Reintegrate interview: Dual citizens

I've known Bob Robinson for several years now, and I've lost count of the number of times he's interviewed me in that time. Last month I was privileged to talk with him again on the subject of my new book, Citizenship Without Illusions, which was released that same day. The interview has now been posted online: Dual citizens: In the kingdom of God AND in our nation, with David Koyzis. The interview lasts for about an hour. Robinson is a great supporter of my work with Global Scholars Canada.

Recent activities for December 2024

I have now posted my Global Scholars newsletter for December. Recent activities include the publication (at last!) of Citizenship Without Illusions, a conversation with a group of politically-minded young people in the United Kingdom, several interviews, and good news related to my ongoing work with the Genevan Psalter.

RAPT interview

In recent years I've been interviewed on subjects related to my books and other writings, but I recently submitted to a different kind of interview that required me to bare my soul in a more personal way. RAPT conducts interviews with a variety of people and poses to every one of them the same questions. My RAPT interview can be found here. An excerpt:

I really believe Christians need to think more deeply about their status as citizens of their respective political communities. We too easily fall for ideologically charged rhetoric or, as some express it, simply vote our pocketbooks. I hope my new book, along with the first, will help people reflect on their God-given responsibilities to manifest their love for God and their neighbor politically.

That new book is, of course, Citizenship Without Illusions.

Subject or citizen?

My monthly Christian Courier column is titled Subject or citizen? Byline: "Citizenship is a gift from God that we can use to improve our communities." An excerpt:

The notion of being a subject sounds archaic to our ears. If I am the subject of a particular monarch, I am bound by personal – almost feudal – ties to him or her. And if that’s the case, my responsibilities would seem to begin and end with obedience to the ruler’s will. Prior to 1947, Canadians were not even citizens of their own country; they were merely British subjects, a status shared with those born not only in the United Kingdom, but in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and many other territories of the former Empire.

But one by one, beginning with Canada, each of these Commonwealth realms established its own citizenship. The UK enacted its citizenship law in 1949, setting up several categories of citizens, each of which had varying rights of residence within the country. Canadians remained British subjects until 1977 when Ottawa decided to end this ambiguous dual status.

Read the entire article here.

Common Good interview

On the occasion of the release of Citizenship Without Illusions, Common Good has published an online interview with the author: Being a Good Citizen Doesn’t Stop After the Election. Here is an excerpt:

Sometimes we are tempted to think that we owe allegiance only to those communities we have freely chosen to enter. It’s an attractive proposition, and it appeals especially to North Americans whose constitutional documents include a Bill of Rights (U.S.) and a Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Canada). However, this is not a recipe for a healthy society, but for a mere amalgamation of supposedly autonomous egos out to advance their own individual interests. 

As Christians, by contrast, we recognize that we must approach life from a posture of gratitude, especially for those things that we haven’t chosen and which come to us as a gift. I firmly believe citizenship is one of these gifts. If you don’t believe it, just imagine the plight of the millions of refugees and stateless persons who lack legal standing in a functioning political community. They would dearly love to possess the citizenship that others take for granted.

Read the entire article here.

Launch day is here!

Today's the day! Citizenship Without Illusions is now officially published and available from IVP Academic. A huge thank you to everyone of you who has supported my work with your prayers and your financial contributions. Those of you who have funded this effort prior to this year are mentioned in the acknowledgements on pages ix and x.

This time of year I usually mail out cards to people who have donated in the past to express my gratitude for their support. Unfortunately, I will be unable to do so this year due to the postal strike here in Canada. However, I will be sending each of you a personal email message as an admittedly poor substitute. But I hope you will consider it a small token of my thankfulness.

A reminder that those of you who contribute an extra $100 before the end of the year will receive a copy of my book from the publisher. 

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.

Or, if you prefer, Canadian donors can donate publicly traded securities (shares or mutual funds) directly to charities without having to pay the capital gains tax. This is a cost-effective and painless way to make a donation that comes with a substantial tax incentive. By donating securities, donors pay no tax on capital gains, receive a tax receipt for the fair market value of the securities, as well as reduce their taxes. Watch this video for more information about this option: Link Charity Canada: Donation of Securities. If interested, please visit the Link Charity Canada Inc. website, and call for details at 1-800-387-8146. Link Charity Canada is a partner organization of Global Scholars Canada, so Link Charity can easily direct funds for my work.

Thank you once again! Happy reading!

Yours,

David Koyzis, Global Scholar

 

 

'Faithful Politics' podcast interview

A few weeks ago I was privileged to have a great conversation with Pastor Josh Burtram and Will Wright on their Faithful Politics podcast. Listen to it here:

Recent activities for November 2024

My Global Scholars newsletter for November is now posted. Recent activities include the five-year anniversary of my time with Global Scholars Canada, the official publication of my new book, two podcast interviews, and joining the board of trustees of the Center for Public Justice. Thank you once again for your support for my work!

What a Trump win means for Canada

The recent US election has returned Donald J. Trump to the White House. Here are my thoughts: What a Trump win means for Canada. An excerpt:

What are the implications of all this for Canadians? Although our two countries have been good neighbours for nearly two centuries, changes in administrations have sometimes led to tensions. John Diefenbaker and John Kennedy endured a somewhat prickly relationship, as did Pierre Trudeau and Richard Nixon. With Trump governing the United States, it is safe to assume that we are in for a rocky ride for the foreseeable future. The U.S. is highly unlikely to give Canada the benefit of the doubt when and if disputes arise between us. The two major issues likely to divide us are trade and defence.

Click here to read more.

Between the testaments

My November column for Christian Courier is on a topic that has likely puzzled Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox alike: Between the testaments. Indeed, "Why is the Apocrypha not included in Protestant Bibles?" Here is an excerpt:

In my personal library, I have an early King James Bible, printed in sections between 1637 and 1642, and presumably bound together in the latter year. Published by Robert Barker – “Printer to the Kings most Excellent Majestie” – it places the Apocrypha after the New Testament. The owners of this volume over the centuries underscored some verses and made notes in the margins. But not in the Apocryphal books, which suggests that they may not have read them.

What is this Apocrypha? Read the entire article to find out. 

Recent activities for October 2024

I have now posted my Global Scholars newsletter for October. Recent activities include one more endorsement for my Citizenship Without Illusions, which is now available for purchase, two interviews on the subject of the book, signing a Barmen-like confession of evangelical conviction, and the current housing crisis in Canada. Thank you for your continued support for my work.

CPJ interview

Some weeks ago, I was interviewed by the Center for Public Justice's Emily Crouch on the subject of my new book, Citizenship Without Illusions. A transcript of the interview has now been posted at the CPJ website: How Do We Honor Christ in Our Citizenship? A Conversation with David Koyzis. An excerpt:

To be created in God’s image means that we have multiple tasks and responsibilities for the communities we are a part of, and not all of those communities are the ones that we choose. I did not choose my parents . . . . But we still have an obligation to communities that we have not chosen, and we do so out of gratitude. Likewise, citizenship is something that for the most part we do not choose. We are born into citizenship, and it is not something we should take for granted. We should be grateful for it, and that means that we should willingly fulfill our responsibilities towards these communities that have nurtured us.

I have been associated with the Center for Public Justice since its establishment in the late 1970s. It has done exemplary work over the decades, some of which is featured in my new book, now available from InterVarsity Press and the many online vendors.

Housing Canadians

My monthly Christian Courier column tackles an important issue affecting millions of people: Housing Canadians, with this introductory sentence: "As the cost of living leaves many homeless, should the government declare a national housing emergency?" An excerpt:

Unfortunately, the structures of our political system discourage a coordinated approach to the [homelessness] issue. Try calling the office of a local MP or MPP, and you will likely be told that the problem is not in their riding and you should seek help elsewhere. Our federal division of powers further aggravates the issue. The territorial fragmentation of political representation inadvertently facilitates buck-passing, with no one willing to assume responsibility for finding a solution to a problem that transcends boundaries.

Read the entire article here.

Our Confession of Evangelical Conviction

I have recently read Tim Alberta's The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism. This was on the recommendation of a friend and was further inspired by an online interview with the author which I saw in February. I had thought to review the book here, but I think it is sufficient to indicate that I found it a difficult read because it treats disturbing developments within American evangelicalism over the past few decades.

Recent activities for September 2024

My Global Scholars newsletter for September is now posted. Recent activities include another endorsement for my forthcoming Citizenship Without Illusions, a retrospective on the Cyprus crisis of 1974, another online interview, and a recently published article on Christian nationalism.

What is Christian nationalism?

The September-October issue of Faith Today carries my article, What is Christian Nationalism? Here is my own description of the article's purpose: "We must take seriously the phenomenon of Christian nationalism as a syncretistic religion combining traditional faith with excessive reverence for the nation and its symbols. Like other ideological frameworks it can distort and has distorted the lived faith of many believers." Here is a brief excerpt from the article:

There are four basic flaws in Christian nationalism. First, it inappropriately applies biblical texts meant for God's people of the old and new covenants to a particular earthly nation. This reflects an unsound biblical hermeneutic that not only ignores the original context in which the text was written, but applies it in a way that ignores two millennia of biblical interpretation. The frequent application of 2 Chronicles 7:14 to America is notorious in this respect. "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

For the remaining three flaws and much else, including its relevance to Canada, read the entire article.

'Honestly, Though' interview

A few weeks ago, Rebecca Carrell and Liz Rodriguez interviewed me for their Honestly, Though podcast on the subject of my next book, Citizenship Without Illusions. The recording has now been posted and can be heard here: Episode 138 | Let's Talk Politics | Guest: Dr. David Koyzis. Although I had to develop quickly my skills at small talk at the outset, the substance of the interview begins at about 9 minutes into our conversation if you prefer to skip ahead.

Cyprus plus 50

This month marks exactly half a century since my father's native island of Cyprus was divided. Read about it here: Cyprus plus 50. An excerpt:

After half a century of division, ordinary Cypriots have grown accustomed to what has hardened into a protracted stalemate. When I first wrote about the issue in graduate school, only a few years had passed since Turkey’s military had forcibly partitioned the island. It still seemed reversible. Most of the city of Famagusta, where our family had lived, had become a UN-patrolled buffer zone. Its Greek-speaking inhabitants could still return home if Turkey would only permit it.

Today, that seems decreasingly likely. Famagusta’s once thriving streets and buildings have fallen into decay, and billions of dollars would be required to restore it to habitable condition. Ankara still controls 37 percent of Cyprus through its proxy regime, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Read the entire article here.

Recent activities for August 2024

I have now posted my Global Scholars newsletter for August. Recent activities include an interview on my work with the Psalms, a Society of Christian Scholars webinar, and a conversation with young people sponsored by a local think tank. Also, as of today, 99 more days remain until the publication of Citizenship Without Illusions. Pre-order your copy now.

Society of Christian Scholars webinar: Citizenship Without Illusions

Yesterday I presented a webinar for the Society of Christian Scholars on the subject of my forthcoming Citizenship Without Illusions. Click on the video below to view the event.

Thinking Christian podcast interview on the Psalms

Some weeks ago I was interviewed by James Spencer on What does it mean to be a Christian citizen?, covering topics in my three books. Not long after that, Spencer and I had a conversation about my work with the Psalms, and this has now been posted on the various media hosting the Thinking Christian podcast episodes: How Can the Psalms Help Christians Worship? A Conversation with David Koyzis. Spencer has a PhD in theological studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and has hosted this podcast for about a year. Topics covered here include the Genevan and Scottish Psalters, my own Genevan Psalter project, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Lutheran use of the daily office.

When voting makes things worse

My American contacts on social media divide into roughly two groups during this presidential election cycle. The two appear not to communicate directly with each other or to engage each other in conversation. Each posts its own memes, extolling its favoured candidate and pointing to the flaws in his or her opponent through some clever turn of phrase expected to persuade the sceptical but more likely to inflame outrage due to its obvious one sidedness. In our present age of social media, there have been such elections before, but the current cycle sees two extremely flawed candidates whom right-thinking people have reason to dread contesting for the highest office in the land. Voting for one against the other will presumably solve the country's problems and get it back on track. Or at least that appears to be the assumption of the meme-sters.

July newsletter online

I have just posted my Global Scholars Canada newsletter for July. This month it features an endorsement for my forthcoming Citizenship Without Illusions, material related to the current Gaza war, and an interview for the Thinking Christian podcast.

Thinking Christian podcast interview

Last month, James Spencer interviewed me for the Thinking Christian podcast. Listen to it here: What Does It Mean to Be a Christian Citizen? A Conversation with David Koyzis. I quite enjoyed our conversation and appreciated the opportunity to talk about my work, and especially my forthcoming Citizenship Without Illusions. Spencer has a PhD in theological studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and has hosted this podcast for just under a year. This is the first interview I had with Spencer. A few weeks later he interviewed me again on my work with the Psalms, and this should be posted sometime next month. I will link to that from my Genevan Psalter blog.

Gaza horrors

I have written a monthly column for Christian Courier for the past 34 years. This month's column is titled, Gaza horrors. Here is an excerpt:

Israel’s war against Hamas has sparked protests around the world, especially on university campuses, as students have set up tent encampments to indicate their disapproval of their governments’ support for Israel. In so doing, they are replicating an earlier generation of student activists pushing for their institutions to boycott South Africa’s apartheid regime.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thus far ignored such criticisms, although he himself had already succeeded in dividing Israeli public opinion in the months leading up to the Hamas attack. Israel appears to be severely botching its response under incompetent and uncompassionate leadership. Small wonder so many are protesting.

Read the entire article here.

ANAJURE lecture 2024

On monday, 8 July, I was privileged to address the seventh annual meeting of the Associação Nacional de Juristas Evangélicos (ANAJURE), or the National Association of Evangelical Jurists in Brazil. This was at the invitation of the organization's president, Edna V. Zilli. ANAJURE is made up of legal professionals and students committed to the cause of Jesus Christ in the world. The subject of my address was "Citizenship Without Illusions: hearing the Word, confessing the faith," taken from the eighth and final chapter of my next book. As always, I was heartened by the participants' expressions of gratitude for my work and for my ongoing interest in their beautiful country and its people.

I hope that a Brazilian publisher will see fit to translate Citizenship Without Illusions into Portuguese in the near future. As I do touch on Brazil's political experience in that book, it would be appropriate for its people to have access to Cidadania sem Ilusões in their own language.

Israel and Gaza: nine months later

The war between Israel and Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, has lasted for nearly nine months with no signs of ending. In the meantime, innocent Palestinian civilians are caught in the crossfire. Until now I have not commented on the conduct of the war, because I am not sure I have any additional wisdom to offer beyond what others have. However, I will call readers' attention to a four-part series I wrote last year on Israel's precarious democracy. I wrote it a few months before the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel.

The ex-vangelicals' idiosyncratic faith

Christian Courier has published my monthly column under the title, Draw near. An excerpt:

In North America today there is a certain first-person narrative that frequently grabs the attention of the secular media . . . . Those telling such stories are often called “ex-vangelicals,” distancing themselves from their conservative religious past. However, not all such people become atheists or agnostics. Many retain belief in God and perhaps even in Jesus Christ, but their faith has become more idiosyncratic – a matter of adjusting what they were taught as children to who they feel themselves to be today. They have made themselves the arbiters of what is and is not acceptable in the faith.

Read the rest of the article here.

June newsletter online

My Global Scholars newsletter for June is now online, featuring news about my forthcoming Citizenship Without Illusions, podcast interviews, and a talk with seminary students about politics and the pulpit.

Seven essential qualities of a political leader

Last week Jason Scott Montoya interviewed me on the subject of seven essential qualities of a political leader, which he had gleaned from a previous post of mine. You can access the interview, along with ancillary material, by clicking on the link in the previous sentence. Or you can watch it here:

This is the third interview that Montoya has had with me. The others concerned my Political Visions and Illusions and the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Entre Amigos interview

Two years ago I appeared on the Entre Amigos podcast hosted by my friends José (Zé) Bruno Pereira dos Santos and Rodolfo Souza, whom I met nearly eight years ago during my visit to Brazil. Last evening I appeared again on this podcast to discuss my forthcoming Citizenship Without Illusions. My translator was Lucas Vianna, who has translated for me on previous occasions. Also present was Jacira Monteiro, author of O Estigma da Cor. Here is our conversation, which lasted not quite an hour and a half.

Although it was mentioned towards the end, I have not yet been approached about a Brazilian edition of my next book. I hope that it will indeed become a reality.

Local action

My monthly column appears in Christian Courier under the title, Local action. Subtitle: "Living as a responsible citizen in a way that glorifies God." An excerpt:

Several years ago, a good friend in North Carolina suggested during a phone conversation that I write a book on citizenship. At the time I was revising my first book, Political Visions and Illusions, whose second edition was released five years ago this month. I decided to take him up on his suggestion, submitting a proposal in the autumn of 2022 to InterVarsity Press. IVP accepted the proposal, and I signed a contract in January. I wrote steadily over the next months and had a more or less complete manuscript by late spring. Interviews with people featured in the book continued over the summer, and I submitted the final manuscript in September, 2023.

Read the entire article here.

Trump's verdict and the American political crisis

Yesterday we received word that the jury in the Trump hush money trial has found the former president guilty on all 34 counts. Every media outlet that I've read or heard has pointed to the unprecedented nature of the conviction of a former president and current front runner in a presidential election campaign. We are in uncharted territory, as Trump is scheduled to be sentenced shortly before his party is expected to nominate him for president. Sad to say, the Trump verdict and its predictable fallout highlight nothing less than a serious crisis in America's political institutions.

Citizenship education

Writing for the Christian Scholar's Review blog, Perry L. Glanzer, professor of Educational Foundations at Baylor University and a Resident Scholar with the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion, has posted something of relevance to my forthcoming book: Christian Universities Do Little to Help Students Contemplate Excellent Christian Citizenship: Here’s the Evidence. An excerpt:

Since it is an election year, I wondered if I could find evidence that Christian universities help their students contemplate excellent Christian citizenship. As mentioned in an earlier post, my research team examined the general education requirements at 231 Protestant colleges requiring at least one Bible or theology course. We chose these institutions because they showed evidence of operationalizing the Christian identity in their general education.

May newsletter online

I have now posted my Global Scholars Canada newsletter for May. Included are a tribute to Bob Goudzwaard, news of my next book, suggested books for students, and a forthcoming article on Christian nationalism.

Suggested books for students

During my recent visit to Grove City College, I was given the opportunity to have lunch with some students in the cafeteria, along with Michael Coulter, my principal host in the political science department. During our conversation, Michael asked which books I might recommend the students to read. As I had just discussed Dietrich Bonhoeffer's witness the previous evening in response to a question from the audience, the first book I thought of was his Life Together, a magnificent book that emphasizes the need to love the existing Christian community, with all its warts and flaws, over our own aspirations for such community.

Where would I be without Bob Goudzwaard?

Christian Courier has picked up my tribute to Bob Goudzwaard: Where would I be without Bob Goudzwaard? Subtitle: "Goudzwaard always emphasized the human side of economics. He passed away at age 90."

Catholic integralism: response to a response

During my time at Calvin University earlier this month, I was invited to respond to an important book by Kevin Vallier, titled, All the Kingdoms of the World: On Radical Religious Alternatives to Liberalism (Oxford: 2023). The subject is Catholic integralism, a position calling for the state to establish the Roman Catholic Church, giving it a privileged position above other churches and religious faiths. In his book, Vallier, an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Bowling Green State University and a convert to Orthodoxy, makes a carefully argued case against integralism, effectively demonstrating its flaws with respect to history, symmetry, transition, stability, and justice. He then examines Confucian and Islamic anti-liberalisms before proposing in an epilogue his own alternative, which amounts to tolerance of "integration writ small," that is, local experiments in integralism within an adapted liberal order coupled with a more decentralized federalism: "Liberals must both unite to protect liberal order and concede some political independence to nonliberal communities of faith" (275).

Bob Goudzwaard (1934-2024)

This past weekend we learned that Bob Goudzwaard has departed this life at the age of 90. Goudzwaard was a political economist who was steeped in the Christian tradition, especially in that branch of the faith downstream from Augustine, John Calvin, Abraham Kuyper, and Herman Dooyeweerd. Born and raised in Delft, the Netherlands, he lived through the difficult war years. When he came of age, he studied at the University of Rotterdam and came under the influence of Johan P. A. Mekkes (1898-1987), an adherent of the school founded by Herman Dooyeweerd known as the Philosophy of the Law Idea. Eventually he would teach at the Free University of Amsterdam and also served for a time in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament with the Anti-Revolutionary Party.

April newsletter online

I have now posted my Global Scholars Canada newsletter for April, which includes travels to Calvin University and Grove City College, where I spoke on sections from my forthcoming book, Citizenship Without Illusions.

Grove City College stay

Not quite two weeks after my visit to Calvin University, I drove down to Grove City College, a Christian university in the Reformed tradition where my great friend Russell D. Kosits now teaches. I had, of course, heard of the place, but this was the first opportunity to see it for myself, and I very much liked what I saw. The drive from Hamilton is about four hours crossing the border via the Peace Bridge connecting Fort Erie and Buffalo. The weather co-operated quite nicely, and my time there coincided with two bright spring days, with trees on campus just beginning to flower.

Grove City College is nearly 150 years old, having been established in 1876. It once had a connection to the Presbyterian Church (USA), but no longer. It is a private liberal arts undergraduate university and has more than 2,000 young people enrolled as students.

An enduring hope

My regular monthly column for April has been posted at Christian Courier: An enduring hope. An excerpt:

When we are young, we don’t bother to think much about our eventual demise, assuming that a good half century or more stretches before us, if God is willing. During my own youth, I was more likely to worry about what I would fill those future years with so as not to waste the gifts God had given me. When I began writing this column, I was all of 35 years old, with most of my academic career still lying ahead.

But now that I approach the biblical three score years and ten, my vantage point has shifted. Over the past five years, I have lost both of my parents and both of my parents-in-law. A close friend of mine – younger than I by a good ten years or so – recently lost his wife and his father-in-law in short order. And now we have received the news that my father’s sister-in-law in Cyprus has departed this life.

Read the entire article here.

Mulroney's contested legacy

Christian Courier has published my assessment of our recently deceased prime minister: Mulroney's contested legacy. An excerpt:

Becoming leader of the federal Progressive Conservatives in 1983, Mulroney put together an unprecedented coalition of often fractious groups within the party, cruising to victory the following year. For the first time since Diefenbaker’s 1958 majority government, Mulroney brought Québec into the Conservative Party, winning 58 of the province’s 75 seats in the Commons. But rather than forming an enduring national base for his party, he succeeded only in stitching together a precarious patchwork that began to pull apart during his second term.

Read the entire article here.

Calvin University visit

I have just returned from nearly a week at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where I attended two back-to-back conferences. The first was the annual Kuyper Conference, which lasted from tuesday, 2 April to thursday, 4 April. The second was the biennial Henry Institute Symposium, which ran from thursday, 4 April to saturday, 6 April. The Kuyper Conference was devoted to "Stewardship in the Kingdom: Business, Academy, and Society." It began with a plenary session consisting of a live podcast discussion among James Eglinton, Gray Sutanto, Cory Brock, and Marinus de Jong. This was part of their Grace in Common podcast, on which I myself appeared last year. My involvement with this conference was minimal, extending to hearing plenaries and short papers.

T&T Clark Handbook of Neo-Calvinism

A new anthology has just been published, titled, T&T Clark Handbook of Neo-Calvinism, edited by Nathaniel Gray Sutanto and Cory Brock. Published by T&T Clark, a division of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, it includes essays by several scholars well known in the Neo-Calvinist tradition, including yours truly. I wrote chapter 33, titled, "Political Theology," pp. 415-425. The subheadings in my chapter are as follows: 

I. The Place of Politics in God's World
II. Every Square Inch
III. Sphere Sovereignty
IV. The Meaning of Public Justice: Constitutional Government and Federalism
V. Concrete Political Reforms

The hardbound volume sells for $249.75, the ebook for $199.80, although Amazon is selling the hardbound for $190 and the Kindle edition for $128.49. Sad to say, these high costs will limit its readership to a very few. (Even the authors do not receive a copy!) We can only hope that the publisher will eventually bring out a paperback edition at a substantially lower price.

In the meantime, I am pleased that IVP will be selling my next book for the eminently affordable cost of $18 US, which places it in the hands of readers of ordinary means.

Citizenship Without Illusions now at IVP website

My next book, due out in November, has now been posted at the IVP website: Citizenship Without Illusions: A Christian Guide to Political Engagement. It can also be found at Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and even Lehmanns in Germany. It is even being sold by Amazon Brazil, but I hope that it will soon be translated into Portuguese for the benefit of a wider readership in that country.

March newsletter online

I have now posted my Global Scholars newsletter for March, which includes cover art for my forthcoming book, preparations for travels next month, and educational opportunities relevant to Brazil. Thank you for your support for my work!

The midnight office

The March issue of Christian Courier carries my most recent column, The Midnight Office, continuing from last month's piece on daily prayer. An excerpt:

Last month I recounted my youthful discovery of the discipline of daily prayer, also known as the daily office. According to this pattern, whose origins almost certainly extend back to God’s people of the old covenant, the entire day is divided up into approximately three-hour intervals punctuated by the several prayer offices. The number varies between five and seven, and sometimes more.

However, one of these offices puzzled me, because it occurred in the middle of the night when I assumed most normal people would be sleeping. If we are sleeping an average of eight hours per night, wouldn’t rising to pray in the middle of this period be a huge disruption? Perhaps that’s why the daily office was relegated to the monks, who were accustomed to cultivating heroic disciplines for the sake of their Saviour.

More than ten years ago, I learned something that solved the puzzle.

Read the entire article here.

The Heidelberg Catechism in the RCUS

More than four decades ago, I purchased a little-remembered but significant book at an antiquarian bookshop in or near South Bend, Indiana: The Heidelberg Catechism in its Newest Light, by the Rev. Prof. James I. Good, and published by the Publication and Sunday School Board of the [German] Reformed Church in the United States in 1914. Good taught at the denomination's Central Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. As I noted in a previous post about the Evangelical and Reformed Church, the RCUS eventually united with the Evangelical Synod in North America in 1934 and later with the Congregational and Christian Churches in 1957 to form the United Church of Christ. However, one group within the old RCUS remained outside the merged body in 1934 and retained the denominational name. Originally the Eureka Classis within the larger body, today it is simply called the Reformed Church in the United States, a highly confessional body holding to the Three Forms of Unity.

Shaw on democracy

George Bernard Shaw

 

The internet is filled with websites listing famous quotes by famous people, but few of them bother to provide the actual sources for these quotes. In some cases, the quotes are falsely attributed to their supposed authors, but because the world wide web is effectively a planetary-scale rumour mill, the connection between a particular author and a particular saying multiplies endlessly until everyone believes it.

A case in point is an observation widely attributed to the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950): "Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve." Clever indeed and boasting more than a measure of truth. We might well include it in our standard undergraduate political science textbooks as an easily verifiable principle.

Daily prayer

My latest contribution to Christian Courier is titled, Daily Prayer, subtitled, "Devotions as daily practice taken from ancient patterns." Here is an excerpt:

When I was in my early twenties, I visited the bookstore of Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, and purchased a copy of The Daily Office, edited by Herbert Lindemann and published by Concordia in 1965. A small volume, it nevertheless runs to nearly 700 pages and includes liturgies for morning and evening prayer organized according to the church calendar. This ancient practice, usually associated with monastic communities, was unfamiliar to me, but it transformed my prayer life.

Read the rest of the article here.

February newsletter online

My Global Scholars newsletter for February has now been posted. Included is news about my forthcoming book, two recent podcast interviews, future opportunities in the US and Brazil, and a largely forgotten metrical psalter from the 16th century.

Rhapsody in Blue

I don't usually write about music in this blog, but I cannot allow this significant anniversary to pass without comment. Exactly one-hundred years ago tonight, George Gershwin's classic piano and orchestral work, Rhapsody in Blue, premiered at the Aeolian Hall in New York City. The composer was all of 25 years old, and his audience included the likes of Sergei Rachmaninov, John Philip Sousa, Jascha Heifetz, Leopold Stokowski, and actress Gertrude Lawrence. The occasion was a concert by Paul Whiteman's orchestra, titled, "An Experiment in Modern Music." Whiteman had invited Gershwin to compose a piece for this event, and Gershwin thought he had declined the offer. But Whiteman went ahead and included him in the lineup anyway, inducing something of a panic in George when he learned about it only weeks in advance. Here's the rest of the story: