One of the excellent presentations at Acton University today was Andreas Widmer’s class on “Business as a Moral Enterprise.” For those who missed it, Joe Gorra of the Evangelical Philosophical Society recently interviewed Widmer, a Research Fellow in Entrepreneurship at the Acton Institute, on that same topic:

Read more on Business as Moral Enterprise…

Were you unable to attend Acton University 2012?  Want to hear a lecture you missed?  You’re in luck, because we have (almost) all of the lectures available so far.  Stay tuned to grab them as they’re posted to our digital lecture store. Here’s what’s available so far:

Read more on Listen to Acton University Lectures Anywhere…

Wednesday was filled with learning at Acton University with courses running the entire day.  Here are some photos of the second official day.  If you see me around the event, don’t be afraid to ask for a picture.  We have other photographers covering the event as well and you’ll get to see their pictures later on.

Read more on Acton University Wednesday Photo Recap…

The Acton Institute’s annual Acton University conference kicked off on June 12, 2012 with an evening plenary session featuring a conversation with public intellectual, author, and former US Ambassador Michael Novak.

Read more on A Conversation with Michael Novak…

Tuesday was the first official day of Acton University. I made my way around the Acton office and DeVos Convention Center capturing photos of the initial registration and arrival of participants.  Stay tuned for more posts about Acton University.

Read more on Acton University Tuesday Photo Recap…

This is a huge week for us here at Acton. The annual Acton University kicks off tonight and runs through Friday with more than 700 attendees expected from dozens of countries. I’ll be blogging some of the scenes from this amazing event, starting with yesterday’s “prep rally” and breakfast at our offices in Grand Rapids. Stay tuned for more great postings on AU here on the PowerBlog and be sure to follow the Twitter feed on the right hand sidebar. If you’re at the event, make sure you connect with everyone with the #ActonU hashtag.

Read more on Acton University Kickoff Photo Recap…

Today marks the 25th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s stirring speech in front of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. Against the advice of the State Department, the National Security Council and the ranking U.S. diplomat in Berlin, the President challenged Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Communist Party, to take his glasnost policy one step further with the demolition of the Berlin Wall.

Read more on 25 Years Later: ‘Tear Down This Wall!’…

Citizens of North Dakota will be voting today on an amendment to the state’s constitution that supporters say will guarantee religious freedom:

Measure 3 is worded this way: “Government may not burden a person’s or religious organization’s religious liberty.” Its supporters call it the Religious Liberty Restoration amendment; they say it’s needed because of a 22-year-old U.S. Supreme Court decision they believe has put limits on religious freedom.

Read more on North Dakotans Vote on Religious Liberty…

This week we feature a post by Steve Bishop who is involved in full-time Christian ministry as a husband, father and in teaching mathematics and forensic science to post-16s. He blogs at www.stevebishop.blogspot.com and maintains the neo-Calvinist/Kuyperian website www.allofliferedeemed.co.uk Follow him on twitter @stevebishopuk

Mind maps have in recent years been associated with Tony Buzan. However, they go back as far as the third century and were – or so it is alleged – first used by Porphyry of Tyros. Mind maps are great tools for creating visual displays of information. I find them helpful in aiding close reading of a text and it was for that reason I decided to mindmap Kuyper’s recently translated Wisdom and Wonder.

To do so I read through the book several times—each time making rough drafts of the maps and then revising if necessary in light of a second or third read.

What struck me as I was reading and mindmapping—in no particular order—are the following.

1. The pivotal role of the education chapter. It acts like a hinge joining the chapters on science with those on art. The key focus in that chapter is the need for and the role of a Christian university. Kuyper was writing this series between 1895 and 1901. Uppermost in his mind would have been the education issue and the events that led to the founding of the VU in 1880. Here he is underlining the need for Christian education, an education that would prevent a public/private divide which leads to a schizophrenic Christianity. Read more on Mindmaps and Kuyper’s Wisdom and Wonder…

A roundup at Notes on Arab Orthodoxy paints a grim picture for Christians — and clashing Islamic sects — in Syria. It’s a gut-wrenching account of kidnappings, torture and beheadings. One report begins with this line: “Over 40 young men (including a couple of doctors) from the Wadi area, were killed by the bearded men who are eager to give us democracy.”

Read more on Report: Dire situation for Syrian Christians…