The Next Blog
As I gear up to leave for Amsterdam on the 15th, I decided to set up a separate blog for potential studies related posts. I'll probably note here when I've posted there... so you'll be sure not to miss a single word. Go To REFORMATORISCHE.
In other news, I've secured housing not far from the University. Moving the majority of my earthly belongings into storage went smoothly. And I am so ready to go. I've never been readier.
8.12.2005
8.10.2005
Belated Bye-Bye To B&N
Thanks to all my co-workers and managers at the Pikesville Barnes&Noble bookstore. After working there for about a year and a half, I can say it was one of the more pleasant jobs I've ever had (thanks to you) and thus, the longest period I've been employed at any particular business.
It is regrettable that our friendships didn't extend much outside of work, but I am truly grateful for the magnanimity and humor you brought to our co-labors. And it was always a relief to have sympathetic ears about difficult customers.
I hope you will continue to check back for updates on my progress over the next year. Several of you suggested you might email me and/or come for a visit. I would be so pleased if you did! Contact Brad if you've lost my info.
[notice: This post was made from my new laptop!]
Thanks to all my co-workers and managers at the Pikesville Barnes&Noble bookstore. After working there for about a year and a half, I can say it was one of the more pleasant jobs I've ever had (thanks to you) and thus, the longest period I've been employed at any particular business.
It is regrettable that our friendships didn't extend much outside of work, but I am truly grateful for the magnanimity and humor you brought to our co-labors. And it was always a relief to have sympathetic ears about difficult customers.
I hope you will continue to check back for updates on my progress over the next year. Several of you suggested you might email me and/or come for a visit. I would be so pleased if you did! Contact Brad if you've lost my info.
[notice: This post was made from my new laptop!]
7.13.2005
The Rush And Push
Long, weary story short... no convenient web access of late. However, in the Lord's gracious providence, He has made the bulk of my funding for school available (although any additional support is welcome and will be put to neccessary use). I am tremendously relieved... beyond words. So, a few more weeks of work, then packing belongings for storage, then off to the VU on the 15th of August (with a day's detour in Cork to see my brother). I'll have a week or so before class starts to find a place to live [DV].
The support of family and friends during this hectic transition means a great deal. Thank you all. More trials remain ahead, I'm sure. I'll keep you posted.
Long, weary story short... no convenient web access of late. However, in the Lord's gracious providence, He has made the bulk of my funding for school available (although any additional support is welcome and will be put to neccessary use). I am tremendously relieved... beyond words. So, a few more weeks of work, then packing belongings for storage, then off to the VU on the 15th of August (with a day's detour in Cork to see my brother). I'll have a week or so before class starts to find a place to live [DV].
The support of family and friends during this hectic transition means a great deal. Thank you all. More trials remain ahead, I'm sure. I'll keep you posted.
6.14.2005
Paid Vacation
After working at the bookstore for over a year, I merited some vacation pay... a first for me. So, the first weekend of June, courtesy of a friend's frequent flier miles and superb hospitality, I flew out to Los Angeles. The first thing I did was drive to the nearest In-N-Out and enjoyed the best un-fastfood in the universe.
I really enjoyed the live performance of Prairie Home Companion at the Hollywood Bowl. The air was a bit crisp, but we had wine and cheese and performances by the Old Crow Medicine Show, among others. Phenomenal.
The rest of my time in LA was dinners and cookouts with old friends and new acquaintances. I'm generally not a fan of the westcoast, but I hated to leave.
Upon my return, I eased back into work by filling in for our community relations manager. I setup and enjoyed a local author discussion and signing with Catherine Rogers Arthur, curator of the Homewood House. Wish I could afford to attend the Evening of Traditional Beverages.
After working at the bookstore for over a year, I merited some vacation pay... a first for me. So, the first weekend of June, courtesy of a friend's frequent flier miles and superb hospitality, I flew out to Los Angeles. The first thing I did was drive to the nearest In-N-Out and enjoyed the best un-fastfood in the universe.
I really enjoyed the live performance of Prairie Home Companion at the Hollywood Bowl. The air was a bit crisp, but we had wine and cheese and performances by the Old Crow Medicine Show, among others. Phenomenal.
The rest of my time in LA was dinners and cookouts with old friends and new acquaintances. I'm generally not a fan of the westcoast, but I hated to leave.
Upon my return, I eased back into work by filling in for our community relations manager. I setup and enjoyed a local author discussion and signing with Catherine Rogers Arthur, curator of the Homewood House. Wish I could afford to attend the Evening of Traditional Beverages.
5.27.2005
Top Worldwide Destination
Frommer's placed Charm City on its recent top 10 summer 2005 travel destinations.
(that's all. just wanted to brag.)
Frommer's placed Charm City on its recent top 10 summer 2005 travel destinations.
(that's all. just wanted to brag.)
5.24.2005
Intro To Transcendental Critique
Roy Clouser's The Myth of Religious Neutrality has recently appeared in a new revised edition by Notre Dame Press. This work is the best introduction to the foundation of Dooyeweerdianism available in the English language. I can't recommend it highly enough. See a comment on the first edition here.
Also, check out the Roy Clouser Pages. I particularly recommmend his article "Is God Eternal?".
Roy Clouser's The Myth of Religious Neutrality has recently appeared in a new revised edition by Notre Dame Press. This work is the best introduction to the foundation of Dooyeweerdianism available in the English language. I can't recommend it highly enough. See a comment on the first edition here.
Also, check out the Roy Clouser Pages. I particularly recommmend his article "Is God Eternal?".
5.18.2005
Shameless Self-Promotion
If you haven't heard the news, I was recently accepted to a Masters program in philosophy at the Free University of Amsterdam. I am tremendously excited about it, but the funding is still up in the air. Please consider an endorsement from Gideon Strauss, and pass it on to other possibly interested parties.
[Gideon is director of education and research at the Christian Labour Association of Canada; a senior fellow of the Work Research Foundation, and editor of Comment]
If you haven't heard the news, I was recently accepted to a Masters program in philosophy at the Free University of Amsterdam. I am tremendously excited about it, but the funding is still up in the air. Please consider an endorsement from Gideon Strauss, and pass it on to other possibly interested parties.
[Gideon is director of education and research at the Christian Labour Association of Canada; a senior fellow of the Work Research Foundation, and editor of Comment]
5.16.2005
The Political Crux
or, secularist thought police in the public square
In his recent NYTimes BookReview back page essay Mark Lilla suggests that the ubiquitous preoccupation with public Christianity since W.'s re-election is "a media bubble, and like all bubbles it will burst." I don't doubt he is correct. But that certainly doesn't mean public Christianity is going away.
If (as I suspect) Lilla's views are fairly representative of secular academic would-be interlocutors with public Christianity in this country, the road ahead looks tedious. One hopes that Lilla's forthcoming book may provide a more enlightened analysis than his essay. There are so many things problematic with his understanding here. I might even call it propagandist schlock if I had the time to detail his confusion. But his main beef with public Christianity is, of course, that it doesn't play by his own ideological rules.
To Lilla's thinking, as to all secular fundamentalists', genuine pluralism is impermissible. Unless religionists drop their undemocratic fascination with the supernatural and adopt a modernistic theology, they are not welcome at the table. Lilla's hypocritical dogma is clear: when entering the public square, leave your faith at the door, or else you are neither sober or rational.
It's hard to say how long this sort of philosophical naivete will persist. But one thing is certain: a genuine civil society cannot be attained without cultivating intellectually critical habits of mind among so-called liberals. This was as true for Abraham Kuyper and J. Gresham Machen in their respective times as it is for us today.
or, secularist thought police in the public square
In his recent NYTimes BookReview back page essay Mark Lilla suggests that the ubiquitous preoccupation with public Christianity since W.'s re-election is "a media bubble, and like all bubbles it will burst." I don't doubt he is correct. But that certainly doesn't mean public Christianity is going away.
If (as I suspect) Lilla's views are fairly representative of secular academic would-be interlocutors with public Christianity in this country, the road ahead looks tedious. One hopes that Lilla's forthcoming book may provide a more enlightened analysis than his essay. There are so many things problematic with his understanding here. I might even call it propagandist schlock if I had the time to detail his confusion. But his main beef with public Christianity is, of course, that it doesn't play by his own ideological rules.
To Lilla's thinking, as to all secular fundamentalists', genuine pluralism is impermissible. Unless religionists drop their undemocratic fascination with the supernatural and adopt a modernistic theology, they are not welcome at the table. Lilla's hypocritical dogma is clear: when entering the public square, leave your faith at the door, or else you are neither sober or rational.
It's hard to say how long this sort of philosophical naivete will persist. But one thing is certain: a genuine civil society cannot be attained without cultivating intellectually critical habits of mind among so-called liberals. This was as true for Abraham Kuyper and J. Gresham Machen in their respective times as it is for us today.
5.07.2005
NPR Takes Note... sorta'
In a recent series, NPR has been trying to get a handle on "Public Christianity." Of course they don't get it. As secular fundamentalists they have a core (religious) commitment to the myth of religious neutrality in public life.
I found the piece on Christian legal organizations interesting. The paranoia was palpable. They mentioned Mat Staver and the Liberty Counsel, Alan Sears and the Alliance Defence Fund, & Jay Sekulow and the American Center for Law and Justice, but they failed to mention "the daddy" of Christian legal groups (and my favorite): John Whitehead and The Rutherford Institute. Neither did they mention the Christian Legal Society or the Christian Law Association. Happily, there are several more such groups out there.
In a recent series, NPR has been trying to get a handle on "Public Christianity." Of course they don't get it. As secular fundamentalists they have a core (religious) commitment to the myth of religious neutrality in public life.
I found the piece on Christian legal organizations interesting. The paranoia was palpable. They mentioned Mat Staver and the Liberty Counsel, Alan Sears and the Alliance Defence Fund, & Jay Sekulow and the American Center for Law and Justice, but they failed to mention "the daddy" of Christian legal groups (and my favorite): John Whitehead and The Rutherford Institute. Neither did they mention the Christian Legal Society or the Christian Law Association. Happily, there are several more such groups out there.
4.28.2005
German Reformed Liturgy Debates
For many years now the history of Reformed worship has been one of my "hobbies." Lately I've enjoyed reading Maxwell's Liturgical Lessons of Mercersburg. It's in dissertation format and type, but nonetheless a good read. And I noticed that D.G.Hart is coming out with a book on J.W.Nevin. I'll probably wait til it's out in paperback.
For more background on the RCUS and Mercersburg, see David Koyzis' posts of 7 Jul 03 and 8 Jul 03.
There's also a helpful comparative chart of various historical Reformed orders of worship on page 24 of the Ordained Servant, vol.3 no.3 [in PDF only].
For many years now the history of Reformed worship has been one of my "hobbies." Lately I've enjoyed reading Maxwell's Liturgical Lessons of Mercersburg. It's in dissertation format and type, but nonetheless a good read. And I noticed that D.G.Hart is coming out with a book on J.W.Nevin. I'll probably wait til it's out in paperback.
For more background on the RCUS and Mercersburg, see David Koyzis' posts of 7 Jul 03 and 8 Jul 03.
There's also a helpful comparative chart of various historical Reformed orders of worship on page 24 of the Ordained Servant, vol.3 no.3 [in PDF only].
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