February 1999

February 3, 1999

Does our eschatology block our creative thinking?

Within evangelical culture there is a ‘grand tradition’ of apocalyptic literature. Some 49% of Americans believe biblical prophecy predicts the future better than the Farmer’s Almanac, astrologers or pollsters (Wired). A whole section of the forthcoming World Christian Encyclopedia is devoted to future events. The top books on the Publisher’s Weekly religion best-seller list now—and for the last four years—are the books of the Left Behind series, of which there are 3 million copies sold and the latest book, Apollyon, is steadily climbing the New York Times bestseller list. Unfortunately evangelical eschatology is very rigid and often tries to fit [...]

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February 2, 1999

The impact of the Internet on Asia

In the May 1999 issue of Wired magazine, a large article was devoted to Richard Li, the second son of Li Ka-Shing and heir to $10 billion fortune. Through a joint venture with Intel, Li developing and marketing a TV-interface which will enable anyone in Asia with a television to access the Internet, using a web browser and voice mail features to sell products and access distance education. Li’s first business venture was STAR TV, a pan-Asian satellite television network which beamed MTV and soap operas to 50 Asian countries. Begun with an investment of $62.5 million, he sold it [...]

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February 1, 1999

Surveillance in the future

It is becoming easier and easier for governments to keep an eye on the people in their territory, and this has a direct impact on both the growth of the Christian church and the efforts of missionary workers. We noted this in passing in last issue’s chronology scan; in this issue, we will examine the effects in greater detail. The editors of the Atlas of the future (Ian Pearson, ed., Macmillan Books, 1998) predict that by 2003 most industrialized societies will log and analyze the movements of every citizen, using the human body itself for electronic identification. This is known [...]

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