Worlds Collide!!!! aka “Justin Taylor is Cool”
You know what I love? Waking up to a Google alert that has a story in it called “Justin Taylor is Cool.” Who wouldn’t love that? So imagine my surprise when I clicked through and wound up at something called the Reformation21 blog. It’s a post about me and my doppelganger, Justin Taylor of Crossway Books, a preacher from Wheaton, Ill about whom I’ve blogged many times, and whose awareness of my existence I’ve frequently been given to speculate about. Well it seems all but certain that he knows about me now, and furthermore, this post by Stephen Nichols seems to make clear once and for all that he is not my doppelganger, but rather that I am his. Since it’s a short post it is reproduced in full, but you might as well see Ref21 for yourself.
So here I am thumbing through my latest copy of Paste catching up on the latest Indie and post funk metal ska offerings and there it is:
“Justin Taylor’s first short story collection” . . . “artfully captur[ing] the view of the 2000s.” Everything Here Is the Best Thing Ever–great title, despite being riddled with theological problems.
Apparently our Justin, “Editorial Director at Crossway and follower of Christ” by day, is a Brooklyn-living professor of writing at Rutgers on the side.
I knew someday being Justin’s friend would raise my HQ (hip quotient for those not in the know).
Stephen, if you’re reading this- thanks for the shout! And yes, EHITBTE presents something of a theological problem–hardly beside the point, btw. You might think about it as an intentional release of the self-destructive powers of the exponential and the recursive onto Leibniz’s notion that “all is for the best in the best of all possible wolds.” Not that that solves anything- but solving problems is your homeboy’s line of work. Mine is causing them. Seems like we’ll work together splendidly. And Justin, if you’re out there, pleased to meet your acquaintance! I’m really sorry I keep putting out books that have titles that sound like they could be your books- The Apocalypse Reader, and the (forthcoming novel, provisionally entitled) The Gospel of Anarchy. We have things in common! I love GK Chesterton! And Kierkegaard! And I just got my copy of The Axioms of Religion by Hobbes and Mullins in the mail today and am very excited to read it. Let me know if you ever want to chat about the history of American Baptist thought and sectarianism.
Tags: Crossway, Justin Taylor, Reformation21 blog, Stephen Nichols
Oh, your response is 50 kinds of wonderful.
Does this mean you and the evangelist are about to collide w/ the television character?
Oh, your response is 50 kinds of wonderful.
Does this mean you and the evangelist are about to collide w/ the television character?
That is the best thing ever.
That is the best thing ever.
Adam Robinson of http://www.adamrobinson.org is also an evangel.
Adam Robinson of http://www.adamrobinson.org is also an evangel.
Justin, you’re so lucky. I don’t think my doppelgangers enjoy Kierkegaard. Though maybe they do. Mostly they seem to enjoy spankings.
I have many doppelgangers. Sometimes Sparks is spelled with three x’s. They are all strippers. Which is sad, because my stories will never outrank their naughty schoolgirl pictures on Google. And I had to quit Twittering because of them (which was not really sad.)
Justin, you’re so lucky. I don’t think my doppelgangers enjoy Kierkegaard. Though maybe they do. Mostly they seem to enjoy spankings.
I have many doppelgangers. Sometimes Sparks is spelled with three x’s. They are all strippers. Which is sad, because my stories will never outrank their naughty schoolgirl pictures on Google. And I had to quit Twittering because of them (which was not really sad.)
some dude named mark doten stole my identity once. and philip roth already covered all that like in the 1800s, so i can’t even write about it. :(
some dude named mark doten stole my identity once. and philip roth already covered all that like in the 1800s, so i can’t even write about it. :(
If I want to talk with you about American Baptist thought and sectarianism, do I have to change my name to Justin Taylor?
If I want to talk with you about American Baptist thought and sectarianism, do I have to change my name to Justin Taylor?
I’ll talk to you even as you are, Kyle. Mostly what I’m interested in are the doctrines of “soul competency” and “the priesthood of all believers.”
I’ll talk to you even as you are, Kyle. Mostly what I’m interested in are the doctrines of “soul competency” and “the priesthood of all believers.”
Next time I’m in the city, let’s grab Josh Cohen, have drinks, and swap theological anecdotes. You tell me about your Baptists, I’ll tell you about my experiences with Messianic Rabbi Ira, we’ll tip the bartender well.
Recommended reading, if you haven’t yet: Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory by Randall Balmer, and An Island in the Lake of Fire, by Mark Taylor Dalhouse. The first is a history of the evangelical subculture, and the second is a history of Bob Jones University. Both are evenhanded, well-written, insightful, and, if these subjects interest you, sort of fun.
Next time I’m in the city, let’s grab Josh Cohen, have drinks, and swap theological anecdotes. You tell me about your Baptists, I’ll tell you about my experiences with Messianic Rabbi Ira, we’ll tip the bartender well.
Recommended reading, if you haven’t yet: Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory by Randall Balmer, and An Island in the Lake of Fire, by Mark Taylor Dalhouse. The first is a history of the evangelical subculture, and the second is a history of Bob Jones University. Both are evenhanded, well-written, insightful, and, if these subjects interest you, sort of fun.
mad problems
mad problems
Man, I’m jealous. I want a doppelganger…
Man, I’m jealous. I want a doppelganger…
Did he do anything cool with it? (Your identity, I mean.) You should write about it anyway–screw this Roth guy. What’s he ever done anyway except be all old-timey.
Did he do anything cool with it? (Your identity, I mean.) You should write about it anyway–screw this Roth guy. What’s he ever done anyway except be all old-timey.
When I Google my name, I just get evangelical comic books…
When I Google my name, I just get evangelical comic books…