Recommended Reading for the Times

This week I offer links to some pieces I think you’ll find helpful, pieces on navigating the times we find ourselves in.

♞ How to Talk to a Christian-Curious Agnostic by Justin Brierley

Secularists have identified a “meaning crisis” in our materialistic culture and are increasingly aware that the Christian story has shaped Western culture in ways that are not easy to ignore or reinvent. Even as they profess personal uncertainty about God’s existence, they are beginning to wonder whether any of us can really live without God.

All this has prompted the rise of the Christian-curious agnostic: the modern individual who still wonders whether there may be some truth (or at least usefulness) in the ancient Judeo-Christian story their ancestors once believed.

He then offers 3 tips for engaging with these people.

♞ We (Do Not) Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident by Andrew Wilson

I think this is related to the above “meaning crisis”.

The fundamental equality of human beings, and their endowment with inalienable rights by their Creator, are essentially theological beliefs. They are neither innately obvious axioms nor universally accepted empirical truths nor rational deductions from things that are. There is no logical syllogism that begins with undeniable premises and concludes with “all people are equal” or “humans have God-given rights.” The Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyov expressed the non sequitur at the heart of Western civilization with a deliciously sarcastic aphorism: “Man descended from apes, therefore we must love one another.”

He goes on to describe how Christianity is, in one sense, a victim of its own success. This piece is helpful in understanding the modern world and also some events in our not too distant history.

♞ Rules for Passivists by Jeff Reimer

Here he gives us “ten things to do when you are steamrolled by the inexorable force of history.”

One we should embrace for the coming year:

“President Red or President Blue can’t actually do all that much to move the dial of your happiness or the happiness of those you care about. Probably the person with the most capacity to make your life miserable is not on cable news or Capitol Hill but on your city council, or lives in your neighbourhood, or shares your bed at night. And if you’re willing to do a frank inventory of the people who are making your life miserable and who are making the people around you miserable, odds are you’ll discover that you are near the top of that list.”

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