The other day Pocket (a click-and-read-later app) sent me (Andy) an email letting me know that I was in the top 10% of its readers for 2021. The thing about that is that I didn’t read a single article on the Three Things pocket account in 2021. That is the wonderful part of collaborating with Phillip, who somehow finds time to read more than 90% of people on the internet. That’s why we call him the Curator.
I, on the other hand, am the lowly Instigator of the Three Things duo. Right now I’m instigating this recap post, and in a few days we will be sending out a sign-up for our next bit of instigation. Teaser: it’s a Bible course.
Where We Went In 2021
For me, the beauty of being a part of this newsletter is that I get to benefit from having someone (Phillip) read expansively about current events, cultural movements, and theology and then choose three of those things for me to read each month. That is why we started this whole thing. There is a lot of noise out there. We wanted to cut through the noise and just give you the signal.
So if you are like me and didn’t read more than 90% of people on the internet this year, here is your chance to catch up on what you missed.
And, as always, thanks for reading and thanks for supporting this little project. (And email us! We want to hear from you: threethingsnewsletter@gmail.com.)
Culture Things
We shared Carl Trueman’s "Makers of the Modern Revolution," a series of eight, twenty-minute talks that unpack the ideas in his book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self. Paul Kingsnorth walked us through his thoughts on modern environmentalism. We thought about the dignity of Down Syndrome, the importance of George MacDonald, how to have better arguments online.
Jeffrey Bilbro helped us question how central the public sphere has become to our personal lives. Meanwhile, the always-helpful Yuval Levin speculated that the real pandemic facing us might be a pandemic of passivity.
We encouraged you to read to your kids, to question how your relationship to technology shifted since the pandemic, to consider the downside of empathy, and, yes, to spend 100 days reading Dante.
Current Event Things
We reflected on the dangers of race reductionism, the January 6 attack on the capitol, and the fall of Ravi Zacharias. Kevin DeYoung shared four approaches to race, politics, and gender.
We told you about the sexual counterrevolution, using children as activists, and the slowly rotting internet. Kerrington Powell and Vinay Prasad helped us sort through the shifting narratives around COVID-19. Sarah Soltis helped think through the return of abortion to the center stage of the American discourse.
Even though the actress Emma Watson quipped, “Feminism is about giving women choice. It’s about freedom. It’s about liberation. It’s about equality,” Mary Harrington wondered whether today’s popular feminism only ends up benefitting an elite class of women.
We invited you to wade into the discussion about reparations, rethink whether enjoying The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill is really good for us, and consider whether Facebook should actually be viewed as a hostile foreign power (especially in light of the bizarre unveiling of the metaverse.)
Theology Things
We tried to help you read Genesis well, think about what it means to be human, and consider what trees, viruses, pigs, sex, and children reveal about God.
Tim Keller reflected on facing cancer and the hope of resurrection. Also, we learned that WEIRD is not the norm in the world, followed the unlikely conversion of Paul Kingsnorth, and wondered if young people are leaving the church because the church hasn’t lived up to its own ideals. Kristen Sanders encouraged us that though progress is afflicted by presumption and nostalgia by despair, Christian hope can “invigorate the soul.”
We told you to become a better Bible reader by getting better at reading poetry, to feast after COVID, to set aside your smartphone Bible app for your printed Bible, and to let go of the false dichotomy of the God-of-rules vs the God-of-relationship.
Next Up: The Bible Course Reveal Issue
Watch your inbox for more information about what’s coming in 2022.
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