Episode 137: Dr. Jeffrey Bilbro discusses his new book, "Reading the Times" [Part 1]

We are inundated with social media, non-stop news, and information coming at us from all directions. How do we even begin to filter it all? What are some ways in which we can think Christianly about the news and social media today without succumbing to the secularist assumptions and the often overwhelmingly trivial, inane, and tragic events that routinely fill our newsfeeds? 

One way is to refamiliarize ourselves with our physical environments. Though not a cure-all for our hypermodern technological media culture we inhabit, a reorienting of ourselves to Christ, to nature and neighbor, as mediated through the lens of Scripture, is certainly one way we can healthfully filter the information inundation we daily encounter online. 

Our guest author on the next two episodes of Apologetics Profile, Dr. Jeffery Bilbro, has written a smart little book (the idea of which sprang from a discussion in social media) about how we as Christians can not only think but act redemptively and contemplatively toward the news and social media. 

Here on part one, Jeff discusses some of the thoughts and theology of Wendell Berry, an agrarian, poet, and essayist. Can Berry's theology of creation and place serve as a means by which we can recover a thoughtful Christian response to today's hypermedia culture?

Dr. Jeffrey Bilbro is an Associate Professor of English at Grove City College and the Editor-in-Chief at Front Porch Republic. He grew up in the mountainous state of Washington and earned his B.A. in Writing and Literature from George Fox University in Oregon and his Ph.D. in English from Baylor University. His books include Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry into the News, Loving God’s Wildness: The Christian Roots of Ecological Ethics in American Literature, Wendell Berry and Higher Education: Cultivating Virtues of Place (written with Jack Baker), and Virtues of Renewal: Wendell Berry’s Sustainable Forms.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

• Dr. Bilbro's website: www.JeffBilbro.com
• Book by Dr. Bilbro - Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry into the News: https://amzn.to/3PyjI3c
• Book by Wendell Berry - A Timbered Choir: https://amzn.to/3aFZrdg
• A Good Heavens! podcast with Daniel Ray on the Pleiades: https://apple.co/3PbseW4
• Book by Daniel Ray - The Story of the Cosmos - How the Heavens Declare the Glory of God: watchman.org/CosmosBook 
• Watchman Fellowship's 4-page Profile on Cosmos (TV Series) by Daniel Ray: watchman.org/CosmosTV
• Watchman Fellowship's 4-page Profile on Scientism by Luke Barnes and Daniel Ray: watchman.org/Scientism

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