Prayer and fasting for Canada

The flags are at half staff once again after the discovery of 751 unmarked graves of aboriginal children, who had been taken from their families and educated at residential schools operated by several church denominations. This policy was pursued by the federal government over several generations in an effort to assimilate forcibly these children into the majority European culture. The policy lasted from 1876 until as recently as 1996, when the last such school closed in Saskatchewan. In 1894 attendance at these schools became compulsory for aboriginal children. Thus far two such burial grounds have been discovered, but there will undoubtedly be more.

Tomorrow is Canada Day, a federal holiday once known as Dominion Day. It celebrates the day in 1867 when the Dominion of Canada was established by bringing together in a federal union Canada West (Ontario), Canada East (Québec), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Typical Canada Day celebrations include parades and fireworks. From our vantage point on the Niagara Escarpment, we can see multiple fireworks displays in various cities in our region.

Donor challenge

Dear Global Scholars support community:

In my newsletter last Friday, I indicated that I would have news about a donor challenge to support my work with Global Scholars Canada.

Two weeks ago I was issued a challenge by an anonymous potential donor. Up until Dec. 31, 2021, they will match every dollar raised over and above last year's funds up to $8,000. If a particular donor gave $200 last year, what counts this year for purposes of matching is what he or she gives above the $200 amount. All new donations from people who have not previously given count towards the total. This means that if someone gave $500 last year and gives $800 this year, $300 of that will be matched by the donor. A new donor who gives $1,000 this year will in effect be giving $2,000 in total.

Don't worry about alerting Global Scholars to how your donation is affected by this challenge: our accountant will be conscientious in assuring that all qualifying donations are properly matched.

GSC's page for giving can be found here. Once you are in the page, scroll down to the heading marked DONATION DETAILS, and then choose one of the options under FUND. Americans may donate through our sister organization in the US. If you cannot afford to give, please do continue to pray for my work.

In closing I would like to express my gratitude to this anonymous donor for encouraging additional support for my transnational vocation.

Yours in the service of God's kingdom,

David

June newsletter

I have now posted my Global Scholars newsletter for the month of June here.

Are the Chronicles Redundant?

I have just published a brief article at Kuyperian Commentary: Are the Chronicles Redundant? An excerpt:

When I’ve read Chronicles in the past, I’ve sometimes thought that they are redundant, simply repeating what the books of Samuel and Kings had already recounted. In the larger biblical narrative, it feels as though the story, which thus far has been smoothly told from Genesis to the exile, is suddenly interrupted by an apparently unnecessary flashback, taking us all the way back to, well, Adam, the first human being. Then we are treated to a long series of proper names, some of whom are familiar but most of whom are not, leaving us wondering what relevance they could possibly have to the larger story of salvation. What harm would have been done by leaving them out and simply skipping from 2 Kings to Ezra?

In fact, the two books of Chronicles are most important. In the Jewish Bible they come at the very end of the collection, functioning as both recap and capstone, leaving the reader with a sense of expectation and hope. In the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, the books are called Paraleipomenon, which implies that the material therein supplements the books of Kings. Yet the Chronicles do not merely fill in the gaps in other books. The Chronicler brings to his work a distinctive emphasis which makes it more than just another historical account.

Read the entire article here.

Mornings with Carmen LaBerge appearance

Well, all right. One does not exactly "appear" on the radio, but early yesterday morning I spoke with Peter Kapsner on the programme Mornings with Carmen LaBerge about the subject of my recent blog series Dampening the Culture Wars. Peter is substituting for Carmen this week. It aired over Faith Radio, a network of stations covering the Great Plains states and Connecticut.

You can find the conversation here. I will warn you that this took place at 7.10 am, when I am not exactly in top form. But I will let the listeners judge for themselves.

Grieving for Canada

Flags have been flying at half-staff in recent days for two horrific events dominating the news reports. First is the discovery of 215 unmarked graves of children who died at a residential school for aboriginal Canadians in Kamloops, British Columbia. These residential schools, often operated by church denominations at the instigation of the federal government, are a stain on the country's history. A Truth and Reconciliation Commission, modelled on South Africa's efforts to bring healing after decades of Apartheid, operated between 2008 and 2015, but we are still grappling with the horrors inflicted on so many aboriginal children from the late 19th century until well into the 20th.

And now in London, Ontario, a young man appears deliberately to have attacked an immigrant family from Pakistan with his vehicle, killing all but one person, a nine-year-old, still in hospital. It is suspected that they were targeted because they were Muslims.

Visiones e Ilusiones Políticas

Late last week I received some welcome news from InterVarsity Press. Here is the communication from IVP:

As part of our publishing efforts, IVP seeks to expand the ministry of the books we publish to reach people around the world by sublicensing rights for specific languages, countries and/or formats.

We are pleased to inform you that Political Visions & Illusions (2^nd Edition) has been contracted for publication in the Spanish language by Teología para Vivir S.A.C. Translations typically take 18-24 months (sometimes longer) to release. We'll be sure to send you copies of the translated edition once they arrive.

Congratulations on this good news!

Good news indeed! This means that the book will soon be available in all three of the major western hemispheric languages. Spanish is spoken by some 400-500 million people, making it one of the most spoken languages in the world. The largest Spanish-speaking countries in order are Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Spain, the United States, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, and many more. May God use this forthcoming translation to advance his kingdom in the hispanophone countries.

Serving God in a Global Academy: A Look at Developments in Brazil

Yesterday afternoon I discussed my work with Global Scholars Canada for a series sponsored by the Oak Centre for Studies in Faith and Culture here in Hamilton. The title was Serving God in a Global Academy: A Look at Developments in Brazil. Clicking on the link will bring up the PowerPoint presentation I used for my talk.

To my delight several of my friends and contacts in Brazil joined us remotely for the occasion. I appreciated their questions, which I did my best to answer. Que Deus abençoe o povo brasileiro!

Vida Nova interview

Last week I was interviewed by Jonas Madureira, of Edições Vida Nova, on the occasion of the release of the second Brazilian edition of Political Visions and Illusions. Most of it is in English with Portuguese subtitles. Here is the interview below:

Reading Religion review: the place of the cross in political life

Matthew B. Hale has reviewed the second edition of Political Visions and Illusions in Reading Religion: A Publication of the American Academy of Religion. In addition to his praise for the book, the author has identified what he views as weaknesses. I shall not reply to all of these, but he makes one criticism worth a response, because it turned up in a review of the first edition as well:

Koyzis’s reliance on Herman Dooyeweerd’s modal analysis theologically grounds Koyzis’s interpretations and critiques in a theology of creation. But, strangely, Koyzis makes nothing of the cross. He mentions redemption often, and speaks of the redemptive narrative of the ideologies as they contrast with the Christian redemptive narrative. But the Christian redemptive narrative, centered on the cross, plays no role in Koyzis’s own political critiques or positions. This is an especially odd omission, and even more so given that theologians of many Christian communions have long recognized a profound political meaning in the cross. A theology of creation and a theology of sin are necessary for a Christian critique of political ideologies, but they are not sufficient. Without a politics that is informed by and centered upon the cross, an understanding of politics may be religious, but I wonder how exactly it would be distinctively Christian.

There can be no doubt that the cross is central to the Christian faith. For centuries people have erected crosses inside their church buildings and on top of steeples. People have worn precious metal crosses around their necks, bishops wear weighty pectoral crosses over their regalia, and congregations have carried crosses in procession on feast days. As St. Paul has written, "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). Without Christ's death on the cross, we are still in our sins. Unless Christ had died, we would have to bear the penalty for our sins. As those who have been redeemed by the power of the cross and Jesus' subsequent resurrection, we sing hymns such as In the Cross of Christ I Glory and Lift High the Cross.