“Modernity,” according to Root, “is the constant process of speeding things up.”1 Under the accelerating forces of modernity, human beings and communities are constantly scrambling to keep up with the rapid rate of change, leading to increasing levels of anxiety and depression. Root illuminatingly contrasts change with transformation: Continue reading Root on Transformation vs. Change→
Andrew Root, The Church in a Secular Age: Keeping Sacred Time against the Speed of Modern Life (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2021), 14. ↩
I had a wonderful week last week with the Doctor of Ministry cohort at Providence Theological Seminary teaching a course called, “Thinking and Interpreting Theologically.” The students read several insightful texts in preparation for our time together. The one that seemed to generate the most conversation was Andrew Root’s The Congregation in a Secular Age: Keeping Sacred Time against the Speed of Modern Life(Baker, 2021). It is the third volume in Root’s Ministry in a Secular Age trilogy. In the trilogy Root is dialoguing with the work of the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor, in particular Taylor’s seminal A Secular Age. At the heart of Root’s project is the concern for developing ways for Christians to speak about and recognize the presence of divine action within the midst of a “social imaginary” that has reduced its vision to the “immanent frame.”1Continue reading Performance of Identity→
These are terms Taylor introduces in A Secular Age. I briefly engage with Taylor around some of these themes in For the Life of the World (215-216). ↩
As part of its ongoing commitment to support the life and ministry of the church, Providence Theological Seminary is allowing pastors and other ministry leaders to audit most of its courses for the reduced fee of $250 CDN. Include among those offerings is my upcoming modular course to be held during the week of February 20-24 on the life and witness of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Here is the course description: Continue reading Upcoming Bonhoeffer Course→
Unfortunately, the upcoming issue of Didaskalia has been held up in production. However, it sounds like it will soon finally make its appearance. In anticipation of its appearance, I thought I would share my editor’s introduction to the issue. We are once again making this issue available at the special rate of $5 for those within Canada and $10 for those in other countries. See prov.ca/didaskalia for more information.