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AR 22:15 - "Most comprehensive critique of theistic evolution yet"
In this issue:
ESCHATOLOGY - "those who fail to take the Benedict Option aren't going to make it"
ORIGINS - the contrasting views of two-dozen scientists, philosophers, and theologians from Europe and North America
RELIGIOUS PLURALISM -- new book by Peter Kreeft imagines college class "dialogues on the world's great faiths"
SPIRITUALITY - a humorous send-up that "amplifies common claims"
Apologia Report 22:15 (1,335)
April 12, 2017
ESCHATOLOGY
The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation, by Rod Dreher [1] a senior editor at The American Conservative <www.goo.gl/Ip8lHR> -- "calls on American Christians to prepare for the coming Dark Age by embracing an ancient Christian way of life. The light of the Christian faith is flickering out all over the West, and only the willfully blind refuse to see it." Get ready for more of this thinking. The publisher goes on to say that "The West, cut off from its Christian roots, is falling into a new Dark Age. The bad news is that the roots of religious decline run deeper than most Americans realize. The good news is that the blueprint for a time-tested Christian response to this decline is older still. In The Benedict Option, Dreher calls on traditional Christians to learn from the example of St. Benedict of Nursia, a sixth-century monk who turned from the chaos and decadence of the collapsing Roman Empire, and found a new way to live out the faith in community. For five difficult centuries, Benedict's monks kept the faith alive through the Dark Ages, and prepared the way for the rebirth of civilization. What do ordinary 21st century Christians - Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox - have to learn from the teaching and example of this great spiritual father? That they must read the signs of the times, abandon hope for a political solution to our civilization's problems, and turn their attention to creating resilient spiritual centers that can survive the coming storm. Whatever their Christian tradition, they must draw on the secrets of Benedictine wisdom to build up the local church, create countercultural schools based on the classical tradition, rebuild family life, thicken communal bonds, and develop survival strategies for doctors, teachers, and others on the front lines of persecution. ... Christians who are brave enough to face the religious decline, reject trendy solutions, and return to ancient traditions will find the strength not only to survive, but to thrive joyfully in the post-Christian West. ...
"Christians face a time of choosing, with the fate of Christianity in Western civilization hanging in the balance. In this powerful challenge to the complacency of contemporary Christianity, Dreher shows why those in all churches who fail to take the Benedict Option aren't going to make it."
Sounds like "Pull the plug, build your bunker, and leave those heathens to fry."
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ORIGINS
Theistic Evolution: A Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Critique; edited by J. P. Moreland, Stephen C. Meyer, Chris Shaw and Wayne Grudem [2] -- publisher's promo: "The debate about biological origins continues to be hotly contested within the Christian church. Prominent organizations such as Biologos (USA) and Faraday Institute (UK) insist that Christians must yield to an unassailable scientific consensus in favor of contemporary evolutionary theory and modify traditional biblical ideas about the creation of life accordingly. ... Featuring two-dozen highly credentialed scientists, philosophers, and theologians from Europe and North America, this volume provides the most comprehensive critique of theistic evolution yet produced. It documents evidential, logical, and theological problems with theistic evolution, opening the door to scientific and theological alternatives...." Not due out until November, we plan to keep an eye out for early reviews.
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RELIGIOUS PLURALISM
Between One Faith and Another: Engaging Conversations on the World's
Great Religions, by Peter Kreeft [3] -- the publisher indicates this imagines college class "dialogues on the world's great faiths. His characters Thomas Keptic and Bea Lever are students [who] explore the content and distinctive claims of [Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam]. Along the way they explore how religions might relate to each other and to what extent exclusivism or inclusivism might make sense. Ultimately Kreeft gives us helpful tools for thinking fairly and critically about competing religious beliefs." And, in classic Kreeft <www.goo.gl/IgQWFI> style, you are asked to "Decide for yourself."
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SPIRITUALITY
How to Be Ultra Spiritual: 12-1/2 Steps to Spiritual Superiority, by J. P. Sears [4] -- nice to see this coming from a New Age publisher. Publishers Weekly explains: "Sears translates his satirical YouTube series on spirituality crazes to a self-help guide in this humorous send-up. Ultra spirituality is the more intense, more insistent version of new age that amplifies the common claims of the spiritual-but-not-religious set. For instance: quality meditation is determined by length; truths are truer if you can cite your guru; the best intuitions are the vaguest; and being present in the now is a weaker version of the real goal of being present in the soon. Filled with unhelpful advice, the chapters cover a wide range of topics to make sure you are on the path towards more enlightenment than anyone else. The parody offers sharp critique of self-righteous vegans, image-obsessed yoga practitioners, and greedy peddlers of spiritual advice. Sears is at his best in the chapters on competitive spirituality and during his more antagonistic takes on mindfulness and the hypocritical disparaging of religion by those who consider themselves 'spiritual but not religious'."
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SOURCES: Monographs
1 - The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation, by Rod Dreher (Sentinel, 2017, hardcover, 272 pages) <www.goo.gl/pcSpgA>
2 - Theistic Evolution: A Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological
Critique; edited by J. P. Moreland, Stephen C. Meyer, Chris Shaw and Wayne Grudem (Crossway, November 2017, hardcover, 800 pages) <www.goo.gl/QVjO2z>
3 - Between One Faith and Another: Engaging Conversations on the World's Great Religions, by Peter Kreeft (IVP, August 2017, paperback, 208 pages) <www.goo.gl/7pzQOt>
4 - How to Be Ultra Spiritual: 12-1/2 Steps to Spiritual Superiority, by J. P. Sears (Sounds True, 2017, paperback, 272 pages) <www.goo.gl/KgDPUA>
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