Mixing Faith and Politics in Canada: Not a New Idea

October 23, 2020

It was refreshing to see an article this week in the Hamilton Spectator entitled “Mixing Faith and Politics Could Be a Good Thing for Canada” written by a former MPP John Milloy advocating for a larger public presence for Canada’s religious communities. It describes a conversation on the topic of faith and politics between three MPs representing three rival political parties. Here is evidence that “faith” can bring people together and help cooperation happen. … More Mixing Faith and Politics in Canada: Not a New Idea

Human Difference and Sacred Vocations: Toward a Theology of Disability

October 12, 2020

This guest blog was written by our Global Scholar Dr. Andrew Barron, who is a specialist in the Jewish context of the New Testament. But he also has a growing interest in the theology of disability, which arises out of his own family experience with his son, Rafi. Here he writes about how the disabled “have a vocation of receiving care.” … More Human Difference and Sacred Vocations: Toward a Theology of Disability

Wisdom For a Polarized America: A Pre-Election Long-term Perspective on Two Similar Liberal Ideologies

October 8, 2020

Global Scholar Dr. David Koyzis gives some background to the ideologies that are currently being contested in the upcoming American election. He offers a big picture context to the on-going American drama—and with sharp and deep Christian perspective—that is especially urgent right now. We need to rise above the sound bites, provocative gestures and political manoeuvring and discern carefully the cultural moment. … More Wisdom For a Polarized America: A Pre-Election Long-term Perspective on Two Similar Liberal Ideologies

Why Invest in the Work of Christian Professors? A Strategic Approach to Changing the World for Good

October 5, 2020

Today is World Teacher Day according to UNESCO, and my mother sent me this quote from Henry Adams: “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where influence stops.” Its an appropriate moment to stop and think about why education matters, and since Thanksgiving (Canada) is coming up this weekend, to give thanks for teachers, and even give some encouragement and support if you’re able. … More Why Invest in the Work of Christian Professors? A Strategic Approach to Changing the World for Good

The Bible and Science: Two Complimentary Ways of Knowing the World

September 24, 2020

This guest blog was written by Dr. Jean Bieri, who has a Ph.D. in condensed matter physics from the University of Paris-Sud, France, where he studied with Nobel Prize-winning professor A. Fert. He also has a PhD in Old Testament Studies from the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Here he invites the reader to a conversation between his two areas of expertise, showing their compatibility, and their relationship to chaos and order. … More The Bible and Science: Two Complimentary Ways of Knowing the World

Guest Blog: The Temptation of Chronological Snobbery

September 18, 2020

My guest blogger and American colleague Stan Wallace elaborates on C. S. Lewis’ concept of “Chronological Snobbery.” Lewis was a great 20 century British apologist of the Christian faith who had academic positions at both Oxford and Cambridge. He is also the famous fiction writer of the Narnia Chronicles. … More Guest Blog: The Temptation of Chronological Snobbery

Summer Reading: _People of the Book_ by Geraldine Brooks

August 22, 2020

Like the film The Red Violin (1998), the plot of People of the Book (2008) follows hundreds of years in the life of an object–but rather than a violin, the focus is the famous Sarajevo Haggadah (a rare illustrated Jewish devotion book). This history, too, is a series of dramatic episodes (from 1480 to 2002) that keep returning to a modern present that is full of intrigue. So this is a historical fiction page-turner by Brooks, a Pulitzer Prize winning author who can’t stop writing about religion. Remarkably, the story of a religious book turns out to read like a spy novel. … More Summer Reading: _People of the Book_ by Geraldine Brooks

Christianity’s Eccentricity: A Religion without an Ethnic Centre

August 19, 2020

Eccentric means literally off-centre, and more broadly, unconventional. This is key to the Christian faith. No ethnic group, city, or language lays claim as Christianity’s sacred centre. This is illustrated beautifully in a recent music video sent to me by Danny McCain in Nigeria. … More Christianity’s Eccentricity: A Religion without an Ethnic Centre

Songs of Lament as a form of Protest against COVID, Racism, Climate Change, and other Wounds

July 13, 2020

I’ve written and preached on the bedrock of joy that animates faith, but its equally true that church should be the best place for a broken heart to find welcome. But few of our worship songs today want to go to the dark places, ask the hard questions, and complain to God. Here I examine a few lament songs possible for Christian worship. … More Songs of Lament as a form of Protest against COVID, Racism, Climate Change, and other Wounds