Media Theory, Religion and Theology

Author: Ted Koppel
ISBN: 9780375727085
Pages: 336
Summary: Ted Koppel, anchor of "Nightline", is one of America's most intelligent and respected journalists. With this fascinating book, he finally lets us know the man behind the face we've trusted late at night for almost twenty years.

Off Camera is a daily journal of the year that brought the twentieth century to a close--the year of Monica and Y2K, of shootings at Columbine, of the death of JFK, Jr. With riveting insight and lucid prose, Koppel chronicles his thoughts on these events and more, from interactive TV to the war in Kosovo to the dumbing down of network news. Witty, provocative, and wise, this book is indispensable.

Author: Robert Burton
ISBN: 9780312359201
Pages: 272
Summary: You recognize when you know something for certain, right? You "know" the sky is blue, or that the traffic light had turned green, or where you were on the morning of September 11, 2001--you know these things, well, because you just do.
In "On Being Certain", neurologist Robert Burton challenges the notions of how we think about what we know. He shows that the feeling of certainty we have when we "know" something comes from sources beyond our control and knowledge. In fact, certainty is a mental sensation, rather than evidence of fact. Because this "feeling of knowing" seems like confirmation of knowledge, we tend to think of it as a product of reason. But an increasing body of evidence suggests that feelings such as certainty stem from primitive areas of the brain, and are independent of active, conscious reflection and reasoning. The feeling of knowing happens to us; we cannot make it happen.
Bringing together cutting edge neuroscience, experimental data, and fascinating anecdotes, Robert Burton explores the inconsistent and sometimes paradoxical relationship between our thoughts and what we actually know. Provocative and groundbreaking, "On Being Certain", will challenge what you know (or think you know) about the mind, knowledge, and reason.

Author: Donald Miller
ISBN: 9781418510954
Pages: 128
Summary: "The Open Table "introduces believers and nonbelievers to the person and deity of Christ in a new and refreshing way.
There are many people who argue God doesn't exist and many who argue God does. Still, millions know that, all arguments aside, what they feel in their souls is a need for God. To some, the idea of searching for God sounds as ridiculous as chasing a leprechaun to get his pot of gold. And yet few go looking for a leprechaun, while millions go on looking for God. At the heart of the Christian story-the story at the heart of "The Open Table"-is this basic idea: "God shows up in the lives of people who search for Him."

"The Open Table" DVD uses state of the art video and the power of personal testimony to put God in front of anyone who has yet to meet Him. The "Open Table Participant's Guide" is there for those whose interest is sparked and who want to dig deeper. In the unique and relevant voice of Don Miller, "The Open Table" introduces people to the person and deity of Christ, and everyone is invited to the table.

Author: The Onion, Scott Dikkers, Mike Loew
ISBN: 9780609804612
Pages: 176
Summary: The Onion has quickly become the world's most popular humor publication, misinforming half a million readers a week with one-of-a-kind social satire both in print (on newsstands nationwide) and online from its remote office in Madison, Wisconsin.

Witness the march of history as Editor-in-Chief Scott Dikkers and The Onion's award-winning writing staff present the twentieth century like you've never seen it before.

Author: George M. Marsden
ISBN: 9780195122909
Pages: 160
Summary: At the end of his 1994 book, The Soul of the American University, George Marsden advanced a modest proposal for an enhanced role for religious faith in today's scholarship. This "unscientific postscript" helped spark a heated debate that spilled out of the pages of academic journals and The Chronicle of Higher Education into mainstream media such as The New York Times, and marked Marsden as one of the leading participants in the debates concerning religion and public life. Marsden now gives his proposal a fuller treatment in The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship, a thoughtful and thought-provoking book on the relationship of religious faith and intellectual scholarship.
More than a response to Marsden's critics, The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship takes the next step towards demonstrating what the ancient relationship of faith and learning might mean for the academy today. Marsden argues forcefully that mainstream American higher education needs to be more open to explicit expressions of faith and to accept what faith means in an intellectual context. While other defining elements of a scholar's identity, such as race or gender, are routinely taken into consideration and welcomed as providing new perspectives, Marsden points out, the perspective of the believing Christian is dismissed as irrelevant or, worse, antithetical to the scholarly enterprise.
Marsden begins by examining why Christian perspectives are not welcome in the academy. He rebuts the various arguments commonly given for excluding religious viewpoints, such as the argument that faith is insufficiently empirical for scholarly pursuits (although the idea of complete scientific objectivity is consider naive in most fields today), the fear that traditional Christianity will reassert its historical role as oppressor of divergent views, and the received dogma of the separation of church and state, which stretches far beyond the actual law in the popular imagination. Marsden insists that scholars have both a religious and an intellectual obligation not to leave their deeply held religious beliefs at the gate of the academy. Such beliefs, he contends, can make a significant difference in scholarship, in campus life, and in countless other ways. Perhaps most importantly, Christian scholars have both the responsibility and the intellectual ammunition to argue against some of the prevailing ideologies held uncritically by many in the academy, such as naturalistic reductionism or unthinking moral relativism.
Contemporary university culture is hollow at its core, Marsden writes. Not only does it lack a spiritual center, but it is without any real alternative. He argues that a religiously diverse culture will be an intellectually richer one, and it is time that scholars and institutions who take the intellectual dimensions of their faith seriously become active participants in the highest level of academic discourse. Whether the reader agrees or disagrees with this conclusion, Marsden's thoughtful, well-argued book is necessary reading for all sides of the debate on religion's role in education and culture.