for an English class in high school. I was 16 and 3 mos. What I find fascinating is that I was interested, at this quite early date, in language change. The first time I remember caring about and noticing language change was while reading (in early high school?) the dystopian novel Earth Abides. I...

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A Little Help for Your Charitableness from Kevin DeYoung

A Little Help for Your Charitableness from Kevin DeYoung

There are few figures on the national evangelical scene that I like and trust more than Kevin DeYoung. I think he nails the balance between, on the one hand, graciousness and fairness and charity and, on the other (can anything be on the other hand from charity?—yes!), a willingness to stand clearly with Scripture against sin of all kinds. I listen faithfully to his podcast, Life and Books and Everything, and I really appreciate that he has begun reading his WORLD Opinion articles there....

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Review: The Power Broker, by Robert Caro

Review: The Power Broker, by Robert Caro

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro My rating: 5 of 5 stars Robert Caro is fascinated by power. He has given his life to exploring how it is gained and kept. And in Robert Moses, the subject of this epic book, power looks like the ugly idol it can be. It delivers at first, but then it enslaves. But let us not think that power is in itself bad. Caro himself has incredible powers. The sheer amount of work—hours and hours of work, years of work, years of at...

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Review: Finding the Right Hills to Die On by Gavin Ortlund

Review: Finding the Right Hills to Die On by Gavin Ortlund

Finding the Right Hills to Die On: The Case for Theological Triage by Gavin Ortlund My rating: 4 of 5 stars Gracious, clear, accessible. Extremely well done. I nearly docked him a star for being ever-so-slightly in a different place than I am on creationism (though I still found his thoughts very helpful), but that didn't seem right! I do simply feel that the effects of old-earth views on theology are not commonly reported by proponents, but what can I expect? YEC weaknesses aren't reported by...

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The Weakest Link in the Epistemological Blockchain is the Fallen Human Heart: Reflections on Jonathan Rauch’s The Constitution of Knowledge

The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth, by Jonathan Rauch (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2021).I have such mixed feelings about this book. I so much want so much of it to be true and right. I hold a minority worldview in my society; classical liberalism’s values of free speech and freedom of conscience work for me and mine. They also feel familiar—though less sturdy than they did in the past. I also happen to share a lot of Rauch’s political opinions: a lot of his...

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