During the year 2025 through July 4th 2026, America is celebrating its 250th birthday.
It is important to notice that no nation, no people, no family, no person can move forward without acknowledging – consciously or unconsciously – what and who has gone before. And if we are wise, we should pause every day to utter a bit of gratitude.
We would do well to remember the ultimate sacrifice of Americans who allow us to enjoy our freedoms. The famous line bears repeating,
“American soldiers fight not because they hate what’s in front of them, but because they love what’s behind them.”
We should embolden gratitude in the next generation by reminding them of the exploits of those defending our freedoms. Storytelling the past is essential to maintain allegiance for successive generations. America is only as great as the Americans who call her home.
Thanks for spending this minute with me, Dr. Mark Eckel.
Mark Eckel (MA English, ThM Old Testament, PhD Social Science Research) is Executive Director of the Center for Biblical Integration, Liberty University.
“Give Me a Minute” is an ongoing effort to simply, clearly, and quickly explain aspects of true Truth.
Gratitude, as always, to my longtime friend, videographer, and tech guru Josh for his continued service.
Jon Meacham’s book, American Gospel: God, the Founding Father, and the Making of a Nation should be required reading for all Americans. Meacham suggests that the distinctive feature of America’s founding is etched on the Liberty Bell. Found there is the line from Leviticus 25:10,
“Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.”
“Liberty and justice for all” is meant for all people. Freedom is the very center of the broad faith the Founders nurtured and passed on to us. Our minds and hearts, as Jefferson wrote, are free to believe everything or nothing at all; yet, it is our duty to protect and perpetuate this sacred culture of freedom. Many of the Founders based their belief in the connection between religion and morality. Meacham writes
“The Founders believed they were accountable before God.”
May that same sentiment be ours today.
Thanks for spending this minute with me, Dr. Mark Eckel.
Mark Eckel (MA English, ThM Old Testament, PhD Social Science Research) is Executive Director of the Center for Biblical Integration, Liberty University.
“Give Me a Minute” is an ongoing effort to simply, clearly, and quickly explain aspects of true Truth.
Gratitude, as always, to my longtime friend, videographer, and tech guru Josh for his continued service.
More and more information comes out weekly about artificial intelligence, and not all of it is good.
It seems that AI can misdiagnose a problem creating “hallucinations,” meaning, AI is making stuff up. In one case, professors staffed a fake company with artificial agents. The AI agents were placed in an office to work together. The result was, “researchers wrote that agents are plagued with a lack of common sense, weak social skills, and a poor understanding of how to navigate the internet.”
From The Free Press, comes this headline, “AI will destroy what it means to be human. Are we ready?” To make matters worse, it seems that artificial intelligence researchers ran a secret experiment on Reddit users to make them change their minds and the results were creepy. Perhaps when it comes to intelligence we should lean into the biblical, not the artificial.
Thanks for spending this minute with me, Dr. Mark Eckel.
Mark Eckel (MA English, ThM Old Testament, PhD Social Science Research) is Executive Director of the Center for Biblical Integration, Liberty University.
“Give Me a Minute” is an ongoing effort to simply, clearly, and quickly explain aspects of true Truth.
Gratitude, as always, to my longtime friend, videographer, and tech guru Josh for his continued service.
I was asked to address the Liberty University research week awards ceremony last semester. My comments were based on the famed science fiction writer Ray Bradbury who encouraged the maintenance of libraries and protection of free speech.
In part, I said,
“Every generation fights the same Bradburian cautions. We stand against all forms of extremism, no matter their origin. We are preparing ourselves to serve the culture, showing beauty, doing good, so that some will want to hear Truth. We submit ourselves to The Personal Eternal Triune Creator, Who made Himself known through the Person of Jesus and the proclamation of His Word from the writings of Moses through the Apocalyptic literature of the apostle John.
We are training champions for Christ not in the sense of We win but We serve.
And what better way to serve, than to do research that helps others.”
For Charlie, from Mark.
For us, Charlie is (not was), he passed over (he did not pass away), he lives There (though gone from here), his voice ripples through millions (it was not silenced), his work is finished (ours is not).
Photo by Dr. Brian Yates, Vice Provost for Residential Programs, Liberty University
This speech was delivered during the 2025 Research Week Awards Ceremony (30 April 2025). Many thanks for the kind invitation from Jeremy McGinness, Associate Dean, Research, Instruction, and Collections. Further thanks is owed to Dr. John Eller whose three-volume biography of Ray Bradbury I mined for background information. In addition, I thank The Ray Bradbury Center and my friend Dr. Jason Aukerman, its director, for the many hours of conversation about Bradbury while I worked at IUPUI (now, I.U. Indy). Most of all, I am grateful for Ray Bradbury, his many written works, and his commitment to libraries and free speech.
He had about him, the smell of kerosene. Guy Montag is a fireman. But he is not the kind of fireman we know. Montag starts fires, spraying kerosene instead of water. He is committed to burning books. The firemen work for the dictatorial state, the state which wants ideas, imagination, ingenuity and entrepreneurialism to be burned. Montag’s boss, Beatty, explains the world to Montag. He believes burning books stand against the people who want to “make everyone unhappy, with conflicting theory and thought.” In Beatty’s view, it is best, then, to be a fireman since books “Are like a loaded gun in the house next door. So burn them.”
Book burning by unknown Nazi authorities prior to World War II (n.d.)
Such is the premise of Ray Bradbury’s dystopian science fiction novel Fahrenheit 451, the temperature at which paper begins to burn. Inspiration for Bradbury’s literary fight against totalitarian thinking began when he saw reels in movie theatres, where Nazi soldiers burned books ahead of World War II. Later, Bradbury would witness the same kind of elimination of ideas, books being burned in the Stalinist Soviet Union or Mao Zedong’s Communist China. Bradbury abhorred censorship of thought, wherever it was found.
But firemen like Montag did not do their work round the clock. You see in his culture, which resembled the United States, people did not like to read. Burning books was not always required. Why? Because huge televisions filled the walls of homes. People were anesthetized to anything but what they were fed through visual stimulation. The citizens also used what Bradbury called “seashells” or earpieces which fed them a constant stream of propaganda. The people had become addicted to media. [Sidebar: None of this sounds familiar, does it? Let me pause here while I wipe the sarcasm from my chin.] During the second act of Bradbury’s novel, he quotes Matthew Arnold, the great Victorian poet, who spoke out against his own culture, a culture that cultivated only “sweetness and light” placing “faith in machinery” with these words from Dover Beach,
And we are here, as on a darkling plain / Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight / Where ignorant armies clash by night.
Ray Bradbury (photo by Alan Light)
Every generation fights the same Bradburian cautions. At Liberty we speak up and stand against all forms of extremism, no matter their origin. At Liberty we read big books, think big thoughts, produce big research, and write big papers. At Liberty we are preparing ourselves to serve the culture, showing beauty, doing good, so that some will want to hear Truth. At Liberty we submit ourselves to The Personal Eternal Triune Creator, Who made Himself known through the Person of Jesus and the proclamation of His Word from the writings of Moses through the Apocalyptic literature of the apostle John. At Liberty, we are training champions for Christ not in the sense of “We win” but “We serve.” And what better way to serve, than to do research.
At the end of Fahrenheit 451 Guy Montag, who once set books on fire, then became a believer in reading books, finds Bradbury’s book people. Chased by the authoritarian regime, Montag finds respite with readers who are committing the Western canon to memory. I call them “book people,” because each person became a book so that books would not be lost. There is a restorative healing and hopeful conclusion to Bradbury’s cautionary tale. Not only have you been taught at Liberty to “hold fast the faithful Word” but you practice biblical blessing by your writing and researching.
The famed cover for the book (Wikipedia)
You and I and Liberty’s faculty and JFL staff stand with Bradbury’s commitment to libraries and free speech. Here I offer you, Liberty students, ten “Research Week” encouragements:
Defend free speech as Ray Bradbury did, rejecting tyranny, no matter its origin. God’s Truth, sourced by the Holy Spirit, planted as seed, fertilized by prayer, has been and will continue to be the wellspring of human freedom.
Leave people with a choice, clearly articulating both sides and the consequences for each of any issue, seen or unseen. Allow your communication to pattern itself after Jesus’ repeated phrasing, “Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.” Allow your communication to be cautionary not confrontational. Remember, you are not the Holy Spirit.
Live with the tensions of life, as Paul aptly said, “If it’s possible, as much as it depends on you, live at peace with all people.” So speak against armed conflict because human dignity should be preserved, and prepare for war because human depravity is ever present. Your research, as much as it depends on you, will seek to serve the flourishing of your culture.
Love of neighbor includes protection of neighbor. Better to be prepared in self defense and never need it, than to need it, and not have it. Your research may protect your neighbor.
You are the watchmen on the wall in Ezekiel 33. When you see danger coming, warn your generation of the potential harms. Your research may warn against media saturation and encourage the cultivation of our humanness by reading.
Neuroscience research shows over and over that the reading of print material and writing with a pen on paper is best for cognitive development and memory growth. Your research will encourage reading, writing, and thinking, biblically.
Libraries are the repositories of memory, of a peoples’ collective consciousness. We bear the responsibility to preserve and protect the wealth of physical and mental collections. Your research will serve to preserve history, which is the very basis for our worldview.
“Don’t forget” and “always remember” are two phrases that dot the landscape of the Bible’s testaments giving us the charge to repeat, remind, and retell Hebraic-Christian teaching and its benefit for all people. Your research will work toward the future, harnessed by the past.
As good Book People, you now bear the responsibility of internalizing what you have read and researched, which is akin to what the prophets declared, “I ate Your Words, and they were the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” Your research suffused with biblical thinking will have people asking, “What makes you different?”
You are the future, the bulwark against extremes, working within the tension of human dignity with depravity, calling people to the cross, the resurrection, and Jesus’ return. Your research will be lived out in your vocations, laced with the principles of God’s Word, and weaving Transcendent wisdom through creation.
Joining the book people, Montag must now memorize one of the Bible’s books, the book of Ecclesiastes. I smile when I think of Bradbury’s choice. The book of Ecclesiastes, my favorite Bible book, leaves people with a choice. Choose a human-centered, “under the sun” view of life which ends in vanity, or choose a God-centered view, marked by the repeated phrase, “Enjoy life because it is a gift of God.”
Mark Eckel (MA English, ThM Old Testament, PhD Social Science Research) is Executive Director of the Center for Biblical Integration, Liberty University.
“Give Me a Minute” is an ongoing effort to simply, clearly, and quickly explain aspects of true Truth.
Gratitude, as always, to my longtime friend, videographer, and tech guru Josh for his continued service.
Picture credits:
Dr. Brian Yates, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Liberty University
(1) I will *never* apologize for communicating a biblical mindset.
(2) I will seek to begin with Scriptural doctrine applied to life.
(3) My starting point will always be theological, then, sociological.
(4) I will speak to cultural-political issues across a wide spectrum, founded in and submissive to a biblical-theological position.
(5) I will be glad to engage with individuals and their thoughtful ideas in a venue which suits us both. I will be judiciously honest when we disagree. I will celebrate our agreements while clearly identifying our differences
(6) I will seek to be irenic (peaceable) not polemic (combative) in my approach.
(7) Participating in verbal fights on social media is not my calling. Instead, I will care for wisdom (generous prudence), meekness (strength under control), and peace (not to be confused with weakness).
Thanks for spending this minute with me, Dr. Mark Eckel.
Mark Eckel (MA English, ThM Old Testament, PhD Social Science Research) is Executive Director of the Center for Biblical Integration, Liberty University.
“Give Me a Minute” is an ongoing effort to simply, clearly, and quickly explain aspects of true Truth.
Gratitude, as always, to my longtime friend, videographer, and tech guru Josh for his continued service.
Thanks for spending a minute with me, Dr. Mark Eckel.
I titled my talk to a men’s group, “Eating Salt Together: How Men Become Friends.” I got the idea from Aristotle who said,
“Friendship requires time and familiarity, men cannot know each other till they have ‘eaten salt together’ until each has been found loving and trusted by each other.”
“Eating salt together” means people have gone through hard times, they have linked arms, and stood shoulder-to-shoulder in battle. Camaraderie, trust, honesty, reliability, and forthrightness is the result of shared work, shared suffering, and a shared life. Sometimes that life requires prayers, texts, emails, and phone calls at 3 a.m.
Take a moment to reflect on your friends and the kind of friend you are. Revel in and smile at the memories and rejoice in having friends who Proverbs says, may be closer than a blood relative. Be glad that you have friends who have eaten salt with you.
Thanks for spending this minute with me, Dr. Mark Eckel.
“Give Me a Minute” is an ongoing effort to simply, clearly, and quickly explain aspects of true Truth.
Gratitude, as always, to my longtime friend, videographer, and tech guru Josh for his continued service.
Mark Eckel (MA English, ThM Old Testament, PhD Social Science Research) is Executive Director of the Center for Biblical Integration, Liberty University.
The Bible is good for people. It seems that Harvard University might agree! The question is raised, “Is religion a determining factor of public health?” Yes, says Harvard Public Health.
“Documentation suggests that weekly religious service attendance is longitudinally associated with lower mortality risk, lower depression, less suicide, better cardiovascular disease survival, better health behaviors, and greater marital stability, happiness, and purpose in life.
No other ancient text has a Personal, Eternal Creator. Transcendence and immanence both pour from the biblical God. He was at once separate and other-than while at the same time demonstrating caring compassion. Only from One whose authority was autonomous and absolute could spring the framework of a well-ordered world. Creation works. Stability makes life livable. Harmony flows throughout every established system. The Bible’s God cascades benefits from His personal nurture.
Common grace is goodness shown through all creation.
Thanks for spending this minute with me, Dr. Mark Eckel.
Mark Eckel (MA English, ThM Old Testament, PhD Social Science Research) is Executive Director of the Center for Biblical Integration, Liberty University.
“Give Me a Minute” is an ongoing effort to simply, clearly, and quickly explain aspects of true Truth.
Gratitude, as always, to my longtime friend, videographer, and tech guru Josh for his continued service.
Dreading those potential disagreements over politics, culture, and other issues that might come up at the dinner table and other family events? Here are 10 Proverbial principles that will help you engage in lively conversation without losing your Christian witness.
“All I wanted to do was argue.” So said a student enrolled in my public university course titled “Argumentative Writing.” He was surprised, “caught off guard,” as he put it, that the course’s first two sessions were on “Humility” and “Charity.”
During “Humility,” I taught that our arguments should be gracious, considerate, careful to represent other ideas with accuracy, while in “Charity” I emphasized that communication is a community-based, convivial, invitational work of intellectual hospitality.
Turns out, many students had assumed that a course on argumentation would teach them how to engage in — and win — a knock-down, drag-out verbal brawl. My teaching was based on listening, care for others, and broad-mindedness, concepts these students didn’t associate with arguing.
As we head into the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season on the heels of yet another divisive election season, the chances of a quiet disagreement or a loud argument breaking out at the dinner table are likely high. But it’s important for Christians to remember that the goal of fellowship, conversation, and even friendly debate with friends and family who may hold different points of view isn’t to “own” or “crush” them for having the “wrong” takes on current events or major issues.
Those who know me well would understand why I always take a non-combative approach to persuasion. Though I enjoy conversation and discussion, I don’t like conflict and I don’t like to argue in anger. But unbeknownst to students, my approach in the class was not based on my own personality but upon biblical truths.
A careful study of Proverbs sets the tone of dialogue. Proverbs 15:33, for example, says,
“The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom and humility comes before honor.”
And as for charity, Proverbs 15:23 is clear,
“To make an apt answer is a joy to a man and a word in season, how good it is!”
Christians should carefully consider graciousness in our conversations rather an argumentative spirit. Don’t forget that at Jesus’s first public reading of Scripture it was said of His hearers,
“They marveled at the gracious words coming from his mouth.”
–Luke 4:22
Conflict and disagreement are important in life, but our argumentation should be woven with humility and charity.
But what if “humility and charity” are not practiced by others, like our friends, neighbors or family? And what if we know we’ll be spending time with friends and family over the holidays who do not agree with our religious, political, or cultural viewpoints?
It should be clear that Christians should not use approaches that others may appropriate, such as defamation, slander, or outright lying about a person or situation. We are not to hate anyone as our “warfare is not against flesh or blood but against principalities and powers” (Eph 6:11). And we should remember that some people who disagree with us have honest differences, which we’ll realize if we listen (Prov 18:17).
With respect to table conversation, it may be best to practice the following Proverbial wisdom, or what I call “The 10 Proverbial Principles to Avoid Thanksgiving Indigestion”:
Restraint outdoes complaint (Prov 10:19; 17:27). “Many words” may make us say something we’ll regret. Self-control is better than losing control. Hasty talk is foolish (29:20) and Scripture says that person will be “thrown down” in defeat (10:8, 10:10). In short, toning down your rhetoric may stop a fight before it starts.
Righteous speech has great worth (Prov 10:20). A tongue of “choice silver” means a person has carefully chosen his or her words. Choosing words carefully is the mark of virtue (Prov 31:10) because it helps guard against hurting, irritating, or smearing someone else.
Providing good fruit sets a good table. Find ways to feed others. Proverbs tells us that our words can be a “well of life” (10:11) and a “tree of life” (15:4). Words that honor, esteem, praise, and encourage are better received than combative language. Find a way to bring “life giving words” (18:4) to dinner.
Bite your tongue, or it may bite you. When tempers flare, someone is sure to be burned (Prov 14:29). And if you’re too “hasty” with your words, the end result may not be pretty (Prov 29:20).
Better to be thought a fool than speak up and remove all doubt (Prov 17:28). Opening one’s mouth may reveal what’s on one’s mind (18:2), which is not always best. Measure your words by silence (11:12; 17:28).
Winning a battle may cost the war but overlooking a transgression wins the day (Prov 16:32; 19:11). Bringing up old wounds (18:4) can break a spirit (15:4), but good words can heal (12:18; 16:24).
Anger is not a sin, but a calm spirit (15:1) may do more if anger is concealed (12:16). On the contrary, a “whisperer” may just add fuel to the embers of anger (26:20), breaking relationships (16:28).
Speaking without discernment “belittles a neighbor” and often “lacks sense” (11:12). Translated to today’s environment, this means that thoughtlessly popping off on social media is a bad source of knowledge and communication. Proverbs 11:9 clarifies, “With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor.” In our day, “neighbor” can mean “friends” on any digital platform; we can toss a lot of destructive bombs from behind a screen. By contrast, as second part of that Proverb says that restraint in our words “delivers” knowledge and understanding.
Guarding your mouth and tongue keep a person “out of trouble” (21:23). The word “trouble” suggests intense internal distress, something that everyone wants to “escape” (12:13). Everyone knows or has experienced that arrogant, know-it-all person who creates “indigestion” at the dinner table. (21:24).
Less is more. You don’t have to say everything you know. Saying few words is considered wise (10:19; 12:13; 14:3; 17:27, 28; 18:21), so make it a point to consider putting “your hand over your mouth” (30:32), both metaphorically and, if necessary, physically.
Mark Eckel, Center for Biblical Integration, is photographed for Environmental Headshot Day in the School of Divinity Lobby on August 28, 2024. (Photo by: Matt Reynolds)
The emphasis in this article should be clear: While Christians should always speak truth, they should also think before they speak and speak in love and kindness. When we aggravate or inflame a situation, the only thing gained is continued aggravation of everyone at the table. Swallowing your words at Thanksgiving may avoid indigestion for everyone else.
Dr. Eckel is executive director of the Center for Biblical Integration at Liberty University. He previously taught in the humanities at IU Indianapolis, a public university.
I love Jesus. I love my country. I see no reason why one should be conditioned by the other. From time to time, I read articles from a brother or sister in The Faith which try to label what I accept as true as an “ism”(some call it “Christian Nationalism”). So, during this election season, let me be very clear to say what I have said many times and, in many ways, since I began writing online in 2008:
I am and will always be pro-freedom. In all of human history there has been no country like America with its titanic freedoms; the most important being free speech. All other freedoms depend on that one. If we lose the freedom to speak without fear of reprisal, we lose the American experiment. I will stand up with you to protect your free speech even if our viewpoints are diametrically opposed. I hope you will do the same for me.
I am and will always be pro-life. The child in the womb is a human person: I trust “the science” and The Bible on this one.
I am and will always be pro-justice. Will we see perfect justice on earth? Of course not. Perfect justice will be meted out in the next life. Laws create necessary boundaries between right and wrong, creating the opportunity for stability in a country. Americans like me are grateful for order over chaos that I see elsewhere.
I am and will always be pro-American. Is American application of justice and law perfect? Of course not. But consider the alternative. Imagine not being able to speak out against wrongdoing. Imagine having no protection from others who would want to hurt you. Imagine a place where a government throws you in jail for your speaking or writing. Now compare those scenarios with our country. I stand when the flag appears, putting my hand over my heart when I recite The Pledge of Allegiance. I get a lump in my throat when the Star-Spangled Banner is played or sung. And I thank God that I am an American (just as much as anyone from another land might love their country).
I am and will always be pro-military.American warriors keep bad guys at bay. The strength of our fighting men and women put fear into those who only want to create terror. My peaceful work in academics owes a great deal to all our armed services, who stand between me and those who want to wreak death and destruction. And tears will flow when I remember the sacrifice of those who gave their life so I could live mine.
I am and will always be pro-education. No, I don’t agree with a number of educational theories or theorists. However, throughout my forty-two years of teaching I have wanted students to grapple with all ideas. I do not believe in force feeding a certain viewpoint in the classroom (though, if you ask me, I will tell you mine). I believe in open, fair discussions about anything. But I also believe honestly addressing the problems of any system of thought, setting up a compare-and-contrast method, exposes students to all points of view. Students then have the opportunity for ownership (my one-word educational philosophy), whatever position they hold, without being defamed by a professor or shouted down by others who refuse to hear another point of view.
I am and will always be pro-conservative. What do conservatives believe? This conservative believes in
(1) preserving the great ideas and ideals passed on to me by others (which would include #’s 1-6 above),
(2) limiting government involvement in a citizen’s life,
(3) stewarding the resources I have been given, after paying my fair share of taxes, to do with the monies as I deem best,
(4) caring for my family, the essential governing body of any nation,
(5) loving my neighbor, no matter who they are or how they identify,
(6) protecting my home, community, and nation against any who would want to do harm, and
(7) maintaining borders (which is an obvious way of declaring a person lives in a ‘nation’) making sure that U.S. citizens obey the law while creating a lawful path for others who want to become U.S. citizens.
Mark Eckel, Center for Biblical Integration, is photographed for Environmental Headshot Day in the School of Divinity Lobby on August 28, 2024. (Photo by: Matt Reynolds)
My vote in this or any election will be premised on these creeds. I stand by all my words and will act on them as long as I am given life and breath. Your creed may be different than mine and I will defend your right to say it. My statements are not directed against or toward any person or party. But I will vote based on these ideals as much as I know my idealism will be tempered by realism. I understand that what many call “the human condition” (we theologians just call it ‘sin’) will debilitate what I think is “best.” Nonetheless, as a Christian, I have been given a voice in my time and place for the flourishing of my country, knowing that God sets up leaders and takes them down again. I rest in His Providences while acting with individual responsibility for where He has allowed me to live and what I have been given to do.
Dr. Mark Eckel, Executive Director of the Center for Biblical Integration, Liberty University, Lynchburg Virginia. My political views are my own.
Mark Eckel (MA English, ThM Old Testament, PhD Social Science Research) is Executive Director of the Center for Biblical Integration, Liberty University.
Dreading those potential disagreements over politics, culture, and other issues that might come up at the dinner table and other family events? Here are 10 Proverbial principles that will help you 
Those who know me well would understand why I always take a non-combative approach to persuasion. Though I enjoy conversation and discussion, I don’t like conflict and I don’t like to argue in anger. But unbeknownst to students, my approach in the class was not based on my own personality but upon biblical truths.
With respect to table conversation, it may be best to practice the following Proverbial wisdom, or what I call “The 10 Proverbial Principles to Avoid Thanksgiving Indigestion”:
