Here are a dozen books on Christian missions that I recommend to pastors, professors, and students. I will describe each book and then rank its level of difficulty on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the most difficult. Level 1 is the category for a book you could give to any friend or family member. Level [ Read More ]
Here are twelve books I recommend to persons who wish to better understand the rise and development of Western thought. I will describe each book and then rank its level of difficulty on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the most difficult. Level 1 is the category for a book you could give to [ Read More ]
A year ago, I got my hands on a manuscript that sizzled with energy and punched like a pro—Mike Bird’s Religious Freedom in a Secular Age. In it, he guides readers through the dark and twisted maze of secularism’s rise and religious liberty’s decline. Along the way, he rejects two flawed agendas—civic totalism and white [ Read More ]
I’m going to ask you to, um, trust me on this: some of the people you think you can trust—whether friends, family members, clients, bosses, political leaders, or romantic interests—are fundamentally untrustworthy. It’s a lesson I’ve learned the hard way, and one that I wish to pass on. The common wisdom is that the only [ Read More ]
For almost twenty years, I taught a four-seminar rotation of “Great Books” for The College at Southeastern. The readings were formative not only for the students, but also for me, the professor. I gained an invaluable education. Through these works, I was able to trace the rise and development of Western thought and civilization, in [ Read More ]
She was the most arduous abecedary I’d ever encountered, Ms. Amelia Merritt. As my high school English teacher, she was tougher than a drill sergeant. She dressed tough and talked tough and had the kind of smoker’s voice that would make you wonder if she gargled with roofing nails. That’s why, when in the middle [ Read More ]
We live in a secular age. This is not to say that we live in an era in which most people are atheists or agnostics. But it is to say that we live in an era in which many or most people live their lives without real reference to God. It is to say that [ Read More ]
In My Life Among the Deathworks, sociologist Philip Rieff argued that the West in general, and America in particular, is in the midst of a historically unprecedented attempt to sever social order from sacred order. Whereas all civilizations historically have understood that sacred order shapes culture and that culture, in turn, shapes society, many of [ Read More ]
Recently, I undertook a rereading of The Essential Russell Kirk. Among the many treasures I rediscovered was his essay, “Ten Exemplary Conservatives,” a sketch of ten conservatives Kirk admired. By “conservative,” he did not mean committed to some ideology but rather persons who exhibited a “longing for order and permanence, in the person and in [ Read More ]
Here are twelve books I recommend for persons who wish to gain a better understanding of religious liberty and the threats against it. I will describe each book and then rank its level of difficulty on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the most difficult. A Level 1 book is one you could give [ Read More ]