Two things I want to highlight in today’s diary:
First, I started in on Brandon Sanderson’s fifth “Stormlight Archive” book, Wind and Truth, last night. The book just released Friday, and I’ve been waiting eagerly for it since I finished book four in September. I first started in on “Stormlight” last March, and powered through all four books over the course of the year. I usually don’t like most high fantasy, as I find it derivative and the world building incoherent or weak. But I love this series. Sanderson is a meticulous and, most importantly, radically original world builder. These books are unlike anything else out there. I’d recommend the books highly, but be aware, reading them is quite a commitment. Each book is north of 1000 pages, and this most recent release clocks in at almost 1400 pages. But, they are definitely worth every page of the read!
Second, my good friend Justin Bronson Barringer wrote a powerful critique of the heresy that is Christian nationalism over at Good Faith Media, titled “Serving Two Masters: Why Christian Nationalism Betrays the Kingdom of God.” Justin is responding to a recent Newsweek piece by Russ Vought that tries to sand the edges off a movement and idea that presents what I think is one of the biggest threats facing both the church and America today. Here’s a quick preview of Justin’s argument:
The kingdom of God is characterized by self-sacrificial love, humility and a refusal to coerce others, even for ostensibly good purposes.
In contrast, the kingdom of the world—whether organized under nationalism, globalism or any other ideology—relies on power, coercion, and, often, violence to achieve its aims.
This fundamental divergence cannot be glossed over by appealing to the Bible’s stories of Israel or the rhetoric of America’s founders.
Give the whole thing a read.
Justin DaMetz 