This week in links: An eclectic collection of news and views from the past week or so on faith, language, and literature, as well as other topics of interest.

Ben Ehrenreich argues that, contrary to popular opinion, the Book is “not dead yet” (to borrow Monty Python’s words). The rise of digital readers doesn’t mean the end of the physical tome, he writes in an article for The Los Angeles Review of Books, noting that this isn’t the first time the book has been pronounced dead. Maybe it’s just the Easter season, but something tells me it won’t be the last either.

Nearly 2000 years since Christ was nailed to a cross, the Gospel is still violently opposed in many places across the globe. Yesterday a bomb exploded at a Catholic church in Baghdad, wounding at least four people and disrupting celebrations of Easter. See the story by BBC News. A somber reminder that though “the world was made through Him, it did not recognize Him.” And yet also an opportunity for prayer for the persecuted and persecutors alike, that the Gospel would give hope to the former and new life to the latter.

University of Toronto linguist Keren Rice has won the Killam Prize for her career-length work on the Slavey language. The award comes with a $100,000 prize, and is a lifetime accomplishment award given out to Canadian researchers. On a personal note, I studied Rice’s work on Slavey during a morphology course a few years back. Glad to see her (and linguists in general) getting some recognition for their work. See the story in The Globe and Mail.

Ashely Thorne has an interesting reflection on the innateness of morality which uses the new Jane Eyre film as its jumping off point. I haven’t seen the film yet (though I have read the book), but even if you have no prior knowledge of the story, the article is still a good read. A small ode to the idea that the law is “written on our hearts.” Read it over at The Curator.

Confessionalist and Pietist: Chances are if you come from a Reformed or Lutheran background and are a frequenter of theological blogs, you’ve heard those words a fair bit. Michael Horton (host of the White Horse Inn) has an insightful discussion of the supposed dichotomy between the two sides, arguing that “the lines between ‘pietists’ and ‘confessionalists’ are not as thick as contemporary debates often suggest.” His point? These labels are commonly more harmful than helpful.

Finally this week, a Minneapolis church gave out prizes (including a t.v. and game system) to encourage attendence at its Easter service. In an article fittingly-titled “Church embraces bribery to draw Easter audience,” The Huffington Post tells the story of The Crossing church, which has in previous years given away cars at its Easter service. Pastor Eric Dykstra explained it this way: “I have no problem bribing people with crap in order [for them?] to meet Christ.”