(1) Where is Trump’s evangelical base? Not in church (Washington Post)
…The key to understanding Trump’s support among evangelicals is to realize that some evangelicals’ commitment to the faith is shaky, too. Trump does best among evangelicals with one key trait: They don’t really go to church. In short, the evangelicals supporting Trump are not the same evangelicals who have traditionally comprised the Christian Right and supported cultural warriors such as Rick Santorum and Ted Cruz.
Recently released data from the 2016 American National Election Studies (ANES) Pilot Study illustrate this. The study was conducted from Jan. 22-28
(2) Gene Edward Veith: Martin Luther on Vocation and Serving Our Neighbors (Acton Institute)
Luther’s doctrine of vocation with its radical, neighbor-centered ethic displaces good works from the realm of the merely spiritual into the realm of the material, the social, and the ordinary.
We sometimes talk about serving God in our vocations. Luther might take issue with this formulation, if by it we imagine that we are performing great deeds to impress the Lord, and especially if we mistreat others in doing so. There is, however, a sense in which we do serve God in our vocations. Jesus himself tells us that what we do (or do not do) for our neighbor in need, we do (or do not do) to him (Matt. 25:31–46). So when we serve our neighbors, we do serve God, though neither the sheep nor the goats realized at the time whom they were really dealing with (vv. 32–33).
God is hidden in vocation. Christ is hidden in our neighbors.
(3) Should you retreat from the public square?
…Epicurus advocated a cautious, ne quid nimis, nothing in excess, moderate approach which was based on a calculated despair at ever finding a definite meaning in life. It was a sign of ignorance even to try; things happened by necessity; free will was an illusion. An insane fear of the gods plagued most people, gods which had been invented by clever politicians and poets to make rule easier by postulating mythical rewards and punishments.
The only thing that made sense to him was to shut off the din of praise and blame, the passions of public life and the idiotic blather of sophists. Have nothing to do with them, said Epicurus. Stop worrying about what goes on in the heavens, or in the world, or in the city.
“Withdraw from it all!” was the prudent way to deal with public affairs: get as far away as possible from the shrines, the town square, the theaters, and the academies. Find yourself a quiet garden. Water the flowers; feed the chickens. The only sane thing was to chuck it all. Enjoy what you could. There was no alternative.
Today the “Epicurean Option”, for all its bleakness, can make sense to a weary modern mind. What little pleasure there is lies in careful moderation. That is the best we can do.
There is a Christian version of the “Epicurean Option” called the “Benedict Option”…
(4) The Message of Islam vs. The Gospel of Jesus (The Gospel Coalition)
***An introductory comparison of the two. Print and keep handy.
(5) The Rising Number of Non-Religious, Atheist, and Agnostic Homeschool Families (The Atlantic)
***At least once a year, a major news magazine discovers the theme: “Did you know all homeschoolers aren’t religious?”
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Photo of the day: A young child seems to join in the chants during a protest by migrants and their supporters in central Athens on Wednesday. The demonstrators protested an agreement between the European Union and Turkey that is meant to close the main route for migrants from the Middle East into Europe. PETROS GIANNAKOURIS/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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