Category: the sacred

The Good Life, The Life Well-lived: Reflections on The Sacred’s recent event ‘My Dream, My Taste’

At an online event on 29th March 2021, The Sacred podcast, hosted by Elizabeth Oldfield, screened Emily Downe's multi–award-nominated 3–minute film ‘My Dream, My Taste.' This was followed by a conversation with leading voices from the fields of theology, philosophy and the creative arts, Professor Miroslav Volf, whose episode of The Sacred podcast inspired the … Continue reading The Good Life, The Life Well-lived: Reflections on The Sacred’s recent event ‘My Dream, My Taste’ →

Religious Language in Five Points

Dr, Scot McKnight, Julius R. Mantey Chair of New Testament at Northern Seminary, asked me to write an answer to the following prompt, for his substack newletter: What five/? things can Christians learn about how they use theological language and talk about God? You can read my response here.And don't miss the conversation in the … Continue reading Religious Language in Five Points →

All Abuse is Religious Abuse

Abusive language is a type of linguistic interaction that demeans, humiliates, mocks, belittles, insults or otherwise controls another living being in a way that violates a set of shared sacred ideals. Because of this, I believe all abusive language to be inherently religious, though there are certainly more and less damaging versions. The more intensely … Continue reading All Abuse is Religious Abuse →

“Covidism:” How calling something a religion can act as a smokescreen

This morning I came across a Twitter hashtag I hadn't seen before, #CoronaReligion. One of the threads participating in this Discourse especially caught my attention, as a group of Tweeters last month proclaimed that "The fastest growing religion in the world is COVIDISM." Hashtag CovidCult. Hashtag CovidReligion. Full Thread Hmmm. Is covid a religion? Are … Continue reading “Covidism:” How calling something a religion can act as a smokescreen →

Is Critical Race Theory a Religion? Responding to Carl Trueman

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash Carl Trueman's article on Critical Race Theory for the February issue of First Things caught my eye last night because of this provocative claim about religious language: All-embracing and transformative views often have a religious quality. Critical race theory is no exception. It has a creedal language and liturgy, with orthodox words (“white privilege,” … Continue reading Is Critical Race Theory a Religion? Responding to Carl Trueman →

What is religious language?

Some of the first questions any scholar of religious language will wrestle with, very early on, are these very difficult ones: what is religion and what is religious language? Judging by the types of tweets about religious language that people tag me in, people tend to think of religious language as explicit references to God, … Continue reading What is religious language? →