Ariel G. López. Shenoute of Atripe and the Uses of Poverty: Rural Patronage, Religious Conflict, and Monasticism in Late Antique Egypt. Transformation of the Classical Heritage Volume 50. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2013. 237 pgs. Hardback. $81.92. ISBN: 9780520274839. Shenoute of Atripe and the Uses of Poverty is the publication of López’s (revised) doctoral dissertation, defended at Princeton University in 2010. (ix) The work consists of seven main parts, including a substantial introduction,...
In every one of my friendships there comes that one moment. That one moment when they find out I’m a hip-hop fan. It’s actually more than fandom. It’s probably closer to obsession. Most people don’t expect it. I’m pale and have red hair. I study theology and have an intense love of all things sci-fi. I was homeschooled from first grade until I graduated high school, and I grew up in conservative evangelical churches in...
He approaches us at the Chevron station on the corner of Rosecrans and Sepulveda, where, on a clear day, you can see the skyscrapers of downtown L.A. cupped in the palm of the San Gabriel mountains, and overhead the planes queued up in the vast expanse of blue sky, waiting to land at LAX. Vinny, one of the kids I take care of, and I are having fun using the squeegee to clean the windows...
J. K. Rowling has written a new book. Did you notice something in that sentence? Those who know my affection for the Harry Potter series should immediately recognize that my opening sentence ended, not with five exclamation points, but with a period. Sadly, I am not too thrilled about this book. And this is coming from a self-proclaimed ‘Pothead’ (my endearing term for Potter fans). I have always been on the defensive for Rowling, arguing...
Since this is an election year, I thought it be would pertinent to address issues that are of concern when deliberating which candidates for whom to vote. In the next ten weeks I hope to take a biblical look at issues such as religious and political freedom, stewardship of earthly resources, war, and personal and social sin to name a few. In these posts I will not endorse any candidate or political party, I am...
“One thing my dad always used to say was that it was only fair for him, or any pastor for that matter, to receive the same sort of compensation as any other teacher in that local market. Besides… being poor doesn’t make you any holier.” For whatever reason, about 4 years ago, this statement was pressed by the mother of one of my best friends as a conversation emerged around the subject of money came...
It’s cold in Johannesburg. That surprised me because I always thought Africa was a hot place. That was the first of my expectations dashed upon the rocks of reality there. Accompanied by ten people, including seven high school students, I walked around an astonishingly large ghetto with bags of bread and canned foods. To be honest, it felt like a bad joke. I was walking around a neighborhood that contained a dumbfounding 1 million impoverished,...
Since the beginning of time this world has been dealing with sin and its consequences. Adam and Eve’s fall in the garden leads to many consequences – setting us up for a lifetime of relationship struggles that was not in God’s original plan. As life plays out we watch and see disastrous things start to happen – murder, theft, idolatry, and promiscuity with sexual behavior. God leads His people: in the Exodus movement, and finally...
“The Problem with Contentment is that we always want more of it.” There is much that could be said about our chronic compulsive need for contentment. Indeed, our narcissism and incessant hunger for more than we have is the result of an insatiable appetite of covetousness. As Francis de Sales warns, “as long as your spirit looks elsewhere than where you are, it will never apply itself rightly to profiting from where you are.”[1] Regardless of...
Jason Goroncy has the post for today: a nice little poem about the Sabbath. NT Scholar C.K. Barrett recently passed away. Cliff Kvidahl pays tribute. Michael Horton asks, can someone be Reformed and Charismatic? Nijay Gupta reminds us of the importance of context for exegesis with a helpful note about Bonhoeffer. James K.A. Smith on orthodox doubt vs. “emerging” doubt. You’ll have to jump in mid-discussion, but Peter J. Leithart defends a type of “biblicism”. Michael...
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