On behalf of Seth Cain and I, it is our great pleasure to launch this new blog that hopes to be a space for engagement between academics and pastors. All too often the Academy and the Church are viewed as such separate spheres that fostering engagement between them can be difficult. The priorities, the emphases, and the orientations of each are certainly distinct and, for many, perhaps even at odds. This blog aims to offer the possibility for the life of the mind and the life of faith to intersect in ways that allow both academics and pastors to maintain their specific identities while being encouraged and challenged by each other. Since the larger conversation about such issues is at least centuries old, we do not see this blog as doing something new, but merely continuing a very old conversation in a new way. But even if the best questions have already been asked, it is still possible that the answers can continue to be sought. Importantly, though it is likely that many contributors to this blog will identify as Christian, it is not required that they do so. Indeed, often the most important opportunities to rethink one’s own identity are provided by those who identify otherwise. As Jacques Derrida often notes, events spur us onward, but figuring out toward what it is that we move will likely remain somewhat of a mystery. Into that mystery, then, we invite you, for it is where we already find ourselves as friends, conversation partners, and ultimately just a philosopher and a pastor walking and talking together.
Philosophy Goes to Church 