Faith

Pop quiz! Read the following scenario then answer the question that follows. Your stomach growls as you weave your way through rivers of people on a Manhattan sidewalk. Daylight isn’t the only thing petering out this evening; your bank account mimics the low ebb, along with your blood sugar and your inspiration...

AEI President Arthur Brooks's latest Wall Street Journal op-ed has been a little hard for me to take because it basically says conservatives are dumb meanies. But you know what? He's right. Bear with me. This isn't an "I turned liberal on you" missive.

Our recent event "Is the Good Book Good Enough?" discussed recent and future evangelical engagement with public policy. We've continued the conversation online, focusing especially on Michael Cromartie's call for an "Augustinian sensibility," in what he described as the current "now, but not yet" phase of history.

Hugh Whelchel has a great post over at the IFWE blog describing the impact of runaway consumerism on Christianity. He writes: "The problem is not consuming to live, but rather living to consume… Unfortunately, many Christian critiques of consumerism focus on the dangers of idolatry—the temptation to make material goods the center of life, instead of God."

There is an old joke that says there are only two types of people in the world: those who divide the world into two types of people, and those who don't. In college, I was always that student who argued there really aren't just two types of people in the world. But the sake of this discussion, there are two types free-marketers—religious and non-religious.

Christmas is the time to give and receive material gifts in memory of how Christ became our incarnate gift—and it's a time for us to lay aside material goods and cares to consider the eternal. Our ongoing conversation at V&C concerns material and immaterial realities and the connections among those realities.

This Advent season, I invite you to read through the birth account according to Matthew, without glossing over the darkness: "When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years and under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah..."

Obama beat Romney with an obvious demographic edge, but there is one minority group backing Obama the media isn't mentioning: hipsters. There are all sorts of hipsters: anarchist hipsters, libertarian hipsters, apolitical hipsters and maybe even just a few conservative hipsters. But overall, hipsters lean left. Even Christian hipsters.

Is God calling you to the workforce or full-time ministry? Many Christian college students preparing to graduate feel as if their entire life rests on the answer to this question.

No one likes a cherry-picker. Pick-up basketball players everywhere will attest to the unfavorable stigma immediately attached to any player who lollygags while getting back on defense, hoping that his teammates can somehow get a quick steal and hurl a long pass to him for an easy, uncontested layup.

Data-visualization guru Hans Rosling recently gave a fascinating TED talk contemplating the relationship between religion and babymaking. (For more examples of his wizardry, see here and here.)

This conversation between Ross Douthat and William Saletan on Slate is required reading for any thoughtful Christian. It reviews themes in Ross’s new book, "Bad Religion," which I’m now about to buy.

Over at the Institute on Faith, Work & Economics, Hugh Whelchel writes on vocation and the Christian. Below is an excerpt of "What is My Calling as a Christian at Work?"

In my previous post, I gave a basic history of how the Incorporation Doctrine has restricted religious liberty and the power of the states to create their own laws. Long before the Incorporation Doctrine, the founders discussed how to integrate religion and politics.

A few weeks ago, a salesman stationed in the local Sam’s Club on “Black Friday” approached a woman to offer her the latest deal on satellite services. “Excuse me, ma’am, do you have satellite or cable? We’re running a promotion that could save you a lot of money.” “Neither,” She responded.

This quote: "Capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity without hell" is quite popular with people on the right and on the left when talking about bankruptcy. Its potency comes from the association with Christianity and a belief in hell. Metaphysically, a belief in good necessitates a belief in evil.

Last Friday, AEI hosted a Values & Capitalism discussion on faith in politics with two prominent Evangelical political thought leaders. I was especially excited for this event because from my experience, Christian circles have done everything to hush controversial conversations.

A friend recently asked me whether God cares about his political positions, or whether he is involved in political issues at all. Having dealt with this question myself some time ago, I answered with a definitive "Yes."

We left things off last time in verse 9 of I Samuel 8.

My recent piece on the trouble with centralized power (“From Babel to Babylon”) took, historically speaking, a “macro” view of what I believe to be God’s clear disdain for mankind pursuing their own ends instead of His articulated

Last time out I touched upon the work-related implications of God’s “dominion directive.” Because it is such an important concept (and so integral to the free market concept I proudly embrace) I want to ta

In a recent attempt to influence the budget battles on Capitol Hill, Jim Wallis has taken his typical progressive stance by asking, “What Would Jesus Cut?”

Throughout the gospels, Jesus consistently frames things in ways that make us think. To highlight this point, most people point to his parables, each of which left Jesus’ listeners scratching their heads in puzzlement.

For some of us, unfettered markets are the best means for reaching a just and prosperous society. For others, such means will only lead to inequality, exploitation, and misery.