by Dr. Jessica Ann Hughes | Oct 27, 2016 | Fostering Faith, The Bible
I hate it when well-meaning people tell me that God has a plan for my life. Why do I hate it, you might ask? Because it is exactly what I’m afraid of… The idea that God has a plan for a person’s life is a notion that ought to strike fear into the heart of any sensible...
by Dr. Jessica Ann Hughes | Feb 1, 2016 | Raising Christian Kids, Reading Well, The Bible, Uncategorized
A few nights ago, I was reading a popular children’s Bible with my kids. We read through the creation story describing how God made the light, separated the waters, formed the land, made the plants, animals, and finally made people. As we read, something troubled me...
by Dr. Jessica Ann Hughes | Oct 26, 2015 | Reading Well, The Christian Imagination
Last week, my husband and I started watching The Blacklist. For those of you who are not familiar with this highly addictive show, it is part spy-flick and part love story as the notorious criminal Raymond “Red” Reddington works with the FBI to bring the world’s most...
by Dr. Jessica Ann Hughes | Oct 1, 2015 | Reading Well, The Christian Imagination, Victorian Studies
Readers of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited often remark on the novel’s many profound, evocative reflections on Christian faith. And, to be fair, there are many memorable quotes to be found in its pages. But, what makes the novel great are not its many quotable...
by Dr. Jessica Ann Hughes | Oct 2, 2014 | The Christian Imagination
Recently U2 released its new album Songs of Innocence to everyone who uses iTunes. It was free, automatic, a gift. While there is much to say about this deeply personal album, much to say about the publicity-stunt release, and much to say about the corporate alignment...
by Dr. Jessica Ann Hughes | Aug 29, 2013 | Fostering Faith
“Moralistic-therapeutic deism” is the phrase University of Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith uses to describe the religious beliefs of North American teenagers. It is the belief that God wants people to be good, play nice, feel happy and go to heaven when they...
by Dr. Jessica Ann Hughes | Jul 25, 2013 | Raising Christian Kids, The Christian Imagination
My nearly three-year old daughter has a beautifully illustrated version of the Lord’s Prayer* that we read almost every night. She piously folds her little hands and says the words along with us, slowing coming to understand each phrase. She knows that “thy kingdom...
by Dr. Jessica Ann Hughes | Sep 9, 2011 | Reading Well
James Joyce’s only play The Exiles is little performed because, well, it isn’t really very good. If it hadn’t been written by Joyce (who begged Ezra Pound to help him get it staged), the play would have probably never had a single staging, let alone the repeated (and...
by Dr. Jessica Ann Hughes | May 20, 2011 | Reading Well, The Christian Imagination
When people email me, they almost always include some line that goes “please don’t check my spelling” or “I know I’m terrible at grammar” or “I hate emailing an English teacher.” It is interesting, especially considering that I have always been a bad speller myself...
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