What’s wrong with society today? The challenge for the Church
This is a pretty comprehensive list of the books and videos that went into the presentations of this series. It is not exhaustive, so if there is something missing that you have a question about, please contact me.
As I showed only snippets of most of the videos in class, the URLs below take you to the full video.
Week 1. Historical Gnostics: What they believed
Books:
Burfeind, Peter. Gnostic America: A Reading of Contemporary American Culture & Religion according to Christianity’s Oldest Heresy. Kindle Edition. Pax Domini Press, 2014.
Pastor Burfeind (LCMS) is pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Toledo, Ohio.
Lueker, Erwin L., ed., Lutheran Cyclopedia: A Concise In-Home Reference for the Christian family., Concordia, St. Louis, rev ed. 1975. Now called Christian Cyclopedia and available online at https://cyclopedia.lcms.org/.
Videos:
What is Gnosticism? By Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller https://youtu.be/IkWqFUH1sJ0?si=49uJ12xy9qoSQPh8
Rolan D. Monje , APLA (Asia-Pacific Leadership Academy). Introduction to Gnostism (https://www.slideserve.com/lauren/introduction-to-gnosticism-powerpoint-ppt-presentation).
Week 2. Mind and body. Can we be born in the wrong body? Can it be fixed?
Books:
Abigale Schrier, Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, Regnery, June 29, 2021. Currently independent journalist. Recent books is Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up.
Burfeind, Peter. Gnostic America: A Reading of Contemporary American Culture & Religion according to Christianity’s Oldest Heresy. Kindle Edition.
Week 3. The self-regarding culture. Are we all narcissists now?
Books:
Carl R. Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution, Crossway, Nov 10, 2020.
Carl R. Trueman (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is professor of biblical and religious studies at Grove City College. He is a contributing editor at First Things, an esteemed church historian, and a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Trueman has authored or edited more than a dozen books, including Strange New World; The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self; and Histories and Fallacies. He is a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
Videos:
Interview of Jordan Peterson by Ben Shapiro https://youtu.be/3enLBUJ5Od0?si=slvRzOv2hCv4X0Xf
Gender Dysphoria Diagnosis and Treatment | Abigail Shrier & Jordan B Peterson https://youtu.be/5IbbcDXWxfA?si=7S66xXKufovov4y3
Week 4. Earth – good or bad? Alternative visions of the origins.
Books:
Stephen C. Meyer. Return of the God Hypothesis: Three Scientific Discoveries that reveal the mind behind the Universe. Harper One, 2021.
Stephen C. Meyer received his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in the philosophy of science after working as an oil industry geophysicist. He now directs the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute in Seattle, Washington. He authored Signature in the Cell, a (London) Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year.
Videos:
Dinesh D’Souza interviews Professor James Tour
Modern Science And The Argument From Design https://rumble.com/v5ypqwn-modern-science-and-the-argument-from-design.html
Professor James Tour Argues Scientists Are Clueless On The Origin Of Life https://rumble.com/v5ypr5e-professor-james-tour-argues-scientists-are-clueless-on-the-origin-of-life.html
Week 5. The value of human life: Are we created in God’s image or a random series of accidents?
Book:
Donald De Marco and Benjamin D. Wiker. Architects of The Culture of Death. Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 2004.
Benjamin Wiker is the author of Moral Darwinism. Donald De Marco, an Associate Professor of Philosophy at St. Jerome’s College, Ontario, has written hundreds of magazine articles, and is the author of eleven books.
A Hebrew archaeological site, online:
https://www.thetorah.com/article/molekh-the-sacrifice-of-babies
Video:
State Rep. Brandi Bradley speaks on Reproductive Rights and Justice Day resolution
https://youtu.be/966rMalDAl8?si=xx66A3YftLkU6qra
Week 6 Gnosticism in Arts and Literature
Books:
Christopher Booker. The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. Bloomsbury, 2019.
Videos:
Taylor Alesia describes Gnosticism in movies.
Part 1 https://youtu.be/PBwPw7ck4eU?si=RmgmYKbR2t-9rnUF
Part 2 https://youtu.be/2kjk-SwxYzI?si=RT5b-rOU5pUDynXD
Her YouTube channel, The Bible Chick, https://www.youtube.com/@thebiblechick
Little Light Studios on The Chosen https://youtu.be/8QUPDc-D0nY?si=veFK_tMyMOifnB27
Week 7 Technology and the Future
Videos:
Academy of Ideas. Review of The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haight. https://youtu.be/G42xfVmngHY?si=oIjxsRGCBRZip-gP
Week 8. How does it affect the church today. Fighting the good fight.
Books:
John Daniel Davidson. Pagan America: The Decline of Christianity and the Dark Age to Come. Washington, D.C., Regnery, 2024.
John Daniel Davidson is a senior editor at The Federalist. Over a nearly twenty-year career in journalism, he has written widely for national publications including the Wall Street Journal, National Review, the Guardian, the New York Post, the Claremont Review of Books, and First Things. He has also been a regular guest on many podcasts and radio and television shows, including Tucker Carlson Tonight, The Ingraham Angle, Fox and Friends, NPR, the BBC, and the Megyn Kelly Show. A Texan for many years, he now lives with his family in Alaska.
Eric Metaxas. Religionless Christianity: God’s Answer to Evil. Regnery, 2024.
Eric Metaxas is an author whose books have been translated into twenty-five languages. The host of a nationally syndicated radio show and the acclaimed conversation series Socrates in the City, he is a prominent cultural commentator whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, The Atlantic, and the Wall Street Journal. He lives with his family in New York City.
Eric Voegelin. Science, Politics, and Gnosticism, originally published in German in 1959, English translation in 1968. Regnery.
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