JUNE 2025 NEWSLETTER

The long Pentecost season in the church's calendar began just over a week ago, as we commemorated the sending of the Holy Spirit, a crucial event in the biblical redemptive story as recorded in the second chapter of Acts. The Spirit instills saving faith in our hearts and empowers us to live the new life in Christ in gratitude for our salvation. Those who are in Christ walk blamelessly, do what is right, and speak truth from the heart, as Psalm 15 puts it. Here is my own arrangement for guitar of the Genevan tune for Psalm 15:

This is part of a larger, as yet incomplete, project of recording guitar performances of the Genevan tunes which can be found here.

Canada's status as a constitutional monarchy was highlighted late last month when King Charles III opened the new Parliament by reading the Speech from the Throne, an event occurring only twice before. Shortly thereafter I gathered together my own thoughts on this significant event which can be read here: The King's Throne Speech. I was pleased to see the CBC interview a former student of mine who has become something of an expert in all things royal. You can listen to the interview by clicking on the link above.

Six months after the publication of Citizenship Without Illusions, another positive review of the book appeared in U.S. Catholic, a periodical of the Claretian Missionaries USA-Canada Province. The review can be read here.

Twice during my studies in Toronto during the late 1970s I had the opportunity to hear the late George Parkin Grant speak in person. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the publication of his Lament for a Nation, which I used to have my students read for most of the years I was teaching. I recently wrote a short piece to mark this anniversary: Beyond Lament. Also included is a longer article I wrote just over two decades ago in which I raised some of the difficulties in Grant's larger analytical framework. Still, at a time when Canada's distinct nationhood is under threat, it is good to revisit Grant's writings nearly four decades after his death.

Grant has sometimes been called a Red Tory or a High Tory. Last week I interviewed Ron Dart, an emeritus professor at the University of the Fraser Valley who is Canada's resident expert on all things Tory. I will link to this interview once it is published.

For more than a decade I have had connections with the evangelical community in Brazil, a remarkable country that I was privileged to visit in 2016. Here are my reflections on an article that recently appeared in The Guardian on the religious composition of Brazil's population, as revealed in the most recent census: Evangelical population growth in Brazil. I suggested that it is time for a Portuguese translation of Citizenship Without Illusions. For more on my relationship with Brazil, you may reread this autobiographical account: For love of Brazil.

Finally, in the second edition of Political Visions and Illusions, I devote chapter 5 to an ideology that I label democratism, which "embodies a belief in the near infallibility of the vox populi—the voice of the people." Although there is near universal support for democracy as a form of government in most western nations, including Canada, this support can degenerate into an ideology, "subject to all the distortions, as well as the insights, characteristic of this phenomenon" (120). Here are my most recent thoughts on this: When democracy threatens politics."

Thanks so much for your ongoing support for my work. If you have contributed financially on a one-time basis in the past, please consider a regular monthly contribution, as it makes it easier for Global Scholars to set an annual budget, including the modest salary I receive from the organization. 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!

Yours in God's service,

David Koyzis, Global Scholar