August 2017
Peace in Toil
The Christian worldview presents a framework for work that resolves many of the issues which arise from Stoicism and Materialism.
Samuel Ching | The Dartmouth Apologia | Spring 2016
The Year of Mercy: A Retrospective
Before the summer of 2016 began, I remember telling my spiritual director that I felt God wanted to teach me about mercy, especially with my favorite job: counseling a local summer camp for kids.
Michael Miskovski | The Columbia Crown & Cross | Spring 2017
On Marilynne Robinson’s Lila
In Marilynne Robinson's Lila, we are meant to see ourselves writ large: pitiful and scared, and not quite sure where we stand with God, or how we found ourselves here, in this house, tending to the garden, living this sort of life.
Kate Massinger | The Harvard Ichthus | Fall 2016
The Price of Glory
At one point in [Martin Scorsese's film] Silence the Inquisitor sneers at one of the captured priests, “the price for your glory is their suffering!"
Richard Ibekwe | MIT et Spiritus | Spring 2017
Why States Fail: Lessons from Augustine
If we can ascertain our nature, we can begin to understand what makes societies perpetually problematic.
Jeffrey Poomkudy | The Dartmouth Apologia | Spring 2017
Control//Support
Power, in our modern context, consists of (1) the ability to do things others are not able to do, or (2) the ability to control others’ actions directly.
Andrew Chang | UC Berkeley TAUG | Spring 2017
How to Reject Jesus
There are a number of approaches to rejecting Jesus Christ as being God. I have chosen the four I find most common and most natural to assert.
Bobby Peretti | The Hopkins Dialectic | Fall 2016
“Scientia Potentia Est”
Scientia potentia est, more commonly known as “knowledge is power,” is an aphorism suggesting that higher forms of knowledge correlate with greater power.
Lauren Hall | UC Berkeley TAUG | Spring 2017
Nonviolent Action and the Revolution of the Cross
In fact, in line with this trend of “questioning institutions”, MIT has recently announced a $250,000 award to further encourage “extraordinary civil, non-violent disobedience for the benefit of society.” But why is this all happening?
Matthew Chun | MIT et Spiritus | Spring 2017July 2017
Interview with Jim Nooney, a Christian CEO
"It takes confidence that the promises of the Bible are true because our American culture is constantly telling us to keep business and religion apart. But what I have found is that you can put them together."
Nicholas Chuan | The Brown & RISD Cornerstone | Fall 2016
Reconciling Faith and Reason
Biblically, faith is defined as “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” It is noteworthy that in both definitions of faith mentioned, there involves a certain element that extends beyond human perception.
Sarah Liu | The Hopkins Dialectic | Fall 2016June 2017
The Autonomous Veneer of Scientific Innovation
Research has pushed the bounds of knowledge and understanding to great lengths, addressing some of the most complex issues in physics, engineering, and medicine, but for what purpose?
Chris Korenczuk | University of Minnesota Between Cities | Fall 2016
The New Dartmouth: From Sacred to Secular
Regardless of the worldview one ascribes to, consideration of the full range of motivations for, and the ensuing effects of, the secularization of Dartmouth is required to fully understand its significance in Dartmouth’s history.
Sara Holston | The Dartmouth Apologia | Spring 2016
The Climate Change Distraction
For me to simply say that the climate is changing does not address the greater issue. The problem is that people are not motivated to care for the environment.
Brad Gordon | University of Minnesota Between Cities | Fall 2016May 2017
Understanding God Through Modern Rap: Coloring Book
In this series we want to show that the increased tendency of modern rappers to reference Christian themes in their lyrics represents a desire to use the shared experience of African American Christianity as a vehicle to speak about contemporary life.
Damilare Aboaba, Gaired Jordan, and Emani Pollard | Cornell Claritas | Fall 2016
Augustine Collective Alum Obasi Shaw ’17 Awarded Honors for Rap Thesis at Harvard
Entitled “Liminal Minds,” the album combines such influences as Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper and Geoffrey Chaucer to portray contemporary black life in America. Shaw is the first in Harvard's history to submit a rap album for the senior thesis project.
Augustine Collective News | Augustine Collective | Spring 2017
Reckless Faith: Pursuing God at Any Cost
During my final year at Middlebury, I was asked by Professor Gebarowski-Shafer to give a brief presentation on Pentecostalism in Korea and hold a question and answer session for her Global Pentecostalism class.
David Park | The Middlebury Vine | Fall 2016
Veritas Forum: Selfish Genes, Generous Soul?
Columbia Prof. Hughes then asked UNC Chapel Hill Prof. Sethupathy how there could be no evidence of God. The universe, to Hughes, didn’t seem to require a God.
Crystal Ren | The Columbia Crown & Cross | Fall 2015 (blog)
The Purpose of Prayer: Secular Misconceptions and the Reality of Grace
Right off the bat, Jesus addresses God as “our Father.” This quickly establishes that prayer is relational, personal, and even familial.
Madeline Killen | The Dartmouth Apologia | Spring 2016April 2017
Ending Global Poverty: An Interview with Economist Paul Niehaus ’04
"The early 2000s were an incredibly exciting time to study development economics because we were just starting to use experimental testing in a big way – like clinical trials in medicine, or A/B testing in tech."
Peter Hickman | The Harvard Ichthus | Fall 2016
On the Dignity of Sex
I myself have felt resentment and bitterness towards notions of “purity” and “chastity,” and rejected them as highly antiquated concepts that only objectified people.
A. S. Bethel | UC Berkeley TAUG | Spring 2017
The Diabolically Ridiculous
I assert that up to this point I have made a strong case for why the devil is ridiculous and tragic, but from my description, he does not sound very evil.
John Nystrom | Cornell Claritas | Fall 2016
An Interview with Prof. Anand Gnanadesikan
"Dealing with uncertain environmental problems, where we only see part of the system, has helped me appreciate what we do in a faith sense."
Gabrielle Moss | The Johns Hopkins Dialectic | Fall 2016
Petitionary Prayer: Why it Matters
Why is petitionary prayer necessary? And how are we, if at all, to determine its efficacy?
Jiaying Lim | The Columbia Crown & Cross | Fall 2016March 2017
A Non-Concealing Confession
This repentance must come from confession of sins and asking for forgiveness from God through prayer, but I also have come to believe that confession to others is at least a helpful, if not absolutely necessary part of this process.
Nate Lamb | Swarthmore Peripateo | Fall 2016
Who Are the Middle Eastern Christians?
Westerners’ broad concern for Middle Eastern Christians was and is well intentioned, but poorly informed, in part due to apathy and in part due to the lack of resources on the subject.
Christian Šidák | The Harvard Ichthus | Fall 2016
Highlights from the West Coast Retreat 2017
The 2nd Augustine Collective West Coast Retreat was held in Cambria, CA from March 3rd-4th, 2017.
Augustine Collective | Augustine Collective |
Revisiting the Concept of Scientism: An Interview with MIT Professor Dr. Ian Hutchinson
"Historically, Christianity was in many respects a fertile philosophical and theological environment in which science, as we know it, got going."
Anelise Powers | CalPoly Aletheia | Fall 2016February 2017
Theology of Terrorism: Exploring the Roots of Religious Violence
Unfortunately, the question of what “terrorism” actually means is a surprisingly difficult one, considering its near-constant use by the media today.
Joshua Tseng-Tham | The Dartmouth Apologia | Fall 2016
In the Beginning, [Insert Here] Created the Heavens and the Earth
In fact, as an important parallel, the vast majority of Christians in fields of theology have abandoned a literal interpretation of the Book of Revelation in favor of a more symbolic and poetic account.
Collin English | The Hopkins Dialectic | Fall 2016
Veritas Forum: Satisfaction and the Good Life
In this particular Veritas Forum, Dr. Tim Keller, prolific Christian author and founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, represented the Christian faith, and Professor Mark Lilla, intellectual historian at Columbia University, represented a secular worldview.
Nathan Barlow | The Columbia Crown and Cross | Fall 2016 (blog)
Christianity and Culture
How can I preserve my cultural heritage – steeped in ancestral worship, astrology, and polytheism – when it sometimes conflicts with my spiritual beliefs?
Emily Lau | The Columbia Crown & Cross | Spring 2016 (blog)
Prophecy, Progress, and Repentance: The Role of the Individual in Human History
Therefore, prophecy is primarily concerned with what may occur if the errant currents of the present are allowed to flow unaltered into the local or temporally proximal future.
Jake Casale | The Dartmouth Apologia | Spring 2016
The Manna of Human Rights
As aforementioned, the lack of a solid foundation for human rights and dignity provides leeway for human rights violations and impunity for perpetrators of atrocities.
Aurora Ling | UC Berkeley TAUG | Fall 2016
Everything Under the Sun is Absurd
Since July, I have been reading The Plague, by Albert Camus, alongside an older member of my home church. We discuss parts of the book through the lens of Christianity, and one topic which recurs over and over is the absurd.
Michael McGinnis | Cornell Claritas | Fall 2016
Highlights from the Annual Retreat 2017
Over 140 students from 18 colleges attended to hear keynote speaker Andy Crouch (Editor of Christianity Today and bestselling author) discuss the opportunities their journals have to creature culture and speak to their campuses.
Augustine Collective | Augustine Collective | January 2017January 2017
The Heart of Man is Not Compound of Lies: Redemptive Sacrifice Found in Fictional Literature
Joseph Campbell, a 20th-century scholar of mythology and religion, wrote that myths indicate the universal search for meaning, as well as reflect the journey of each individual.
Lydia Anderson | CalPoly Aletheia | Fall 2016
Discovering Jesus: “Lord, Liar, or Lunatic?”
If a person believes that the events in the Bible did take place, then a natural step is to decide what they believe about the identity of Jesus.
Liz Stasior | The Middlebury Vine | Fall 2016
Restless Seeker: From Absurdism to Hope
Perhaps as Camus had illustrated in the myth of Sisyphus, the struggle itself was enough to fill the heart. Except that with time it was not.
Erjona Topalli | MIT et Spiritus | Spring 2016December 2016
Why Miracles Are Possible: David Hume and the Reasonableness of Belief
Could it not be that the law of nature itself includes within it exceptions or deviations that seem to violate nature’s usual behavior?
Danielle D'Souza | The Dartmouth Apologia | Spring 2016
4 Take-Aways from the Veritas Forum: Does Science Point to Atheism?
Both panelists agreed on the constant thirst for truth present in both science and religion, and the “obvious tension” in their differences.
Monica Perez | The Brown & RISD Cornerstone | Spring 2015
A Defense of Leibniz’s Cosmological Argument from Contingency
Cosmological arguments attempt to demonstrate the existence of a deity based on the mere existence of the universe.
Luke Dickens | The Dartmouth Apologia | Spring 2016November 2016
A Restorative Response to Injustice
It is easy to look at a perpetrator and say that the problem lies uniquely in him or her. Yet I do not think Christians can do that.
Molly Richmond | The Harvard Ichthus | Spring 2016
The Gospel in the First Century
What I found in my studies and hope to summarize in this article is that a deeper understanding of the first-century Jewish world in which Jesus lived makes for a much richer appreciation of the good news that he proclaimed.
Erik Johnson | MIT et Spiritus | Spring 2016
Christianity, Social Revolutions, and the Way Forward
Marx’s beliefs about Christianity’s relationship to social change is contrary to what Christianity itself teaches about social change.
Josh Alexakos | The Dartmouth Apologia | Spring 2016
When God Speaks Back Today: Divine Revelation After the Bible
Behind these occurrences is the belief that divine revelation is not a thing of the past—that God actively communicates with us in perceivable ways even today.
Marcos Martinez | The Columbia Crown & Cross | Fall 2016October 2016
Can God and Free Will Coexist? Examining the Augustinian Solution
If God knows what is going to happen in the future, and his power necessarily brings this event into being, then it seems like all events occur independently of human agency.
Joshua Tseng-Tham | The Dartmouth Apologia | Spring 2016
Rediscovering Aristotle, Aquinas, and Classical Theism: an interview with Edward Feser
A former atheist, Dr. Feser converted back to the Catholicism of his youth after an extensive study of St. Thomas Aquinas’ thought and philosophy.
The Dartmouth Apologia | The Dartmouth Apologia | Spring 2016
Love: the Life of Justice
Justice, then, goes beyond laws and bears on every aspect of our interactions with other people in ways that few other virtues can.
Armando Ghinaglia | The Yale Logos | Spring 2016
Review: Can We See Through Others’ Eyes?
I have noticed how little current scholarship in religious studies takes the perspective of religious practitioners into account.
Jeff Cross | University of Minnesota Between Cities | Spring 2016