JULY NEWSLETTER

I would like to extend greetings to my Global Scholars partners and supporters as we head into the heat of summer--or, in the case of the southern hemisphere, into the somewhat cooler temperatures of winter.

I will begin by reminding you that last month I was issued a challenge by an anonymous potential donor. Up until 31 December  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.

The past month has seen something of a slowdown in my activities, yet I remain busy with several projects, with deadlines looming. On 16 June I was interviewed on Mornings with Carmen LaBerge, which airs over Faith Radio, a network of stations covering the Great Plains states and Connecticut. 

During my daily prayers I've been reading through the two books of Chronicles, which prompted me to write something about them: Are the Chronicles redundant? One might think so after reading through the books of Samuel and Kings. But it turns out that they play an important role in pointing us towards the coming Messiah.

In light of the tragic discovery of aboriginal graves at residential schools in Canada, many Canadians, including me, have been grieving the way that the children of our First Nations were treated over so many generations. In response, I devoted my monthly column in Christian Courier to an important issue raised by this: Reassessing our heroes.

A few days ago an interview with me appeared at The American Commons, "a free grassroots web magazine by rank-and-file American Solidarity Party members that provides commentary on faith, culture, and politics." Ryan Ellington is the interviewer: The American Commons: interview. Here I analyze the two major political parties in the United States, where I was born, and the prospects for a third party attempting to offer something better.

Next month, GodBooks and Thomas Nelson Brasil will be publishing a book, O Evangelho da Paz e o Discurso do Ódio (The Gospel of Peace and Hate Speech), to which I have contributed a chapter.

My work with the Psalms is something of a sideline to my Global Scholars work, but I have been devoting more of my energies to it following my award of a grant from the Stanford Reid Trust. My Christian Courier column in June was devoted to this: Restoring the rhythm of the Psalms. My decades-long effort to set the Psalms to verse according to their proper Genevan melodies has accelerated recently, with 40 Psalms remaining to be completed. In addition, I recently read and reviewed William L. Holladay's The Psalms through Three-Thousand Years, a fascinating and encyclopaedic treatment of the biblical Psalter well worth reading.

I remain gratified that my first book, Political Visions and Illusions, continues to have a positive impact around the world, and especially in the Americas. The second Brazilian edition appeared in May, and a Spanish translation will be published sometime in the next year or two. Darnell Samuels recently mentioned the book on Twitter, using an unexpected metaphor: "This book was dope! It changed my mind on some things." Samuels and Joel Nicoloff's interview with me for the Six Cents Report appeared in January. Another part of that interview was posted last week: Errors in the Canadian Constitution.

Once again, a special note of thanks to all of you who are supporting my work financially. And thanks to all who have become prayer partners in my academic ministry. I wish you God's blessings, especially as many of you are going on summer holidays. Our immediate family is now completely vaccinated against COVID, and I hope that this means we will be able to see many of you in person in the near future.

Yours in God's service,

David Koyzis, Global Scholar