Facebook’s most influential books?
You may have noticed a Facebook meme going around asking you to name your top 10 most influential books as your next status update. It went something like:
““List 10 books that have stayed with you in some way. Don’t take more than a few minutes, and don’t think too hard. They do not have to be the ‘right’ books or great works of literature, just ones that have affected you in some way.” If not great works of literature, what are the books that have stayed with us?”
Now, Facebook (being the all-knowing power that it is) has analysed over 130,000 of those statuses, collated the lists and created the Facebook list of 100 influential books. Perhaps you, like us, will be surprised at the order… Read more >>
Picking the brain of C.S. Lewis
As a regular Brain Pickings follower, this Snippets writer is always thrilled when she can spot a Christian message that seeps in. And who better than C.S. Lewis, who is singled out this week on the ever-popular website that features curated content dedicated “to making readers smarter” (according to Forbes. Love modelled on God? Yes please. Read more >>
Sing along to Hillsong tunes on the New York Times website
The New York Times is bewildered by the continued influence and growth of Hillsong in the United States, first with its plant in New York four years ago and now this year in Los Angeles. “There are lines to get in, and fewer seats than worshipers,” it reports. You can even listen to excerpts of three Hillsong songs in this article!
“The church, Hillsong, has become a phenomenon, capitalizing on, and in some cases shaping, trends not only in evangelicalism but also in Christian youth culture. Its success would be rare enough at a time when religion is struggling in a secularizing Europe and North America. But Hillsong is even more remarkable because its target is young Christians in big cities, where faith seems out of fashion but where its services are packing them in.” Read more >>
The Hillsong story stands in stark contrast to another church story that graced the NYT this week, with closings and layoffs reported for Mark Driscoll’s Mars Hill churches.
What came first, the chicken?
“In visiting Chick-fil-A’s headquarters… the first thing you’ll probably notice… is the Jesus statue. It’s probably three or four feet tall and depicts Jesus washing the feet of a disciple—”a symbol of servant leadership,” said a spokesperson.” This week the owner and founder of iconic American fried chicken brand Chick-fil-A died. He ran his company as an extension of his personal belief in God. This article in The Atlantic asks, what happens when businesses are run in part to express the owner’s values? Read more >>
Why theology matters, even if God doesn’t exist
John Dickson writes on ABC this week: “Practically no important field is untouched by the discipline of theology. How does brain science challenge the Western notion of the self? How was the Graeco-Roman notion of honour subverted by the New Testament emphasis on humility? In what ways do ancient and modern notions of martyrdom differ? How does the doctrine of the Trinity find expression in some of the great classical composers? How does time relate to eternity? What does quantum mechanics say about the notion of divine freedom, and vice-versa? Can innate human rights be grounded without a theistic framework? How does the biblical view of forgiveness contribute to modern attempts at reconciliation? All of these and more are proper theological topics.” Read more >>
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