Peter is executive director of Global Scholars Canada and the author of _The Subversive Evangelical: The Ironic Charisma of an Irreligious Megachurch_ (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2019). He lives near Toronto, Canada.
Our COVID struggles have been compared to a “wartime” situation. Well, this week marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of The Netherlands from five years of Nazis occupation, and here I recount the story of my wife’s great-uncle Gaele Visser, who died in the last weeks of World War II. … More Returning to Holland to Liberate Family and Friends
Dr. Elmer Thiessen just uploaded a detailed review of my book The Subversive Evangelical here. He’s friendly, but still does a critical read–both of my book and its subject, Bruxy Cavey, and his church, The Meeting House. … More Bruxy Cavey and The Meeting House: a Short Photographic Introduction
In a time of COVID, socially isolating yourself is now mandated for the common good. But a book exploded on the political scene a few years ago that prescribed it as the survival strategy for a society infected by the corrosive virus of secularism. … More The Ark, the Titanic and a cargo ship to Tarshish: Social Isolation as Temptation in the post-Christian storm
I wrote this awhile ago for an Inklings conference, but COVID has me thinking about the vital role of humour in our lives and in Christian faith: humour as a window to something greater than the present scene. Note the flood of parody songs on YouTube with the world “coronavirus” in the lyrics. Laughter can … More Faithful Laughter: C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, and Peter L. Berger on Faith and Comedy
There is a lot of talk today about bodies—human bodies, diseased bodies, dead bodies. Many are getting weary of the news, but I believe a few moments on Good Friday contemplating the suffering body of Jesus Christ can open our imaginations more fully to the deep sympathy that God has with us in Jesus Christ. … More The Body of Christ, Naked for You
Joel Koops is a friend and fellow parishoner, and I thought this would be a good story to share in these strange times. Its about making a difference with whatever you have in front of you. This story ran in The Christian Courier on April 6th here. In the second week of March, Joel Koops, … More Changing Trajectory in COVID: A Business of Building Dividing Walls
A tribute to my friend and mentor, and a beloved leader and editor in Reformed Christian circles. … More Bert Witvoet’s Charisma: Juggler, Story-teller, Mentor
Some would normalize mental illness, but insofar as it is debilitating, it indicates dis-order, something amiss in one’s soul, and everyone feels its shadow fall across their life in some way, instigating hope for healing in a life lived coram deo, before the face of God. … More Wonder, Heartbreak, Hope and Joy for Distressed Souls: A Reformed Theology of Personhood and Mental Health
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Our local pastor Ed Jager reflected on an ancient song last Sunday March 22 (on Facebook, … More Psalm 46 in a Time of COVID
I stumbled on a diatribe from Christian Smith in The Chronicle Review from January 9, 2018 entitled “Higher Education is Drowning in BS”. It is a prophetic lament for a scholar who sees the “disastrous political condition” of his country directly linked to the failure of its institutions of higher learning. He maintains that universities … More Exasperated by BS in Higher Education
Sensus Divinitatis 