Can a philosophy class help students become better people? Can a Christian liberal arts education contribute to the formation of good citizens? I address these questions in my teaching and writing, and I hope people who meet my students and read my book will agree with me in answering “yes” to both. Two current developments in our society highlight the importance of these pedagogical goals: a decline in civility and a deficiency of intellectual virtue . . .
Read more here: “Learning for Civility, Virtue, and Wisdom” Westmont Magazine
According to Cat Stevens (and more recently Sheryl Crow), “The First Cut is the Deepest.” When your first romantic love abandons you, it hurts more than subsequent break-ups do. In Faith at the Edge: A Book for Doubters (Eerdmans, 2009), Robert N. Wennberg makes a similar observation about a Christian’s first experience of serious doubt. When radical uncertainty shatters the initial confidence and joy of a believer, the result can be profoundly disorienting and unsettling. Like Wennberg, I suffered from such a challenge to my faith in my early 20s. I wish I’d had a copy of his wise and encouraging book to help me better understand and benefit from my struggle. What I needed at that time was what Wennberg offers: a theology of doubt that explains its potential role in the growth of faith . . .
Read more here: “Can Doubters Know God?” Westmont Magazine