Jared Michelson

@JamesArcadi Genuinely not ‘having a go’, AT is great

@JamesArcadi thinking the analytic trad has all answers (FWIW, none of best ATs make this error in my view) ATs saying ‘I told you this would happen’ and suggesting the problem is that someone is ‘too thomistic’ misdiagnoses the problem, and missed that AT (like all trad’s) faces same danger

A ‘reformed Thomist’ converts to Roman Catholicism, explaining that they are just following Thomas. Cue a flurry of responses, saying this proves ‘Thomas’ is not the answer, rather: van til is, Hodge is, Scotus is, Suarez is, reformed scholasticism is, analytic theology is…

@neulsaem Yes, pure independence is an illusion. My concern: when we begin to subtly view ourselves as disciples or as 'merely' submitting to a person or school, we obscure the inevitable fact that every tradition is critically 'constructed' and we are responsibile for those constructions

@jaredmichelson The healthy balance is to avoid total independence ("I don't care for the past; I shall think on my own") and too much dependence on the 'best' tradition. I don't know what you would call that balance.

'Even in church traditions that hold a strong view of the stability of tradition, a purely Thomistic approach is no longer widely maintained.' Between Times launches an edition on how (not) to appeal to tradition. The list of contributors is stellar. See the first article:

natural theology, and so on) are more fundamentally about which team we root our sense of identity and security in. Rather than suggesting who we should choose ‘instead of’ Thomas, might a better lesson be to resist what is unhelpful in this dynamic?

Perhaps instead a problem is theology is too often driven by the ethics of authenticity. We identify the ‘best’ tradition/school/theologian in order to model ourselves upon them. Many debates supposedly concerning fine points of doctrine (eg univocity, Christendom,

Moving reflections on religious decline from Karen Kilby. I was particularly struck by her description of what is lost when a community loses its church: plough.com/en/topics/fait…

What differences can the church truly bear, and at what point does tolerance cease to be a virtue and become indifference? @jaredmichelson revisits the architecture of tolerance, clarifying what it is, what it is not, and why recovering it matters now. between-times.co.uk/secularism/tol…

@PaulVanderKlay @ericschlukebir @BenGresik I very much enjoyed the straight forward way you recounted the story. It accented that this is a 'normal' part of pastoral ministry. I trust most pastors have stories like this (I do), but it feels very striking over-against the way ministry is usually portrayed online...

@ericschlukebir @BenGresik @jaredmichelson People are always interested in these stores and party of me does not understand why. I write them because they make my heart ache and I just need to share the ache.

The Return of the Teacher, by @PaulVanderKlay open.substack.com/pub/paulvander…

@EricJDirksen I’m encouraged by what folks like yourself seem to be doing to ‘resist’ these trends.

@jaredmichelson Initially what haunted me was the sociological argument he made and how it corresponded (or not) to contemporary realities in the CRC. The second haunting came (and lingers) in wondering if we have the gumption to resist.

Very generative response by @jaredmichelson in the latest Calvin Seminary Forum to the Goldilocks Protestantism piece by Brad East. The East piece haunted me, and haunts me still. theforum.calvinseminary.edu/media/protesta…

Ahead of our 14 Mar conference, we asked @jaredmichelson one of the keynote speakers, a few questions about what he's most looking forward to about our time together. To read the interview go to mailchi.mp/formingachrist… Tickets: facmspring26.eventbrite.co.uk

Dan Treier's vocation in evangelical theology began at the turn of the century when there weren't enough models available of how to do it right. No disrespect toward older theologians! But I was in Dan's exact age cohort, and the way forward was not obvious to us. Dan found it.

Piercing reflection on loss, literature and hope by @MikeDrout nytimes.com/2025/12/19/opi…

@randomtheology1 Thanks Ryan. I had a longer section in a prior version of this essay engaging with some of the literature you cite which needed to be cut. Looks like you are getting in to some great stuff here. You might appreciate this (even if you don't agree): place.asburyseminary.edu/cgi/viewconten…

@jaredmichelson I appreciated your paper. I enjoyed the example of a sunburn. I know you didn’t have the space to explore complex theism in your paper. I try here: drive.google.com/file/d/1-0ztmy…

The answer is 'yes'. For the few among us who care about such things, this is open access. cambridge.org/core/journals/…

@millinerd I can't imagine many art history classes require reference to divine simplicity... but I'd love to take such a class

@jaredmichelson Cited it in the closing lecture for my art history class!