A pretty impressive collection from one who was on vacation all week.
Fourth paragraph – [once we get past "festschrifts" (we do journal issues in my field - makes a lot more sense than a stand alone book)] – points to great stuff.
Point 5 in the post from Internet Monk (actually his guest)

5. Despite some very successful developments in the past 25 years, Christian education has not produced a product that can withstand the rising tide of secularism.

One statistic that really jumped out at me when going through the ARIS data was the statistics on Education. In the general population, 27% of those of the age twenty-five and older were college graduates. In Baptist churches the figure was 16%, and in Pentecostal churches the figure was 13%. I am seeing more and more of the Western world viewing Evangelicals as ignorant and uneducated and not worthy or participating fully in the public square. Unfortunately the education numbers seem to support their thesis. Are there Evangelicals who are going to rise to this challenge?

Follow this with Stackhouse on Simple vs Oversimple – Isn’t our faith simple? Can’t a child understand it? Isn’t it enough that “Jesus loves me” and I love him? No – it isn’t. Interesting reflections…and led me to a post on his side bar Engaging the University. Wow… great stuff. It is my experience that even parachurch ministries do a relatively poor job of engaging the university because they are staffed by people who don’t know the mindset. At the undergraduate level the interaction and fellowship is good, but the interaction is not generally intellectually stimulating. At the graduate level – forget it. And this of course plays into the piece from Internet Monk – if we don’t engage and cultivate educated Christians we have a serious problem.
And finally Brett on NT Wright. I’ve never had the opportunity to meet or hear Wright in person – but I’d love to someday. His approach to faith and learning has shown me the way forward, that we need not be trapped in ignorance and weak-mindedness to emerge into secularism, but can actually emerge into a stronger and more robust Christian faith. I don’t agree with all of Wright’s conclusions and I think he gets too political – but his approach to thinking about faith is exemplary.
Which brings us to the New Calvinists … unfortunately much of this is pseudo-thinking, better than the wishy-washy “Jesus Loves Me” message but it doesn’t stand to rigorous intellectual inquiry.
Perhaps someone should post on this thread of ideas…

What about you, Scot… are you Kindle-tempted? (Or maybe you already own one? : )

It’s hard to believe Peter Singer has the gall to tell anyone what they “ought” to do. I may have to read his book just for the experience of reading something I agree with that pisses me off.
“If it is in your power to prevent something bad from happening, without sacrificing anything nearly as important, it is wrong not to do so.”
If he can give a convincing argument as to why that is true that can’t be turned around to argue against abortion… Well, we’ll have to see.

I am tempted to try the tea “press” and the loose teas. But, I just read the iPhone piece, so now I am conflicted.

…sorry, the iPhone piece was from “Enough” by Adam Hamilton.

LL,
I’ve got just a smidgeon of Kindle-temptation. When I travel with a bundle of books in my suitcase.
But paper and palpable feel…

RJS (#1),
I agree with the way you are connecting these dots. I think it is often-overlooked, and not very well understood, that a significant part of the shift and challenges facing evangelical churches can be traced to their tradition of anti-intellectualism. Folks feel like they can’t ask questions, or look at things beyond a surface level.
Regarding the New Calvinists, agreed again. When I talk to friends who are neo-Reformed, they seem to relish the anti-intellectualism and simplicity — they think its great, for example, that Matt Chandler (one of the top neoReformed pastors) didn’t even go to seminary. I just finished reading Piper’s book on Wright, and Wright’s response, and (among other things) I was struck that Piper seemed to be taking an anti-intellectual, overly simplistic approach, and was critical of Wright’s analytical approach . . . because it was too analytical!
Again, these dots can be connected, at least from where I sit.

Not a comment on your immediate writing Scot, but just a note to voice my appreciation of a Community called Atonement! I’m a retired English theologian, getting more & more fed up with the evangelical scene- so, thanks!

[sniff] i’m somebody now; i matter!

Are the “New Calvinists” mentioned by Time different from the “Neo-Reformed” described by you, Scot? If so, in what ways?

Teavana – another invention I love and have used many great afternoons, but don’t currently own. Finally get people free of tea bags into real tea: loose.