Insomniac memos

Postmodernism is Dead – Again?

Carl Sanders — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:05:42 +0000

Yet another essay discussing the death of postmodernism. Though with its own postmodern twang – postmodernism is just another took in our toolbox – no longer the sole way of looking at things. A good interdisciplinary discussion though.

Another online option

Carl Sanders — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:59:36 +0000

Another online education startup – with a former Stanford prof in the news.

Education Disruption

Carl Sanders — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:13:26 +0000

Free College for All

Carl Sanders — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 03:30:32 +0000

This article suggests this ideal might be possible – which would totally disrupt the existing higher education structure. The other stuff traditional colleges would offer (that would justify some of their costs) would have to be value-added. There are such things (the article suggests a few possible ones), but a lot of schools may not survive.

Christian Consuming

Carl Sanders — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 05:45:31 +0000

An interesting post on the Amazon price-check app. The goal is for you to shop in a store and then purchase at Amazon. Amazon uses your work to enhance their price database and everyone wins, except the store. The post suggests this is a bad thing, and in ways it is. I don’t know quite how to balance this – as one comment notes, I frequently do the opposite too. We can go back and forth and there’s no easy answer. I’m not even sure there is a Christian answer (though I purchased the linked book – at Amazon, of course, since the Kindle version was much cheaper).

Some of the themes in the post are echoes of something I noted earlier.

Gluttony and Busyness

Carl Sanders — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 04:58:36 +0000

A surprising but I think an insightful connection between gluttony and the busynesswe often feel. Is our business a result of our unwillingness to control our appetites for success, approval and more? Perhaps more than we might like to admit.

Does God Care Whether Tim Tebow Wins on Saturday

Carl Sanders — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 21:57:09 +0000

A theological professor tackles this issue, discussing how providence works. God guides all things, he argues, which may mean he helps Tebow directly at times (though perhaps not). But even if Tebow loses this week, God has not failed him. Here’s a snippet:

Sometimes God grants believers great victories, and sometimes he asks them to walk through the fire. This is true whether it is experienced on the football field, in the office, or in a country that rewards outspoken Christianity with a sword to the throat.

Perhaps this sounds like a cop-out, as weird as the mystical, linebacker-thwarting wood elves I introduced earlier. But if it does, remember the one whom Christians worship. Jesus Christ was the Son of God in human form. He did not come to earth to be lauded, though, but to serve and to suffer (Mark 10:45). It was the will of God to bruise him, and through his vicarious death and life-giving resurrection to make a way to heaven for fallen mankind.

P.S. These last points are very relevant after the game is over!

Teacher Pay

Carl Sanders — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 21:51:07 +0000

An interesting analysis of teacher pay. Seems that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. What a surprise!

Visual Theology

Carl Sanders — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 06:49:30 +0000

Tim Challies begins a new feature on visual theology. Here is the order of salvation (ordo salutis) in a traditional Calvinist sense. It’s a good idea; I’d like to see some different theological perspectives do the same kind of thing. I can use things like this to help students grasp difficult or complex issues, especially if they’re a bit more visual.

That’s How God Rolls

Carl Sanders — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:37:49 +0000

At least according to Pete Enns, in this adaptation of the conclusion from his latest (sure to be very controversial) book. We’re back to wrestling with the implications of the incarnation and scripture and how that affects our readings of Genesis in light of modern science, and he quotes Bavinck as a resource. I’m not sure a modern evangelical would use Bavinck’s language to speak of inspiration:

So also the word [the Bible], the revelation of God, entered the world of creatureliness, the life and history of humanity, in all the human forms of dream and vision, of investigation and reflection, right down into that which is humanly weak and despised and ignoble. . . .