book reviews

To find a series of books that join up the dots in whole swathes of one's previous education is a wonderful experience.  That's my experience of the writings of philosopher Marinus Dirk Stafleu, which I first discovered a year ago.  His multi-volume project Philosophy of Dynamic Development flows from his career as a Christian studying physics and philosophy: from a PhD in quantum mechanics to teacher-teaching in Utrecht, in his native Netherlands.

Christianity and the University Experience should be read by everyone concerned with ministry to students.  It's the outcome of a project in 2009–2012 across thirteen English universities, investigating patterns of religious commitment among undergraduates identifying themselves as Christian.  And perhaps the most striking finding of all was that 51% of all respondents identified

James K.A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (Baker Academic, 2009)

'A Christian University Is For Lovers', runs the provocative title of the final chapter of this book, James K.A. Smith's first sally in his three-part 'Cultural Liturgies' project. Lovers of what? - you might ask. Of knowledge? Of the life of the mind? Of theology?

Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen, Christian Philosophy: A Systematic and Narrative Introduction (Baker Academic, 2013)

Knowledge is a special kind of belief, and the science of statistics provides one approach to gaining knowledge. So does faith have any direct connection to statistics? [1]

This review is reprinted with permission (and some additional material) from The Glass, the journal of the Christian Literary Studies Group (issue 30, Spring 2018). See other selected articles and more information about the journal and Group here: www.clsg.org. 

Why Study? Exploring the Face of God in the Academy (Fellowship of Evangelical Students, Singapore, 2017) 

Written by Wheaton professor Chris R. Armstrong, Medieval Wisdom for Modern Christians aims to counter the unhelpful assumptions and generalisations often made about medieval Christianity by evangelicals, and to open up some of the riches which this age of the Church can offer today.

The concluding part of Rudi Hayward's review of "Tracing the Lines" sketches Robert Sweetman's proposal to reconcile God's common grace to all scholars with the power of that same grace to transform the believer's mind redemptively.

Is being Christian scholars enough, or should we seek to do Christian scholarship?  This guest post from Rudi Hayward is the first of a 2-part book review touching on this important issue.

Recommended reading that could shed new light on our scholarly endeavours (updated Feb 2019)