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Chrono Cross is my favorite video game, and it is widely considered a classic among fans of turn-based role-playing games (RPGs). However, I was unable to play Radical Dreamers as a child. Radical Dreamers is a text-based adventure game released in 1996 (Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Hōseki, n.d.). The game served as an inspiration for Chrono…
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Mike Thomson is a reporter and presenter for radio and television news who has reported from conflict zones in the past. His book, Syria’s Secret Library: Reading and Redemption in a Town Under Siege, is well written and serves as a very readable introduction for anyone beginning to study the Syrian civil war. Thomson explains…
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The Lynx has intrigued me for a long time. It most likely started in my childhood. My favorite video game, Chrono Cross, featured an anthropomorphic character named “Lynx”. Lynx was a powerful, albeit misunderstood figure from that video game. I learned later in my adult life that various people groups across different geographic areas venerated…
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Brent Walters (RIP) was a professor of comparative religion at my alma mater, San José State University. He was known for amassing a vast collection of texts on the Greco-Roman world, early Christianity, and the New Testament. One of my biggest regrets is that I did not take a course with him. His scholarship examined…
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Raymond Brown was considered controversial by some. On the one hand, he was a Catholic priest; on the other, a historical-critical scholar. His arguments on the Gospel of John, the virgin birth and the appearance tradition of Jesus would disturb some modern readers. Nevertheless, his scholarship is essential and insightful. It also shows that one…
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Many retreated from regular society and chose a hermit’s lifestyle. These men were known as “The Desert Fathers”. Douglas-Burton Christie notes, “Many of the desert monks refused to participate in the growing establishment of the church under Constantine, choosing instead to live on the margins of society under the direct guidance of the Spirit and…
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The topic of hell is a profoundly unsettling topic for many Christians and non-Christians. This issue alone is responsible for deconversion and the questioning of God’s grace. The images of Dante’s Inferno and medieval portraits make hell seem like a ghastly experience. However, not all Christians hold to the view that hell is a place…
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Janine di Giovanni is a reporter, and her work has received praise from Amnesty International. She has covered conflicts in Sierra Leone, Chechnya and Bosnia. The Morning They Came for Us: Dispatches from Syria is a very readable, excellent account of the horrors of the Syrian War. Chapter I: Damascus-Thursday, June 28th 2012 This time…
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Chapter 1- Empire Gospel and Culture Kamudzandu begins this chapter by discussing Shona culture and history. He writes that salt is a symbol of wealth and prosperity among the Shona. He then discusses David Livingstone and his missionary endeavors in Zimbabwe. The years 1890 and 1980 were characterized by a century of wars, uprisings, evangelism,…
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My interest in Jainism started during a time when I couldn’t work due to a shoulder injury. Admitelly, I hadn’t studied eastern faiths in as much detail as Christianity and Islam at that point, three years ago. Jainism is a fascinating religious tradition, and I was intrigued by the concept of ahimsa or non-violence. The…
Triggered to Thinking 