Bonnie Kristian’s new book, Untrustworthy

Last month, a video game company called TruPlay held the first and biggest NFT release from a Christian tech company, but overall the outlook for non-fungible tokens’ potential for ministry use is mixed.

Pimduan “Duan” Nagaviroj wasn’t perfect. But the Thai celebrity spoke clearly about her faith in Jesus and how he saved her. Her death has become an incredible evangelistic opportunity in the majority-Buddhist country.

If fake news, cancel culture, and conspiracies are driving you wild, Bonnie Kristian’s new book, Untrustworthy, “is a clarion call for Christians to awaken to how the knowledge crisis is wreaking havoc on our churches and tarnishing our testimony.”

Behind the story

From Daniel Silliman: I’m a news person by profession, but also by disposition. I want to know what’s going on. I want to understand the world. So I consume a lot of news.

I’ve come to understand that’s not how most adults live. I was talking to a friend the other day who told me he goes weeks every month without checking out the news. Of course, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t hear the latest controversy du jour. It means he only hears about that and only filtered through opinions and hot takes.

“It’s all so exhausting,” he said. Well, yeah.

I told my friend to read a local paper and subscribe to CT, but I’m also happy that smart people like Bonnie Kristian are trying to diagnose why so many people feel so stuck, when it comes to news. We make choices about what we consume, but don’t really feel like we have real agency.

As the review published in CT notes, she argues that we’re living through a “knowledge crisis.” And if we want to get out of it, we’re going to have to try to understand the world–but thoughtfully, prayerfully, and with great care.

In other news

The Christian Reformed Church has set a deadline for feedback on a new code of conduct meant to prevent abuse. Regional groups have until the end of the year to respond.

Historians have long debated the religious identity of the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer. Was he influenced by Dutch Calvinism? Was he secretly Catholic? Now, however, they’re debating whether Vermeer is even Vermeer.

Christmas music is coming to town. Switchfoot has an album coming soon (“inspired by everyone from the Beach Boys to Black Flag”); For King & Country, Lauren Diagle, and Phil Wickham are selling tickets for their (separate) Christmas tours; and Amy Grant is teaming up with Michael W. Smith and Michael Tait for a reunion spectacular in 16 cities. Here were CT’s favorite Christian Christmas albums last year.