Jordan J. Ballor (Dr. theol., University of Zurich; Ph.D., Calvin Theological Seminary) is director of research at the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy, an initiative of the First Liberty Institute. He has previously held research positions at the Acton Institute and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and has authored multiple books, including a forthcoming introduction to the public theology of Abraham Kuyper. Working with Lexham Press, he served as a general editor for the 12 volume Abraham Kuyper Collected Works in Public Theology series, and his research can be found in publications including Journal of Markets & Morality, Journal of Religion, Scottish Journal of Theology, Reformation & Renaissance Review, Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Faith & Economics, and Calvin Theological Journal. He is also associate director of the Junius Institute for Digital Reformation Research at Calvin Theological Seminary and the Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity & Politics at Calvin University.

Posts by Jordan J. Ballor

April 29, 2015

That Time Obama Quoted Luther

This is a post about that time that President Obama quoted Luther (Martin, the reformer, not the anger translator). Okay, maybe the President didn’t quote the monk with a mallet, but suspend your disbelief for a few more paragraphs at least. Continue Reading...
April 22, 2015

Remembering Chuck Colson

Yesterday was the third anniversary of Chuck Colson’s passing. The Acton Institute had the privilege of conducting the last public interview with Chuck before his death. It serves as a wonderful introduction to and reminder of Chuck’s love for Christ and his world. Continue Reading...
April 09, 2015

Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Apple Tree

Today is the 70th anniversary of the execution of Dietrich Bonhoeffer at the Flossenbürg concentration camp. I’m privileged to offer a brief reflection on Bonhoeffer’s life and legacy over at Public Discourse. Continue Reading...
March 24, 2015

The Loneliness of the Fortunate

“No, those who labor and are heavy-laden do not all look the way Rembrandt drew them in his ‘Hundred Guilder’ picture—poverty-stricken, miserable, sick, leprous, ragged, with worn, furrowed faces. They are also found concealed behind happy-looking, youthful faces and brilliantly successful lives. Continue Reading...
March 13, 2015

Apple Watch: Forbidden Fruit?

Over at Think Christian today I examine some of the moral implications surrounding the announced release of the new Apple Watch. In the background of my thinking was a TEDxPuget Sound talk by Simon Sinek that focuses on identifying the “why” of organizations. Continue Reading...
February 27, 2015

A Plea for Prosperity

At the prodding of my friend Victor Claar, here’s a plea based on the significance of the Vulcan salute pioneered by Leonard Nimoy, who passed away today at the age of 83. Continue Reading...
February 19, 2015

Radically Communitarian Islam

Graeme Wood’s excellent piece in The Atlantic has justly been making the rounds for the past week or so. It is well worth reading with a number of insights and points that strike at the heart of the contemporary conflict between modernity and religious violence. Continue Reading...
February 13, 2015

Dietrich Bonhoeffer on the economy of love

On August 12, 1943, months after having been arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned, the Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote to his young fiancée Maria von Wedemeyer: When I consider the state of the world, the total obscurity enshrouding our personal destiny, and my present imprisonment, our union—if it wasn’t frivolity, which it certainly wasn’t—can only be a token of God’s grace and goodness, which summon us to believe in him. Continue Reading...