Best of the Blogroll 2022

I like to welcome the New Year on this blog by a grateful recognition of the posts from the prior year which most enlightened, edified, or uplifted me, from my blog friends and neighbors. Here are the best-loved posts of 2022: 

• Common Denominator - Ken Schenck posts on the cultural, spiritual, and intellectual context for understanding "The Word became flesh". 
• Douglas Groothuis - posted some shrewd and timeless principles for Christian public ministry. 
• Dr Claude Mariottini - the retired professor has several outstanding posts this year. He posts an in-depth discussion of Job's suffering from a different perspective, and leaves me wondering whether God in some ways protected Job. He also writes on the theology of remembrance and story-telling when reflecting on passages that tell us to teach our children, and they in turn their own. For Father's Day, he also draws some unexpected, insightful parenting tips from (of all places) the genealogical lists of fathers and sons in the Scriptures. 
• Forward Progress - Michael Kelley gives practical suggestions on The Dirty Little Secret of Parenting (that none of us knows what we are doing). He also writes about the empathy of God in Jesus Wept. He also re-posts a previous Thanksgiving post, a timeless reminder that the foundation of Christian Thanksgiving is the character of God, which also made "best of the blogroll" last year. 
• Glory To God For All Things - Fr. Freeman is one of the more prolific Christian bloggers that I read. He posts, with a brief introduction, a sermon from Gregory of Nyssa from the 4th century roundly and thoroughly condemning slavery based on the character of God and the image of God in humanity. It is not often that I am inspired or edified by topics which have been sullied by polemics; this calls back to an earlier age when a simple and clear argument could make its case. As Fr Freeman says, "There is truth. It abides. There is sin. It obscures." He also posts on the world-blessing nature of Abraham's prayers -- and ours. He further posts on our human tendency to shape ourselves by imitating, for good or ill, and how to turn it for our good. My single most-loved post on his blog this year is on living the Scriptures. As he says, "If we do not “become the Scriptures,” then reading them will have been in vain."
• Hyperekperissou - Phil Snider often provides book reviews of worthy reads. I was intrigued by the questions around Thomas Merton in his review of a recent Merton biography.  
• Meta's Blog - Joe Hinman is something of a posting powerhouse, so his section may take a moment. (Visitors please do not be put off by his dyslexic spelling; it is not evidence of lack of thoughtfulness on his part!) He posts a research-based approach to understanding mystical experience; Joe is hands-down the most knowledgeable blogger I know on the intersection between mystical experience and empirical evidence. In another of his strong suits (philosophical warrant for belief in God), he produces his internet-tested Argument from the Laws of Nature. Though my favorite post of his this year is in another much-neglected area: the goodness of God. He formulates 2 beautiful and powerful philosophical arguments for God's goodness, and follows up in a later post with evidence for the infinite loving God. Always a deeply original thinker, here he is at some of his most edifying and profound. 
• The Pocket Scroll - Matthew Hoskin reflects on the power of the Word of God, per se, in Anglican Tradition and the Bible. I also enjoyed his Resurrection-themed repost of "Death, Be Not Proud" by John Donne. 
• Reading Acts - Phillip Long often posts reviews of academic books on Biblical studies. One recent entry of note is the review of The Pastoral Epistles by Osvaldo Padilla. 
• Roger Pearse - a translator and specialist in ancient languages whose work I enjoy and follow, Roger traces the true origin (and true translation) of an oft-(mis)quoted saying of John Chrysostom. He also tracks down an excellent historical resource, collecting the rulings of various church councils up to the 1500's. 
• Sun and Shield - Martin LaBar continues to make his corner of the Internet a brighter place by posting excerpts from a book on prayer; he shares some insightful thoughts on Bible study, hearing God, and fellowship with God. 
• Theology Pathfinder - Derek DeMars enters the seemingly-tired conversation over whether a person needs religion to be moral, and takes it in some new directions. 
• Thinking Christian - Tom Gilson writes a thought-provoking piece (and linked podcast) on the direction of the connection between finding our authentic selves and finding an authentic view of God. 
• Undivided Looking - Aron Wall's blog has been relatively quiet this year; always hoping for more conversation from this worthy soul. His Followup on the Moral Argument for Theism is worth reading and some careful thinking. 
• Weedon's Blog - Pastor Weedon has for years faithfully performed a service to the Internet by regularly posting thoughtful patristic and reformation-era quotes. One of my favorite patristic quotes found its way into the rotation this year, a train of thought which had also informed C.S. Lewis' Christian essays. 

My heartfelt gratitude to all the Christian bloggers who bring much-needed kindness, understanding, wisdom, and mercy to the online community. Here's to 2023!