Carole King, 1971. So so beautiful.
A wonderful essay on Constable’s The Leaping Horse and … other matters.
I’m in The Dispatch this morning on Christopher Beha’s new book on unbelief, belief, and skepticism. And, I am told, if you use the promo code JACOBS at checkout you can get 15% off an annual Dispatch subscription.
A great saint, John M. Perkins, has passed. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
The next few days are gonna be … interesting
Novelists who help us think theologically about this country’s racial history:
- for 1850–1900: William Faulkner
- for 1900–1950: Ralph Ellison
- for 1950–2025: Albert Murray
These are people to read after you’ve read the ones I name in my previous post, to see what got left out.
All of America’s most theologically rich and provocative thinkers are novelists — and this is true even when they don’t know they’re being theological.
- Marilynne Robinson: theologian of America’s past
- Thomas Pynchon: theologian of America’s present
- Philip K. Dick: theologian of America’s future
[Richard Zhang] said the members of his group had many questions about how to deploy Al in their lives, such as: “Can I have an Al pastor? Should we have Al-generated worship music? Should I get an Al to read the Bible or pray with me, to judge my spirituality?”
I’m gonna say
(a) Are you out of your mind?
(b) Lord have mercy, no
(c) Absolutely not
(d) Oh HELL no
My suggestion to pastors who are tempted by this stuff: Read Brad East’s book on the screen-free church when it comes out, and read Matt Erickson’s book on The Pastor as Gardener now.