Ministry & Culture

What images and thoughts do you associate with the word “Babylon?” For many, the name conjures images of idolatry, evil, and authoritarianism. It is the absence of personal freedom and the presence of a dictator’s rule of absolute authority. That is the world Daniel, whose name the Babylonians changed to Belteshazzar, was forced to live in. To survive, he had to live by faith, not cower in fear as they expected Daniel to do.

Because we live in what Thomas Friedman calls “Age of Acceleration,” this sense of dislocation causes us to question our life’s purpose. Our search for meaning and understanding who we are and what role, if any, God plays in our lives is being severely stressed.