Wyatt Graham

Faith | Books | Culture

Life

The Last T4G: The Unraveling and Reweaving of North American Evangelicalism

by Leave a Comment

I attended the last T4G. It marked the end of an era. But something was not quite right. Two of the four original founders were not there: Al Mohler and CJ Mahaney. Yet undoubtedly the conference and the theological culture it helped cultivate changed the evangelical landscape. Baptists, Presbyterians, and Anglicans fellowshipped at T4G. At one level, T4G 2022 evinced its success. We were there. All together.

But its success, significant as it is, does not match the larger evangelical scene. The Southern Baptist Convention—my former convention—has recently entered into a crisis. Russell Moore goes further and calls it an apocalypse. I am too far away from the SBC today to really understand what’s happening. But if Peter Wehner’s piece in the Atlantic is accurate, then apocalypse may very well be the right word.  [Read more…] about The Last T4G: The Unraveling and Reweaving of North American Evangelicalism

New and Old Complementarian Thinking: Returning to the Old Paths of Natural Law

by 2 Comments

Complementarian thinking largely draws on natural law as its general foundation. But grace does not destroy but supports and perfects nature. And so the church, the new creation by that special revelation in Christ, maintains this distinction in the church (e.g., in 1 Tim 2).

[Read more…] about New and Old Complementarian Thinking: Returning to the Old Paths of Natural Law

LARPing Manliness: Or What Is true Courage?

by Leave a Comment

Emmanuel Macron recently cosplayed as Volodymyr Zelensky. The normally well-coiffed president of France let his facial hair grow out and wore a military hoodie like his Ukrainian counterpart. The whole event was a photo-op, a sort of cosplay (costume play) because Macron wants to be viewed like the courageous Zelensky.

We can at least understand the performative act here. Maybe it was even well-intentioned. After all, Macron may have desired to mimic Zelensky in a show of support, but it missed the mark.

Political leaders are not alone in their pursuit of performative cosplay. Sigma males, Christian masculinity gurus, and more besides present themselves as being at the top of the male hierarchy and invite others to grow under them. 

I suppose I would not call this cosplay. LARPing is the right term. LARPing or live-action role-playing refers to the act of dressing up like a character, usually to play a game (see here). As the name indicates, these characters play roles in the game.  [Read more…] about LARPing Manliness: Or What Is true Courage?

Byung-Chul Han: The Smartphone as a Digital Teddy Bear? And why the smartphone destroys empathy.

by Leave a Comment

Byung-Chul Han, in his recent work, Undinge, speaks about how children get stuffies as a sort of transitional object—it helps them feel safe until they are ready for the real world. They talk to the stuffy, play with it, hug it. It’s soft and they feel its softness.

The Smartphone, in contrast, has a hard surface, and so we feel our own presses. It presents to us what we want, when we want. It’s not a digital teddy bear that remains always the bear, not shifting with our whims. The smart does though. Unlike the teddy whom we keep for years, we replace smartphones. There is no permenance.

[Read more…] about Byung-Chul Han: The Smartphone as a Digital Teddy Bear? And why the smartphone destroys empathy.

The Metaverse Promises to Disconnect Us from the Stability that Points to God

by Leave a Comment

Facebook, now Meta, promises to create a metaverse. The metaverse will allow us to experience a life beyond what is possible for us now. We can instantly communicate with anyone in the world. We can constantly see and experience new things. Information and data will be accessible to us in new and visually pleasing ways. 

Recently, a buyer spent $450,000 to purchase a plot of virtual land next to SnoopDogg in the latter’s virtual world. It is not as though the transition to the metaverse will be difficult. During the pandemic, days of Netflix and video games were the norm. Already, people play online games, creating communities (or clans). They spend hours a day on it. The digital world becomes their real world. 

The same sort of thing already happens on social media. Many of us spend hours on Instagram and TikTok and other platforms. We live for the like. We live to see another short video to entertain us. A whole culture has popped up through YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. It is the real-life of many, the life that feels closest and most important. 

The metaverse adds a new way of living in the digital world. The transition will not be difficult, as long as the technology works. We already live in a time where material objects have been replaced by digital technology. [Read more…] about The Metaverse Promises to Disconnect Us from the Stability that Points to God