It’s great to see discussions like these happening. While I may have worded the counsel provided in this article differently, I think it is still very useful. There’s also some good import from this article on how does our faith influence our art. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/not-cliquish-silent-faith-work/ UPDATE: 20191017 A solid basic introduction to the Bible and friendship. Another good serieson friendship from TGC by Kevin DeYoung, which I utilized in some discipleship meetings with a student, is his “The Gift of Friendship and the Godliness of Good Friends”.

Desiring God has said it well. In the age of social media, our ability to argue, debate, critically think, analyze, synthesize, and the like have been degraded, corroded, and starved. Unlike the humanistic renaissance, if Wikipedia doesn’t include something (and hasn’t edited it out of existence), people are bound not to know the history of their ideas, culture, faith, or the like. Many modern peoples are happy eclectics, believing in disparate doctrines and ignoring the gulfs between them.

While interesting to see a non-theology professor gain a spotlight in the news, it is a shame that he belittles Augustine’s, Gottschalk’s, Ratramnus’s, Florus’s, the early Anselm’s, Aquinas’s, and Calvin’s—and of course many others—thought by thinking that God’s sovereignty and grace must equate to fatalism rather than compatibilism. There is a rich history which he throws away, leaning more into Enlightenment thinking that Scriptural reasoning. We must be well-versed not only in our own views, but in those of others, and we must be able to explain them well without turning to strawman arguments.

Some helpful thoughts! Let us not seek a legalistic community where we do not engage with the world, but let us seek understanding so that we be both compassionate and zealous for the truth. I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

About the Series I have had to read pages upon pages of theological material; so much that it feels like I forget a fair amount of what I read. While I do maintain a general synopsis of a book, I want to better internalize and remember what I am chewing and digesting as I read. This series seeks to remedy this by providing brief reviews of the books I read.