Addenda No. 14, April 2005

Addenda

A monthly e-mail newsletter from MARS HILL AUDIO

April 15, 2005 v Number 14

"[T]he resurrection of Christ directs our attention back to the creation which it vindicates.

But we must understand 'creation' not merely as the raw material out of which the

world as we know it is composed, but as the order and coherence in which it is composed."

-- Oliver O'Donovan, Resurrection and Moral Order: An Outline for Evangelical Ethics

New on our desks

"Common Objects of Love" available via MP3 download

In 2001, just days after the events of 9/11, moral philosopher Oliver O'Donovan gave a series of lectures for Calvin College and Calvin Seminary. The title for the series was taken from Augustine's The City of God, in which he defines a political community as "a multitude of rational beings united by agreeing to share the things they love." [Read more]

N. T. Wright on Justification also available via MP3 download

The Anglican Bishop of Durham N. T. Wright (commonly addressed as Tom) has written a great deal about the identity of the Church as the people of God called to challenge the reigning gods in the world around them. But while Wright is profoundly interested in questions of Church and culture, much that is written about his work concerns his understanding of soteriology, specifically the way he understands justification. [Read more]

Volume 73 (March/April 2005) Update

The March/April 2005 edition of the MARS HILL AUDIO Journal (Volume 73) has recently gone through the final editing stage and is on the way to the duplicator, and we expect to have it in the mail by the end of the month. In the meantime, you may view the guest list for Volume 73 online.

A note about the mail: We send the MHAJ via Standard Mail, which compared to First Class is pretty slow. Depending on the volume of mail in the system, this class of mail gets a much lower priority than First Class or Priority Mail (this is especially true around Christmas, when the volume of mail being handled by the USPS is impressive).

New MARS HILL AUDIO Conversation:

Science and Theology from the Bottom Up: Sir John Polkinghorne on Enriching the Dialogue

In 1979, a much-respected physicist named John Polkinghorne resigned from his position at Cambridge. Just five years earlier he had been honored for his remarkable achievements in mathematical physics (he had been part of the team that discovered the quark) by being appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society. Polkinghorne was departing the environs of this profound and mysterious reflection on the nature of reality for a vocation no less intellectually and personally challenging: the study of theology and service as an Anglican priest.

One of the benefits to the public of Polkinghorne's twin interests in science and theology has been the remarkable series of books he has written since 1983, beginning with The Way the World Is, continuing with the publication of his 1993 Gifford Lectures (published as The Faith of a Physicist: Reflections of a Bottom-Up Thinker) and most recently Science and the Trinity: The Christian Encounter with Reality (Yale).

In "Science and Theology from the Bottom Up," Polkinghorne commends the "theological thickening" of the dialogue between science and religion and states that his book manifests that affirmation (chapters are organized around theological categories within which scientific principles are explored). Polkinghorne also explains that science and religion -- in their most balanced forms -- are similar to each other in their "bottom up" approach to thinking and learning. Instead of starting with abstract principles and trying to fit reality into a-priori categories, both domains begin with the observation and experience of reality, and from there work towards fuller understanding.

"Science and Theology from the Bottom Up" is available on either cassette or CD for just $7 plus shipping and handling. You may order online, call us at us at 1.800.331.6407, or use the form at the end of this e-mail.

MARS HILL AUDIO Monograph now online: "Christianity & Culture"

by J. Gresham Machen

In the mid-1990s MARS HILL AUDIO printed a series of essays that we think make important arguments about Christian involvement with culture. We are in the process of converting these to digital files and posting them to our webpages. The first to be made available is "Christianity & Culture," by J. Gresham Machen. First presented in an address at Princeton seminary in 1912, this powerful essay argues that many of his contemporaries treated the Gospel with indifference because the cultural climate in which they lived assumed it to be irrelevant. As an antidote, he calls Christians to be energetically involved in cultural life. "Christianity & Culture" is available in either HTML or PDF formats.

A related essay, "J. Gresham Machen and the Problem of Christian Civilization in America," by historian and Machen biographer D. G. Hart, describes the cultural and ecclesiastical setting within which Machen mounted his critique against theological "modernism," set forth most succinctly in his book Christianity and Liberalism. This essay is also available in either HTML or PDF formats.

Conference on Genetic & Reproductive Ethics

"Genetics & Reproductive Ethics: The Scientific Edge & the Everyday Healthcare Challenges" is a conference presented by the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity along with several other organizations. The scope of issues being discussed is quite comprehensive, including end-of-life issues, stem cell research, alternative health care, clinical ethics, and reproductive technologies. There is something for anyone with an interest in such matters, including pastors, lawyers, physicians, nurses, hospice workers, journalists, lawmakers, and teachers. The extensive cast of speakers and instructors includes many familiar names, such as Gilbert Meileander, Leon Kass, John F. Kilner, and Nigel Cameron. For more information see www.cbhd.org or call 1.888.246.3844.

Listener Mail

Read recent letters sent to Mars Hill Audio. We encourage you to send your thoughts, concerns, or complaints to addenda@marshillaudio.org. If you would prefer to send a letter, please see our mailing address at the end of this newsletter. If we decide to print your letter we will include your name unless you request to remain anonymous.

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Published by

MARS HILL AUDIO

P.O. Box 7826

Charlottesville, Virginia 22906

Call 1.800.331.6407

Fax 1.434.990.9090

addenda@marshillaudio.org

www.marshillaudio.org

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