Joshua Ryan Farris, Rev, Ph.D, He is Humboldt Experienced Researcher Fellow at the University of Bochum, Germany, 2022-2023; Mundelein Seminary Chester and Margaret Paluch Professor, 2020-2021, March 2020 Center of Theological Inquiry; Director of Trinity School of Theology; International Advisor, Perichoresis, The Theological Journal of Emanuel University; Associate Editor, Philosophical and Theological Studies for the Journal of Biblical and Theological Studies; Associate Editor, European Journal of Philosophy of Religion.
With all the chat about AI and chatbots, you might think there really isn’t anything distinctive about consciousness or, God forbid, we bring up the soul let alone the afterlife. This is certainly the impression some scientists are feeding the rest of us. But, is this really the case? And, should we buy it? In…
In his “Word from the Bird,” Michael Bird provocatively, and mistakenly, claims that “certain theologies enable sexual abuse”—all this shortly after the SBC independent report revealing sexual abuse cases amongst ‘complementarian’ leaders. While the argument by Bird is unclear, he is clear that complementarianism (e.g., the view that there is some functional difference between man…
Being Human in a Technological Age: Rethinking Theological Anthropology. Edited by Steven C. Van Den Heuvel. Leuven: Peeters Publishers, 2020. 274 pp. $70 (paper). What does it mean to be a technologically advanced human? Building on an ancient question: “what does it mean to be human?” the authors of Being Human in a Technological…
Orthodox Anglican Identity: The Quest for Unity in a Diverse Religious Tradition. By Charles Erlandson. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2020. 224 pp. $47.00 (cloth), $27.00 (paper). This book is a useful exploration of ecclesial identity through the lens of the Anglican tradition. As the title makes clear, Erlandson explores both the diversity of Anglicanism and…
As Covid-19 vaccines are being rolled out to service Americans, along comes a hefty dose of shame, mockery, and manipulation. Just take for example a sampling of recent attempts to shame those ‘white evangelicals’ who are endangering the rest of us—at least that is the implication. All of these arguments intend to portray the opposition…
I was raised an evangelical. I became an Anglican (yet, I retain my evangelical identity). This, for one fundamental reason: authority. I realized that evangelicals need one feature in their practice that is often missing: authority. Evangelicals, undoubtedly, have one authority and that is the Bible. But as with so many realities in Scripture, authority…
An Excerpt from An Introduction to Theological Anthropology: Humans, Both Creaturely and Divine There exists a growing trend in theological anthropology toward what has been called Christian materialism. By Christian materialism, I am referring to the position that we are strictly identical to our bodies—albeit sophisticated bodies, our brains, or our animal (i.e., a biological…