Recent conversations about diversity initiatives in higher education include two complicated, interconnected issues: religious civility and progressive ideologies. For example, in October 2018, Eboo Patel wrote “Faith is the Diversity Issue Ignored by Colleges” for The Chronicle of Higher Education,…
by Debra L. Freeberg What happens at the end of life to the stored treasures of knowledge and memory? To the books of language fruit dripping with meaning, consequence, and flavor. To the closely held memories of touch and kiss…
CRC Synod 2019 meets June 14 through 20. One topic which is likely to command a great deal of attention is that Synod will discuss the Interim Report of the Committee to Articulate a Foundation-laying Biblical Theology of Human Sexuality…
Though Easter was a huge deal in my family, we never did Ash Wednesday when I was growing up. No service, no imposition of ashes. And although my parents adored the Advent season (during which we had many family traditions,…
after Henri Nouwen’s studyof Rembrandt’s paintingof Christ’s parable I look at the handsembracing clutching caressing the hands I can only seebecause Rembrandt saw them for me the hands as seenin the light Nouwen shone on themhis power of suggestion …
In my work with preservice teachers and in conversations with colleagues at Hope College, I frequently engage in questions of what it means to integrate faith and learning. Is it a matter of teaching Christian perspectives and ideas in a…
For anyone familiar with the interdisciplinary conversation in theology and the arts, Jeremy Begbie’s name is well known. Begbie has been arguing for music – and arts more broadly – as sites for serious theological engagement for some time (his…
My father had his first heart attack at 37 years old. Let that sentence sink in for a second. No part of this shocking statement has been lost on me, certainly not when I recently turned 38. I have spent…
I assure you that anyone who gives you a drink of water because you belong to me will certainly receive a reward. Mark 9:41 The facts of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, are well known. Most important, it was…
First Reformed presents looks at current social issues through the lens of religion and specifically the eyes of a pastor from a failing Reformed church. To its credit, it attempts to give a well-rounded view of these issues. Pastor Ernst…
