The Greatest Story Ever Told Cherie Harder Friday, April 18, 2014 The power of story is getting unlikely attention. In a fascinating collaboration, literary scholars and neuroscientists have teamed up to explore the physiological impact that stories have on the human brain. A recent Wall Street Journal article by Allison Gopnik entitled “Want a Mind Meld?
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Readers, Viewers, and Players Cherie Harder Monday, February 24, 2014 "We become what we behold. We shape our tools and then our tools shape us." - Marshall McLuhan Sometimes sales data can provide useful insights into what we as a society value, and how we are changing. Compare, for example, sales of last
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The Singularity of Grace Cherie Harder Monday, December 23, 2013 In What's So Amazing About Grace? author Phillip Yancey recounts: During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of
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Thinking About Thanksgiving Cherie Harder Tuesday, November 26, 2013 "In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18 The Bible is not subtle in its calls for thanksgiving. Repeatedly, urgently, and throughout its many books the reader is urged to "give thanks to the Lord, for
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Evening Conversation with Andy Crouch Cherie Harder Thursday, October 24 2013 The Trinity Forum recently hosted an Evening Conversation with Andy Crouch -- editor of Christianity Today and author of "Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power." In the talk, Crouch talked about how, from the beginning, God has a plan to move things from good, to
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Shocks, Awe, and Friendship Cherie Harder Friday, October 11, 2013 Recently, a friend asked me to accompany her as she received electric shocks while participating in a study to better understand friendship and attachment. (For real.) We drove to the University of Virginia, where electrodes were strapped to her ankles and she was pushed
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A Hole in the ``Heart of the Matter`` Cherie Harder Tuesday, July 16, 2013 Last week, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) released a compelling report affirming the necessity and centrality of the humanities and liberal arts in developing citizens and perpetuating democratic self-government. Entitled "The Heart of the Matter," the report
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Revolutionary Readers Cherie Harder Monday, June 17, 2013 “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” -- Ray Bradbury It has long been an assumption that the act of reading is not only foundational but formational: that what and how we read helps determine how
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In Memoriam: Dallas Willard Cherie Harder Thursday, May 16, 2013 Last week, Trinity Forum Senior Fellow Dallas Willard died, just a couple of days after publicly confirming a stage 4 cancer diagnosis. He was 77, and leaves behind his wife of many years, Jane, two children, a grandchild, and legions of friends, students, colleagues,
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Disrespect and Distortion Cherie Harder Monday, March 18, 2013 Nastiness, new research shows, corrodes not only relationships, but also reading comprehension. A recent study published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication and reported in the New York Times sought to study what was termed “the nasty effect” – the impact of insulting comments about an article on readers’
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