That’s It! Thank You, First Things!

by Sep 8, 2008Uncategorized

First Things is a Journal of Religion, Culture, and Public Life. It’s for thoughtful people, by thoughtful people. I want to be one of those, so I read it sometimes.

Here’s R.R. Reno, features editor of First Things:

I’m very thankful that I don’t have a television. We’re heading into the final months of the presidential election, and maybe I’ll be spared the demoralizing experience of so much stupidity conveyed with such seriousness.

Amen! That last phrase perfectly summarizes my feelings toward most TV punditry. It ought to be MSNBC’s slogan.

Read only the first four paragraphs of Reno’s piece if you’re low on time! Read up to this one:

. . . I worry. I worry about friends who seem to vibrate with anxiety over the thought of this or that candidate being elected. I worry about others who seem to invest undue confidence that their highest moral and spiritual ideals will triumph if their favored candidate is elected. And most of all, I’m amazed at the serious attention that seemingly intelligent people give to the passing ephemera of the news cycle. Have we convinced ourselves not only that politics matters, but that it matters most of all? It’s an unfortunate mistake.

I’m not saying politics doesn’t matter or that Christians shouldn’t engage with it, only that we don’t have to talk about it “like those who have no hope,” no truly reliable Hope.

Read More 

Bible Study Magazine Podcast Launches Today

Bible Study Magazine Podcast Launches Today

Faithlife’s brand new Bible Study Magazine podcast, hosted by yours truly, launches today. ​The first season of twelve episodes (four available today; one released per week after this) is focused on how to achieve and promote biblical literacy. In the first episode, I...

Review: My Father Left Me Ireland

Review: My Father Left Me Ireland

My Father Left Me Ireland: An American Son's Search for Home by Michael Brendan Dougherty My rating: 4 of 5 stars I picked up this book on the effusive recommendation of Alan Jacobs. At first I thought I might tire of it: though I felt sympathy for a fatherless boy, I...

#BibleTech 2019

#BibleTech 2019

I spoke at my second BibleTech Conference in Seattle this past week, and it was an enjoyable time. I'm afraid I made the mistake of putting in three paper topics, assuming the organizers would pick one. They picked three. And I did a Q&A for Authorized. And I...

Leave a comment.

0 Comments