Posted by Anthony on March 10, 2010
I’ve been thinking about the culture wars lately. I have a real problem with Christians who seem to be driving for a change in the culture just for the sake of having a ‘holy’ culture. I think we’d have to call that a legalistic culture. I believe that the Christian church should be about something more than creating white-washed tombs.
On the other hand, the nature of ‘culture’ is that it perpetuates itself, feeds itself, fuels itself. The culture is the air we breathe and the water in which we swim. It has the ability to mold us into its image, and once so molded, we mold others in that same image. Resistance isn’t exactly futile, but it is difficult. Conformity to the culture is the path of least resistance. It would behoove us, therefore, to ensure that the culture is not toxic. If the culture is healthy, the path of least resistance will more likely result in healthy beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Anthony on March 5, 2010
I am proud to announce that Athanatos Christian Ministries will be hosting its first annual online apologetics conference this May.
http://onlineapologeticsconference.com/
The theme for the conference is ‘literary apologetics.’ Potentially, future conferences will tackle some other brand of communicating or defending the Gospel through the arts. ‘Literary apologetics’ is, obviously, using the written word to carry out that endeavor. Notable examples are C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, and Dorothy Sayers, to name a few.
The purpose of the conference is to issue a call to Christians in the arts to express their faith through them and issue a call to the Christian Church to help them in a more deliberate fashion.
The conference is taking registrations now. The cost is $35 for the two day event, but discounts are available for students and there is an early bird special in place before March 15th.
Speakers:
Keynote:
Plenary: WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Anthony on February 26, 2010
Not too long ago, FallenandFlawed blog interviewed me about my apologetics ministry and some of my activities. As tends to happen with me, I got a little long and only a portion of the interview could be posted. With permission, here are the remaining questions and answers:
Q. In 2009 ACM launched a Christian Writing Contest, which was an outgrowth of ACM’s desire to develop a genre of fiction called “literary apologetics.” Forgive me, but immediately books like C. S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce and The Chronicles of Narnia come to mind. Is that what you’re looking for? What kind of material did you receive?
Lewis’s works certainly represent the epitome of what we think about ‘literary apologetics.’ To expand on our intent, though, you’d have to also mention writers like G.K. Chesterton, Dorothy Sayers, Madeline L’Engle, and J.R.R Tolkien. We could throw in some others, too, like Graham Greene and Charles Williams. I guess you could say that what sets our vision apart is that we are thinking more intentionally. I doubt very much, for example, that Tolkien meant his work as any kind of apologetic. The key point is to communicate the Christian world view through the arts, and fiction in particular. This can be overt, but it need not be. Quality story-telling from a person who is a Christian may not be explicitly Christian in content but the ‘air’ the reader breathes will influence them towards a Christian perspective. Such literature may not ultimately save, just as ‘clean air’ won’t extract a drowning man from the waves, but at least you aren’t overwhelmed by noxious fumes during the rescue. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Anthony on February 11, 2010
Regular readers of this blog are aware that my fiction series, Birth Pangs, have their first three books patterned after 1 Cor 13:13, “these three remain: faith, hope and love.” The first was Fidelis (Latin for faithfulness). The second was Spero (Latin for hope). The third, which I will soon sit down to begin writing, is Caritas (Latin for love).
I am therefore in a deliberate search for materials that speak specifically to a Christian understanding of love. This search has been ongoing for more than a decade and I must confess I have to this point been disappointed.
In point of fact, it is my personal belief that the root problem in American Christianity is a failure to love in the manner that the Bible describes, and this in turn is because there is no deliberate instruction on the subject. People are just supposed to ‘know’ how to love.
So, I hereby issue a request for help: is anyone aware of any systematic theology books anywhere, in any Christian denomination, that has a section devoted to the topic of Biblical love? Is anyone aware of any book that systematically and comprehensively presents a doctrine of love?
Please let me know by commenting on this entry or through the contact form available on this site.
Thanks.
Posted by Anthony on January 29, 2010
A reader of Gilbert Magazine has forwarded to me an article in their latest edition that cites yours truly! The article author stumbled upon my brief review of Chesterton’s Orthodoxy that I posted on the ChristianPost.com. In a discussion on the resurgence of all things Chesterton, the author quotes me saying,
[P]eople will instinctively dismiss the writings of a man that are a shade over 100 years old. The truth, however, is that nothing he confronted then has actually gone away. He confronted the materialistic view of Man in his own life, determining finally that Christianity offered the truest account. He stood against the Darwinists, the eugenicists, the relativists, and the liberal theologians. All these are still here and with us. The only difference is that they have been re-packaged and re-presented.
Maybe I’ll have to subscribe to their magazine. 
Posted by Anthony on November 23, 2009
Athanatos Christian Ministry’s 2010 Christian writing contest is taking submissions. Over $2,000 in awards will be disbursed in two different age categories in short story fiction and a poetry category that is new this year.
Their Website: ChristianWritingContest.com
Last year’s winning stories were published in an anthology which is available on Amazon.com, here. You can also read them online at the writing contest home page.
The purpose of the contest is to encourage Christians to promote their beliefs through fiction.
Short story fiction requirements:
* Cost: $15.
* Length: 1,500 to 7,500 words
* Content: implicitly or explicitly reflecting the orthodox Christian world view.
* Time: Accepting Entries Now thru Feb 15th, 2010. Winners Announced beginning in April, 2009. Anthologies and Awards disbursed in early May, 2010.
Poetry requirements:
* Cost: $15.
* Length: Max 2,500 words
* Content: implicitly or explicitly reflecting the orthodox Christian world view.
* We reserve the right to modify the award amounts depending on response.
* Time: Accepting Entries Now thru Feb 15th, 2010. Winners Announced beginning in April, 2009. Anthologies and Awards disbursed in early May, 2010.
Every entrant will receive a copy of the anthology.
Learn more, check out bulk submission discounts, and download fliers, here:
http://christianwritingcontest.com
Posted by Anthony on October 29, 2009
Apparently, Disney is set to film Voyage of the Dawn Treader after having previously indicated the movie was off. In a previous post, I discussed my feelings about this. Essentially, I was unhappy with the embellishments in the movie and believe that the drop in revenue was associated with Lewis fans showing their displeasure. I reviewed Prince Caspian. The title was: A Review of Prince Caspian- One Disappointed Christian.
From my readings in the blogosphere, it looks like we may be in for more with the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This is unfortunate, as this is one of my favorite of all of them.
I’ve never quite understood how they wanted to make movies out of the entire series… (The Horse and His Boy… a full movie? Really?) but I’d rather see books combined into a single movie than a book bloated in order to fit the feature length movie mold.
The blogosphere seems to contain ample warnings from purists like myself, so if Disney still abuses the text, they’ll have no one else to blame but themselves…
Unless they have a blockbuster, of course. Then they can smile smugly. I guess the proof is in the pudding.
