Pondering St. Francisville, Gilead, and our Stories of Place

[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic ] Jeremy Beer's recent review of The Little Way of Ruthie Leming leads me to once again reflect upon Rod Dreher's excellent book (about which I've …

Ruthie Leming's (and Rod Dreher's) Little Way

[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic ] Rod Dreher's 2006 manifesto, Crunchy Cons , was an inspiration (and provocation) to many, on both the left and the right. It wasn't that the book was a…

My Final (?) Mormon Moment Thoughts

[Cross-posted to By Common Consent ] Over the past 20 months or so, I--like a lot of other Mormon academics and bloggers--have found myself being contacted by reporters, being invited to conferences,…

Herder and Relativism (Enlightened and Otherwise)

Johann Gottfried Herder, a late 18th-century German pastor, educator, translator, literary critic, and philosopher, consumed much of my life and thought from 1998-2001, while I was writing my dissert…

Home Teaching and the Miracle of Interruption

[Cross-posted to By Common Consent ] Yesterday, I and another member of our church went to talk and counsel with a family in our congregation. (In Mormon parlance, this is called "home teaching&…

Cleansing the Altar, and the Anvil Too

[Cross-posted to By Common Consent ] Some interrelated thoughts for today, which is Yom Kippur, a Jewish holiday that I kind of wish every year was one of my own. First of all, the text: Okay, so tha…

"What Think Ye of Christ?"

[Cross-posted to By Common Consent ] Twice in the past week, I have been asked, in essence, this very question, though not exactly as it is recorded in Matthew 22:42. Once the question came from a st…