Jason Montoya interview

This week Jason Scott Montoya interviewed me for his podcast, which can be seen immediately below:

The interview can also be found at Jason's website, along with relevant links: Political Visions & Illusions: A Survey & Christian Critique of Contemporary Ideologies — With Author David T. Koyzis. Thanks to Jason for a stimulating conversation!

The seeds of the gospel: remembering the Queen

Over the past not quite two weeks, the world has witnessed the grandest of ceremonial and pageantry in honour of Her Late Majesty the Queen, beginning with the memorial service at St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, then the funeral a week later at Westminster Abbey, and finally the committal service at St. George's, Windsor, where she was laid to rest. Great Britain is, of course, famous around the globe for the pomp and circumstance with which it surrounds its monarchy—something which other constitutional monarchies long ago put behind them.

Nevertheless, what stood out for me in these three memorial services is the extent to which they focussed, not so much on the Queen's life and witness, but on the person of Jesus Christ whom she trusted as her Saviour. To be sure, there was some eulogizing, especially by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, during the funeral.

Sherif Girgis on Constitutional Law and Culture After Dobbs

Last week Calvin University hosted Prof. Sherif Girgis, who teaches at the Law School at my alma mater, the University of Notre Dame. His lecture on Constitutional Law and Culture After Dobbs can be found immediately below:

One of Girgis' more persuasive points is that, in today's United States, there is a predominant notion that the courts—and the courts alone—are the arbiters of what is constitutional and what is not. But it has not always been thus. In the early history of the US, presidents and Congress alike saw themselves as guarantors of the constitution, alongside the courts. The introduction of judicial review in 1803 was not meant to negate the responsibilities of the other branches of government to uphold the constitution. Two centuries later, however, something like judicial supremacy has become a poor substitute for constitutional supremacy, as provided for in Article VI, paragraph 2, of the Constitution of the United States.

September newsletter

I have just posted my Global Scholars newsletter for September online, including, once again, a request for prayers for my return to health, especially after COVID made its way through our household this month: September 2022 newsletter. Thanks once again for your financial support and prayers!

'We are all orphans'

My updated Christian Courier column has been posted online under the title, "We are all orphans," with this subtitle: "In a culture of ‘self,’ the Queen was a true servant of the people." An excerpt:

Although we knew it was coming, we still experienced the death of Queen Elizabeth II as a blow. I myself was caught off guard and wept when I heard the news. A good friend put it well: we are all orphans. The Queen had been on the throne for seven decades, since before I was born, and serving until after my retirement. . . .

In Canada and 14 other Commonwealth Realms, once styled dominions, Queen Elizabeth II served as head of state, serenely carrying out the responsibilities she believed God had given her. No other monarch reigned as long as she. During her years on the throne, she earned the admiration of her own subjects and of people around the world, who have good reason to envy people living in these realms.

Read the entire column here.

Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022)

Chile's constitution: back to square one

Plaza de la Constitucion, Santiago, Chile

Twice in recent months I have had speaking events related to Chile, an unusually long and thin Spanish-speaking republic stretching along the Pacific coast of South America bounded to its east by the Andes Mountains and Argentina. On sunday, 4 September, Chilean voters rejected the new constitution proposed by the administration of the country's 36-year-old president Gabriel Boric by a substantial margin of 62 percent over 38 percent. This new draft, intended to replace the 1980 constitution introduced by former dictator Augusto Pinochet, boasted a whopping 388 articles, making it one of the longest, if not the longest, constitutional documents in the world. After unrest in 2019 over price rises, the government decided to hold a plebiscite on a new constitution, which 80 percent of voters supported the following year. The next two years were spent drafting the document, which was to be placed before Chileans for their approval. While Pinochet's constitution had enshrined a neoliberal market-oriented economic régime, ordinary Chileans became increasingly dissatisfied with it, culminating in the mass protests of three years ago.

Unifying or divisive? Biden's speech

Last thursday evening, 1 September, United States President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., delivered a speech in Philadelphia, a city of historic significance for Americans. Here is the speech in full:

There is reason to be ambivalent about the appropriateness of this speech, which will likely be seen as hopelessly partisan by his political opponents. I will make three observations concerning the speech.

Staying the course: Christian higher education

Not far from our home in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is one of southern Ontario's premier universities, McMaster, known internationally as a centre for advanced scientific and medical research. What few remember is that the university once had a connection with the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Québec, the only remnant of which is the presence on campus of McMaster Divinity College, whose most famous faculty member was probably the late Clark Pinnock. 

During my first years of teaching at a neighbouring institution, I often found myself in the Mills Library at McMaster. During one visit, I happened to notice the university's crest outside the elevators, and I was surprised to read the motto emblazoned in Greek letters above the shield: ΤΑ ΠΑΝΤΑ ΕΝ ΧΡΙΣΤΩΙ ΣΥΝΕΣΤΗΚΕΝ: "In Christ all things hold together." This, of course, is a reference to Colossians 1:17. I imagined that hundreds of people would walk past this coat of arms every day as they moved between the floors of the library, unaware of what the words meant or of their history. According to the university's website, "One may suppose that the motto and book were intended to express the concept, espoused in the Will of Senator McMaster, of 'a Christian school of learning'."