Articles for tag: Albert Einstein

April 25, 2022

Doug Redford

Indispensability

By Doug Redford As the 20th century was ending, numerous attempts were made to select the “person of the century.” Time magazine suggested Albert Einstein. A good case certainly could be made for Einstein; he was likely the most brilliant mind of the century. The late columnist Charles Krauthammer’s nomination was Winston Churchill. Krauthammer made a very strong argument on Churchill’s behalf. At the tail end of 1999, Krauthammer wrote, Take away Churchill in 1940, and Britain would have settled with Hitler—or worse, Nazism would have prevailed. . . . Civilization would have descended into a darkness the likes of

September 29, 2016

Christian Standard

To Kill or to Keep an Intriguing Idea?

By LeRoy Lawson This Idea Must Die: Scientific Theories That Are Blocking Progress John Brockman, editor New York: Harper Perennial, 2015 The Hunt for Vulcan: . . . And How Albert Einstein Destroyed a Planet, Discovered Relativity, and Deciphered the Universe Thomas Levenson New York: Random House, 2015 The Cross and the Lynching Tree James H. Cone Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2013 (reprint) So you are running into resistance to change in your church, are you? So you believe religion alone is the great resister of new ideas, do you? So you”ve been thinking science, on the contrary, is always based on objective, bias-free research and

March 19, 2012

Christian Standard

What Good Is a College Education These Days?

By LeRoy Lawson With ever larger numbers of college alumni running the country, and not doing such a good job of it, what good is a college degree, anyhow? Are colleges just cranking out more dumb people with diplomas? A friend recently asked my opinion of the “dumbing down of America.” He was referring to the general agreement that, in spite of record numbers of college graduates out there, Americans as a whole appear to be less civil, less informed, less able to reason, and less articulate than ever. (Even the term “dumbing down” is evidence, isn”t it? Is there

January 28, 2012

Christian Standard

Looking Upward, Outward, and Inward

By LeRoy Lawson The Day We Found the Universe Marcia Bartusiak New York: Pantheon Books, 2009 The Next Christians: The Good News about the End of Christian America Gabe Lyons New York: Doubleday, 2010 The End of Sexual Identity: Why Sex Is Too Important to Define Who We Are Jenell Williams Paris Downers Grove: IVP Books (InterVarsity Press), 2011   Many years ago I read that naturalist William Beebe was a guest of President Theodore Roosevelt in his Sagamore Hill home. At the close of an evening, the two went out on the lawn, searched the skies, and Roosevelt said,

August 13, 2011

Christian Standard

Embracing Mystery, Remembering Churchill, and Reconsidering the Classics

By LeRoy Lawson Einstein”s God: Conversations about Science and the Human Spirit Krista Tippett New York: Penguin Books, 2010 Churchill and America Martin Gilbert New York: Free Press, 2005 Climbing Parnassus: A New Apologia for Greek and Latin Tracy Lee Simmons Wilmington: ISI Books, 2002 There”s no yelling in Krista Tippett”s Einstein”s God, no name-calling. This book is not another shootout of science and religion. Instead, these transcripts from 10 episodes of her radio show Speaking of Faith thoughtfully raise issues that thinking people can”t avoid: Can science and religion get along? Can you believe in God and evolution? What is the primary

December 27, 2010

Christian Standard

FROM MY BOOKSHELF: From My Vacation, for Your New Year

By LeRoy Lawson The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves Matt Ridley / New York: HarperCollins, 2010 Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker / Carol Stream: Tyndale House, 2009 Why Does E=MC2? Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw / Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 2009 How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In Jim Collins / New York: HarperCollins, 2009 The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got that Way Bill Bryson / New York: Perennial, 1990 This column”s books have one thing in common: They provided my entertainment on a recent trip to Europe.

November 28, 2010

Christian Standard

From My Bookshelf: It Matters What You Believe

By LeRoy Lawson Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality Manjit Kumar New York: W.W. Norton, 2008 Pearl Buck in China: Journey to The Good Earth Hilary Spurling New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010 The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century Steve Coll New York: Penguin Press, 2008 “What is REAL?” asked the Velveteen Rabbit in that all-time favorite children”s book, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. “What is REAL?” asked some of the 20th-century”s most brilliant scientific minds. We”re still waiting for their definitive answer. Manjit Kumar”s Quantum records their best guesses

April 19, 2009

Christian Standard

Megachurches: Church Unique

  By Kent. E. Fillinger Church Unique is the title of a great book released last year by Will Mancini, and it is also a good description of the 117 megachurches and emerging megachurches profiled in this special double issue. While there are significant trends and key stats that can be gleaned from studying these churches collectively, the strength is in the unique stories of the churches represented and how God is using each one to change people”s lives for Christ. Innovation””or Imitation? A unique vision is not limited to these 117 profiled churches; in reality, every church has a

July 9, 2006

Christian Standard

Churches, Change, and Growth (Part 1)

By Kent E. Fillinger Members of the American Society of Newspaper Editors met not long ago to discuss the current status of newspaper publishing. They considered the fact that the emerging generation tends to ignore newspapers. “Recent research shows that younger people, seeking news when they want it and delivered for free on their computers, are reluctant to purchase newspapers.”1 It”s not that they don”t want news. It”s just that they want the news on their own terms. The same is true when this generation considers the local church. They have an increasing appetite for spirituality, but many exclude the

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