Rev’d Dr. Leander Harding

A Lesson in Christian Spirituality is a guest essay by The Rev. Dr. David Scott formerly professor of systematic theology and ethics at VTS. David is an old friend and one of the founders of Scholarly Engagement With Anglican Doctrine which has morphed into Mere Anglicanism.

See Ben Stein’s Movie Expelled

I didn’t see this movie when it was in the theaters but I ordered it from Netflix. I only know Ben Stein as a TV personality. I knew he was witty, thoughtful and funny but I didn’t expect such a powerful and provocative presentation of the debate around Intelligent Design. By all means see this movie if you haven’t seen it. It would make an excellent discussion piece for a youth group or an adult education event in a parish. Stein does a wonderful job of bringing out the prejudice of scientism masquerading as science. The most poignant and disturbing aspect of this brilliantly edited piece is the way in which Stein brings out the subtext of anti-Semitism lurking beneath the surface of the atheism of Richard Dawkins. There is an especially chilling scene in which Richard Dawkins is reading from his book, The God Delusion, and describing his take on the God of the Old Testament. This scene of vitriol, and it is the crudest vitriol, being read out by the urbane but contemptuous Dawkins literally in the face of a Jewish man who just a few moments ago in the film had been exploring with German scholars the connection between social Darwinism and the racial theories of the Nazis provides the most eloquent and damning commentary without a word of protest being said by Stein in the interview. One of the most appealing aspects of this documentary is the way in which it trusts the intelligence of the audience. It is a must see.