COMMENTARY

Clapham Institute Blog

Welcome to the Clapham Institute Blog. You may have followed us previously at doggieheadtilt.com or come across us through a corporate event, church gathering, or online outreach. However you arrived here, we're glad to have you. If you have any questions about the content we're presenting, please feel free to reach out to us at any time.

Seminaries as Innovation Machines

Bill Gates says this is “a special time in education.” Adaptive technologies such as MOOCs (massive open online courses) are bringing innovation to higher education. This is good news – except for the study of theology. A recent survey indicates it is one of the “least entrepreneurial majors.” Here is a way to make theology…

Today's Language and Literature

Sixty years ago Francis Crick and James Watson announced to the world that they had discovered DNA. Its relatively simple biological structure explains how the human body operates. I’ve discovered a behavioral DNA. It explains how everyone acts all the time. And it can be explained in today’s language and literature.

Not Always Impartial

Over the last 20 years, one-fifth of the world’s population has been lifted out of extreme poverty. The catalyst? Capitalism. Why then do so many leaders in the developed world, having benefited from capitalism, now castigate it?

Deep Sleep

What constitutes sleeping soundly? The pilots for Asiana Airlines flight 214 were reportedly well rested. But investigators will review their sleep history, as recent findings from sleep research seem to challenge notions about what makes for reinvigorating rest. Interestingly, this research resonates with scripture’s take on sleep.

Chiseling in Reverse

A sculptor was once asked how he created a statue of a horse. “I simply chisel away everything that doesn’t look like a horse.” The recent Supreme Court ruling striking down the Defense of Marriage Act is chiseling in reverse. It’s reducing an exquisite work of art to a formless lump of rock.

Unforgettable

“The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here.” Abraham Lincoln’s humble prediction, part of his Gettysburg Address, has proven half right and half wrong. Today marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Of the two speeches given to commemorate the battle, one is forgotten, the other unforgettable. That’s an…

What Our Conversations Tell Us

Everyday conversations tell us a lot. My son Stephen recently told me of a conversation with a friend. He asked how Islam could be wrong and the Christian faith right since both are monotheistic. I replied that the very existence of conversations raises a question that only one of the two faiths seems adequate to…

Lagging Cultural Indicator (Pt. 2)

Two years ago I wrote about how words are a lagging cultural indicator. We measure economies by leading and lagging indicators. Cultures work the same way. David Brooks recently wrote about what our words are telling us. They’re telling us a lot.

Hot Bods

Let’s face it. Stewardship is not the church’s strong suit. Surveys indicate Christians tithe between two and three percent of their income. Pretty anemic. George Barna says the biggest culprit is the lack of a compelling vision. He’s right. The good news is that it’s wedding season. At almost every ceremony we see the compelling…

A Big Enough Why

Friedrich Nietzsche believed he who has a why can endure any how. Over the last half century, American industriousness – i.e., the ability to endure hard work – has declined. Most workers today lack a big enough why. Try this one on for size.