Posts tagged "Glorious Ruin"
Barry Zito, a Broken Leg, and the Outer Christ
Psychology / Sports / Suffering / Theology/Religion

Barry Zito, a Broken Leg, and the Outer Christ

by Nick Lannon on Dec 12, 2012 • 1 Comment

Barry Zito was once known as one of the most dominating pitchers in Major League baseball, winning the 2002 Cy Young award. Then, in 2007, he signed a huge free agent deal with the San Francisco Giants and became known as the worst signing in recent memory, a choke artist who never lived up to a tenth of his contract, much less the entire $126 million. As evidence, note that when the Giants made the playoffs in 2010, they left Zito off the roster completely, and went ahead and won the World Series without him.

Finally, during last year’s playoffs (and…

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Tullian Tchividjian’s Glorious Ruin: Suffering, Freedom and Rocketship Underpants
Books / Religion / Reviews / Suffering / Theology

Tullian Tchividjian’s Glorious Ruin: Suffering, Freedom and Rocketship Underpants

by WB on Oct 9, 2012 • 5 Comments

“I was becoming totally preoccupied with how I was doing, if I was learning everything I was supposed to be learning during this difficult season, whether I was doing it right or not, and constantly taking my own spiritual pulse. You might say that my ‘inner lawyer’ was working overtime.”

Glorious Ruin: How Suffering Sets You Free, the new book by Tullian Tchividjian, is remarkable. It’s remarkable first because it radically departs from any notion of trying to learn from suffering or approach it in the ‘right’ way. This paradigm may sound innovative, but it’s actually rooted in the book of…

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The Astonishing Tales of Costanza, or The Danger of Moralizing Suffering
Books / Suffering / TV

The Astonishing Tales of Costanza, or The Danger of Moralizing Suffering

by David Zahl on Oct 2, 2012 • 3 Comments

Yesterday was a big day! Tullian Tchividjian’s indispensable new book Glorious Ruin: How Suffering Sets You Free finally hit the shelves, and its release could not dovetail more perfectly with the theme of this past weekend’s conference (recordings should be up tomorrow), namely, how you and I interpret and experience suffering, and whether or not there is any hope to be found in its midst, especially in light of the cross. In the interest of full disclosure–and as you’ll read in the acknowledgements–yours truly was fortunate enough to help with the manuscript a little. We’ll be posting a full review…

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Another Week Ends: Crimson Despair, Teacher Expectations, MJ’s Bad, Improvement Narratives, Neil Young, Neurospeculation, The Master, and Conf Update
Celebrity / Conferences / Education / Grace in Practice / Identity / Music / Psychology / Religion / Suffering / Theology / Week In Review

Another Week Ends: Crimson Despair, Teacher Expectations, MJ’s Bad, Improvement Narratives, Neil Young, Neurospeculation, The Master, and Conf Update

by David Zahl on Sep 21, 2012 • 1 Comment

1. An incredibly moving account of “Depression and Despair at Harvard” in response to the suicide of a classmate by Jordan Monge on The Harvard Ichthus. With real vulnerability, Monge touches on the crushing power of expectation, the vicious circle of shame and fear, the grace of defeat, even the toxic and tragic way Christians revert to the Law, post-conversion. It’s a courageous testament to the reality that we are not saved us from pain, but in and through it, ht AZ:

via indexed.com

Admitting my weakness feels like admitting that I am not good enough to bear my own name.…

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Another Week Ends: Dead Liberal Arts, Glorious Ruin, Cagematch: Hoffman-Phoenix, Victorians in Baltimore, Creative Anxiety, and Imputed Guilt (by Association)
Books / Film / Theology / TV / Week In Review

Another Week Ends: Dead Liberal Arts, Glorious Ruin, Cagematch: Hoffman-Phoenix, Victorians in Baltimore, Creative Anxiety, and Imputed Guilt (by Association)

by WB on Sep 14, 2012 • 1 Comment

1. Over at The Daily Standard, writer and lecturer Joseph Epstein asks, “Who Killed the Liberal Arts?” With pre-professional education and a degree of liberal-arts relativizing on the rise, Epstein finds a central problem with American higher education to be the same kind of achievement cult that recent films like Waiting for “Superman” have criticized. Epstein’s phrasing is particularly succinct:

Trained almost from the cradle to smash the SATs and any other examination that stands in their way, the privileged among them may take examinations better, but it is doubtful if their learning and intellectual understanding are any greater. Usually propelled by…

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Another Week Ends: Delta Malaise, Self-Deprecating Obituaries, The Hill and Wood, Breaking Bad, Bound Atheists, Fall Conf Schedule and more Dark Knight Rises
Books / Comics / Education / Film / Humor / Identity / Law / News / Relationships / Religion / Suffering / Theology / TV / Week In Review

Another Week Ends: Delta Malaise, Self-Deprecating Obituaries, The Hill and Wood, Breaking Bad, Bound Atheists, Fall Conf Schedule and more Dark Knight Rises

by WB on Jul 20, 2012 • 5 Comments

1. First up, The New York Times published an eye-opening article about sorority rush in US colleges this week that’s been spreading like wildfire. It visits all the usual themes of the Law of group belonging: self-doubt, attempts at identity improvement, the need to belong, and our single-minded attempts to live up to a certain standard – no matter how much or little positive correlation it has with Old Testament/church morality. To illustrate how far the phenomenon of belonging is going:

In the early rounds, [girls] have only minutes to make a positive impression… Many aspiring sisters spend their summer working…

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