Friday, January 07, 2005

Symposium - Is Americanism the Successor of Puritanism?

Based on a recommendation and request by Joe Carter of The Evangelical Outpost I just finished reading a piece in the opinion journal Commentary. The title of the piece that Joe recommended is “Americanism – and Its Enemies” by Professor David Gelernter.

It’s a wonderful piece of writing, instructive, thought provoking, and lucid. I believe he’s done something rare. He’s taken a weighty subject, applied scholarship, and has written something that is well within the reach of the “common man.”

Based on Joe’s request I’d like to recommend the following to any readers of my blog. First, link to Professor Gelernter’s article using the link to Commentary that I provided in my first paragraph. The article is long, so you may want to print it, then find a comfortable place to read it. Second, I’d like to challenge any who are positions of church leadership share the article with your circle of responsibility. I believe this is an especially valuable piece of work for “churchmen” to explore, discuss, etc. Then, I’d like you to link to Joe’s blog (the link to The Evangelical Outpost is also provided in the first paragraph). He has requested that bloggers read the article, and then comment on what you’ve read. You’ll need to scroll down to the “post comments” section following the piece to do so.

Also, for any brave souls who would like to be part of a symposium, there is an opportunity to do so. Joe is also sponsoring this. The question being explored – “Is Americanism the Successor to Puritanism?” affords a great opportunity for budding scholars in the blogosphere to test their mettle.

The deadline for submissions is 11:59 PM CST on Tuesday January 11th.

I believe this a great opportunity. I’m going to give it a shot myself.

If you have other questions you can hook into this link.

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