Connections Review #9, Summer/Fall 2014

The Semi-Annual ACI Courier 

Of Academic Connections, International : www.academicconnectionsgcm.org

Issue #9 Summer/Fall 2014

For Christian Professors on Secular Campuses

    Inside this issue we will begin by looking ahead to the beginning of a new academic year.  Since Academic Connections, International is interested in serving both Christian communities and individuals in academe, on Page 1 we’ll take a minute to ask you about the health of the Christian community on your campus.  We will offer some ideas about what you can do to enhance it.

    Page 2 of this courier contains a new section we introduced last issue: Café Cook.  We have been scouring the web for articles and resources you may have missed that we think could be very relevant to you.  Take a minute to grab a cup of coffee, refocus and take a look at the links we provide.

    Page 3 will provide information and access to ACI web upgrades and updates.  The most recent is a substantial update from Απολογία 2.0 to Απολογία 2.527.  

    We conclude this issue of Connections Review on Page 4 with information about conferences that may find relevant and our updated Court Watch.

Before getting into that, a couple of formalities:

     If you wish to be removed from this mailing list, please go to the bottom of the page, click on the provided link and type "remove" on the subject line.

     Please note: inclusion of links in the body of this courier does not imply an ACI endorsement (unless specifically mentioned), they are meant as food for thought.  Neither are they meant to imply that those cited would endorse us or what we are doing as a ministry.

Page 1

The Health of the Christian Community on Your Campus

    I was in the middle of getting ready for a trip to St. Petersburg, Russia in 1999 when my wife insisted I see my physician and have a thorough check-up.  It was pretty routine but one of the things assessed indicated I might have a serious problem.  Months later after the trip I retested and found out the problem hadn’t fixed itself and my life was on the line.  It turns out those check-ups and tests saved my life and 15 years later I’m glad I overcame my natural fears about hearing “bad news” and took the time to find out what was going on so I could do something about it.

    It reminds me of the line in the movie, The Princess Bride, where one of the characters reminded a swamped Prince Humperdinck to take things easy because, “...if you haven’t got your health, you haven’t got anything.”  Christians are asked to take stock of their own spiritual lives and make adjustments and the same could be said about the need for Christians in academe to assess the health of the Christian community on their campus.  Frankly, this is all about God’s desire for all of us to flourish...  Read More

Page 2

Café Cook

Scouring the Web for You: Here’s A Variety of WWW Links of Possible Interest—Get a Cup of Coffee, Make Yourself Comfortable and Check These Out

Remember Inclusion Does Not Mean Endorsement of Everything Said or Written

Vocation

    A Believer’s Journey at the New York Times (video)  Deputy Metro Editor, Mike Luo

Theology

    Kantzer Lectures in Revealed Theology (videos) N. Wolterstorff, Carl F.H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding

    Israel in Pauline Theology N.T. Wright at HBU Theology Conference

Spiritual Formation

    Why Christians Don’t Like Happiness (video)  Ellen Cherry

    God and Pursuit of the Good Life (video)  D. Horner

    Psychology and Spiritual Formation Biola Center for Christian Thought

The Academy

    Does the Academy Matter?  Panel Discussion on Foreign Affairs Transcript

    Report on the InterVarsity conference, “The End of Higher Education”  (held this summer)

        Emerging Scholars Blog

        The Conference Website

        Resources      

The Humanities

    Poverty is a Moral Problem  William Easterly in Christianity Today

    Why Not Just Weigh the Fish?  Robert Pasnau in the NYT

    Cultural Conversation on Contemporary Art & Faith Biola University

Science

    Can Religion and Science Coexist? (Video)  (American Association for the Advancement of Science)

    Misconceptions of Science and Religion (New Study)  Elaine Howard Eckland in Physics.org

    Faith and Reason in ACI’s Advanced Problems section of Απολογία

On-Line Book Reviews

    Review of: The Twilight of the American Enlightenment   D. Trotter

    Review of: After Cloven Tongues of Fire George Marsden in Books & Culture

    Review of: Religion Within The Bounds of Reason   J. Cook 

Cultural

    The Most Important Reformer You’ve Never Heard of  (Christianity Today)

    Religious Hostilities Reach 6 Year High (Pew Foundation)

    Introduction to Cultural Analysis (ACI Site: Level 6 Απολογία)

    Why We Review R-Rated Films (Christianity Today)

Page 3

ANNOUNCING Academic Connections, International DIGITAL UPDATES

Απολογία Website 2.527 Link  

A Family of Websites Created to Help Christian Professors Who Wish To Do 

Conversational Apologetics With Their Colleague

    Major revision of the structure of the site, adding 2 new levels for a total of 6 levels, includes:

o New work on solving the challenge of defining “faith” and “reason” for academics.

o New levels include an Introduction to Cultural Analysis and Advanced Problems.”

o Introduction to Cultural Analysis includes specific Christian resources (as well as secular resources).  Includes access to the work of: Abraham Kuyper, John Gresham Machen, H. R. Niebuhr, Lesslie Newbigin, Dietrich Bonnhoffer, D.A. Carson, Os Guinness, Francis Schaeffer, Andy Crouch, Nicholas Wolterstorff and more...

o Advanced Problems includes: Revisiting the Problem of Evil, Revisiting Natural Theology, Faith & Reason (in academe) and Theology Proper (concept of God).  

o Provides additional aids for adding or enhancing specialized skills to your apologetic toolbox including: resources for sharpening propositional logic analysis, updated links for metaphysical, epistemic and axiological analysis. This works seamlessly with our “Mentoring the Journey Website."

o Some enhanced aesthetics and some new site navigational aids to access all 6 levels.

Page 4

Conferences of Possible Interest & Court Watch

(Inclusion Does Not Necessarily Mean Endorsement)


Evangelical Philosophical Society & Evangelical Theological Society Conference       

    (Conferences In Tandem) November 19-21, 2014, San Diego

2015 Christian Scholar’s Conference

    CSC Conference June 3 - 5, 2015

Society for Christian Scholarship in Music

    SCSM Annual Meeting, February 12-14, 2015

Court Watch Link


    A final thought as you start out this academic year if you haven’t already, why not commit your way to the Lord afresh and ask Him to give you as a gift of His grace a new opportunity and impact for Him on campus that you’ve never seen before? And leave the results to Him.

    We hope you have enjoyed and benefited from this issue of ACI’s Connection Review!

Best Regards,

James A. Cook

Editor, Connections Review

For Academic Connections, International: www.academicconnectionsgcm.org

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