I attended the funeral service and graveside ceremony of Edith Schaeffer. Please go here to see, "Death, Revolt, and Resurrection: A Tribute to Edith Schaeffer."

Related
Francis Schaeffer: A Student's Appreciation of a Distinctive Approach 
Edith Schaeffer and the Apologetics of Beauty

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 04:32 PM | Permalink

For millions of people, the entrance of God into verifiable history in human form is cause for celebration. It began with that birth in Bethlehem, and it culminated with an empirically verifiable resurrection in space and time in Jerusalem. Here was an individual observably alive at point A, dead at point B, but then alive again at point C. Thus we have Easter, a rock upon which to build a house, a life, a city on a hill, and even an entire civilization, once the profoundly pro-human implications of the Judeo-Christian worldview begin to be understood and applied across the whole of thought and culture.

No one should be surprised that the consequences of factual events so amazing should cascade like fresh mountain waters over the centuries into new years and into new lives every year. Christmas becomes a time of joy and celebration. Easter becomes a time of doubt followed by certainty and then amazement. But for others it’s a different story. King Herod’s is such a story. So is that of Pontius Pilate.

Herod searched for the newborn king not to celebrate but to destroy a potential rival to power, and that is why he ordered the death of boys in Bethlehem “two years old and younger” (Matt. 1:16). Pilate had Truth staring him in the face when he asked Jesus, “What is truth?” (John 18:19). But instead of setting an innocent man free, a man in whom Pilate found nothing wrong, the Roman washed his hands and gave Jesus over to be crucified (Matt: 27:26), just as the religious establishment wanted.

Had Pilate really been honest in his question about truth, in a matter of days he could have begun investigating the ample evidence regarding the resurrection of the man about whom he found nothing wrong. His curiosity might have been stimulated, one would think, after hearing reports of strange goings-on at the tomb of Jesus. After all, a dead man usually does not unwrap his grave clothes, roll away a massive boulder blocking the entrance to his tomb, overcome sentries whose job (upon pain of death) is to ensure his body stays put, and then convince utterly defeated followers that he is the Lord of life.

One thing pretenders and outright liars seem to have difficulty understanding, whether they be corrupt religious leaders, maneuvering politicians, or enablers easy to command: Truth never dies, is never really defeated, even if you kill it.

Celebrations of Easter and Christmas in America today occur at a time and place far different from that of the countryside and politics of ancient Israel. And yet, there is continuity, for ours too is a time of celebration and praise -- but also one of pretense and hatred and even persecution. That’s right. Persecution is the correct word, it seems to me, if we are to reflect sensitively a Biblical understanding of what is at stake in the world today. 

Continue reading "Easter and Other Four-Letter Words."

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 06:12 PM | Permalink

The website of Evangelicals Now, a monthly newspaper available in England, has published "What Is Killing the Western World?," which I was honored to write as the Foreword to Emancipating the World, by our friend Darrow Miller of Disciple Nations Alliance.

To see "What Is Killing the Western World?" at The Pearcey Report, please go here.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 09:36 AM | Permalink

You get a "Revolt of Intelligence Against 'Marriage Equality'."

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 03:22 PM | Permalink

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 03:10 PM | Permalink

Dear MSNBC: Black good, liberalism bad.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 04:22 PM | Permalink

Listen to The Pearcey Report editor and publisher John Richard Pearcey on 101.5 WORD-FM Pittsburgh radio today at 4:15 pm, eastern standard time.

You can listen live here.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 09:23 AM | Permalink

A hamfisted Juan Williams said Ann Romney during her RNC speech looked like a "corporate wife," which led one of my FB friends to ask how my "beautiful corporate wife" Nancy "is doing."

My response:

She's having her nails done, back by pool no. 2., which is next to the tennis courts and outdoor theatre.

Tomorrow, we join Clint Eastwood at the "Make My Day" self-improvement center for more target practice.

Saturday, we're over at the Kants to demolish a few tacky intellectual slums . . . maybe replace them with groundwork for a shining city on a hill.

Ahem, Williams wasn't guilty of imposing upon Mrs. Romney rather outworn stereotypes about the "rich," blondes, faithful mothers, and life outside of Template Obamaville, was he?

Surely, everybody knows that blondes have more fun because they have more brains.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 12:45 PM | Permalink

Nancy and I tendered our resignations to Rivendell Sanctuary yesterday. What follows is from the letter of resignation, submitted to CEO Bobby Norment:

We are writing to let you know that our family is moving to Houston, Texas, so that Nancy can assume a new appointment as Scholar in Residence at Houston Baptist University. As a full professor, her duties will include teaching, research & writing, and helping to create a new MA program in Apologetics. Rick is pursuing exciting opportunities that would be premature to announce at this time. 

John Mark Reynolds of the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola University was recently announced as the soon-to-be new Provost of HBU.

Here's more news: Today, Nancy and I depart for a series of lectures at the Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Also, there is the recent publication of Darrow Miller's important new book, Emancipating the World: A Christian Response to Radical Islam and Fundamentalist Atheism. 

I was honored to write the Foreword, which you can read here.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 08:54 AM | Permalink

Author, speaker, teacher and activist for the poor and hungry Darrow Miller has written a much needed and timely book titled Emancipating the World: A Christian Response to Radical Islam and Fundamentalist Atheism. 

I was honored and delighted to write the Foreword, now appearing here in an exclusive at The Pearcey Report.

Emancipating the World has been endorsed by Nancy Pearcey, Marvin Olasky, and Wayne Grudem.

The book goes on sale officially tomorrow (May 1, 2012) and is available at Amazon and other stores. Congratulations to Darrow Miller on the publication of this fine book!

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 09:27 AM | Permalink

The following list of 15 websites is an indication of how The Pearcey Report is performing on the internet, according to ratings provided by Alexa.

Although these results are only a snapshot of "World" and "U.S." rankings from today, and are results that include a mix of different kinds of websites (news, think tank, magazine, ministry, etc.), we thought it might be a kick to see how we're doing when compared with other sites you may come across on the web.

In the top tier of websites (1-5) are Drudge, WorldNetDaily, Rush Limbaugh, Human Events, and World magazine.

In the second tier of websites (6-10), we see Challies, Family Research Council, The Pearcey Report, Philadelphia Biblical University, and Eagle Forum.

In the last tier of websites (11-15), we find BreakPoint, Alliance Defense Fund, Summit Ministries, Rivendell Sanctuary, and Mark Steyn.

Website                                                  World                      U.S.
1. Drudge Report                                       411                         81
2. WorldNetDaily                                    2,689                       603
3. Rush Limbaugh                                   6,287                    1,695
4. Human Events                                  12,637                    2,424
5. World magazine                               65,398                  12,338
6. Challies                                               76,954                  19,244
7. Family Research Council                202,135                 33,746
8. The Pearcey Report                        314,425                  56,993
9. Philadelphia Biblical University    496,330                  82,526
10. Eagle Forum                                   457,296               105,687
11. Breakpoint                                      528,810               111,345
12. Alliance Defense Fund                  671,923               136,418
13. Summit Ministries                         505,484               147,103
14. Rivendell Sanctuary                       796,285               186,484
15. Mark Steyn                                      937,350               261,966

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 08:29 PM | Permalink

A longtime friend of mine asked me the other day, "What's it like to be married to a famous person?"

"You'll have to ask Nancy," I replied.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 06:12 PM | Permalink

Jesse Mullins offers an in-depth profile of Nancy Pearcey -- with observations from columnist David Limbaugh, World magazine's Marvin Olasky, "Hank the Cowdog" mega-author John Erickson, and more.

Fans and friends of Nancy should really enjoy this in-depth, 4,000-word-plus profile.

It will require courage and a commitment to free-thinking, but disciples of sheltered ideological, formerly mainstream media outlets such as the New Yorker may also want to turn in here for a far more fair and balanced look at the life and times and thinking of my favorite editor at large of The Pearcey Report. 

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 01:45 PM | Permalink

And not just Nancy because of her more than 100,000-copies selling book Total Truth: Liberating Christianity From Its Cultural Captivity ("Wonderful" book, says Bachmann), but also Francis Schaeffer because of his work, including the 10-part film series How Should We Then Live? and his book A Christian Manifesto.

Equally as dangerous as Total Truth, I would suggest, and perhaps even more so, is Nancy's new book Saving Leonardo: A Call to Resist the Secular Assault on Mind, Morals, and Meaning. I hope Michele and Marcus Bachmann put this new rascal on their reading and thinking list. But don't let the teenagers get ahold of it!

So who is Nancy? Not mentioned in the New Yorker is that Bachmann once told me, by phone, when Bachmann was a Minnesota state senator and considering a run for Congress, that she had two heroes: "Ann Coulter and Nancy Pearcey."

Nancy is a former agnostic, who, like me, embraces critical thinking as a way of life. This too is, perhaps to some, seen as dangerous and even subversive. To us, it's simply being human and taking responsibility for one's ideas and one's choices in life. I think Camus might have liked that. I like Camus; he played soccer, like me.

For some reason, the so-called elite establishments in politics and media seem frightfully worried about the resurgence of a people who can live and think for themselves.

We're not afraid of the big questions, and we're not bigoted toward possible rational answers to the big questions, even if, as the Founding Fathers noticed, the possible answers involve taking seriously the subversive and liberating influence of the Creator.

This divine subversion, as you may recall, upset the reactionary, non-critical-thinking establishment of its own day. Imagine, those extremist tea-partiers actually had the audacity to write it up in the Declaration of Independence (is that document still legal in New Yorker land?). By the way, here is the, sadly, all-too-predictable New Yorker hit piece on Bachmann. Enjoy!

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 09:09 AM | Permalink

Rivendell Sanctuary has just ordered a shipment of Nancy's great book (if I may say so!) Total Truth: Liberating Christianity From Its Cultural Captivity for our semester of Socratic-style studies on critical thinking, theology, and philosophy, beginning August 18.

We offer many additional readings as well, but it's terrific to be able to make the kind of content available in foundational works such as Total Truth to students brave enough to think for themselves and to walk wisely in this world.

Here's the press release (noticed also at Breitbart.com) announcing our decision to join the faculty of Rivendell.

Update
Pearceys Resign From Rivendell Sanctuary

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 07:50 AM | Permalink