Rosaria Butterfield

Rosaria Butterfield

Now that's an unusual name ... and a sister-in-Christ for whom I've grown a great deal of respect. She has written some great books that (perhaps) you've heard of: The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert, The Gospel Comes with a House Key, and her latest book, Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age.

Her Backstory

Rosaria was a fully-tenured professor at Syracuse University, teaching English and Women's Studies classes. Her background was in Critical Theory, with a focus on 19th-century literature, informed by Freud, Marx, and Darwin. She was a practicing Lesbian and faculty advisor to the LGBT+ group at Syracuse. But then ... Jesus captured her. She reminds me of a female version of the Apostle Paul.

©Crossway, 2023

One of the things I admire about Rosaria is that she is very direct. Her words have an elegance because they're so straightforward. And, it seems to me, nearly every word uttered is tied to the truths of the Bible. In our cultural ocean of ambiguous thinking, Rosaria Butterfield is a tropical Island of Respite and Truth.

Boldness

On November 10 (last week), Rosaria addressed a Convocation of Liberty University students. I was unaware until a friend told me about it. So, I checked it out on YouTube ... and discovered a 'muscular Christianity' that has been long absent among American Christians. I've embedded the video below, from YouTube. If you choose to watch it (and I think you should), it'll be an investment of 35 minutes of your life.

On the other hand, I recognize some of us prefer reading to watching (that often describes me). So, I took the time (and tedious labor) of creating a transcript of her talk. It may not be perfect, but I think I captured it with 99% accuracy. You can read it here. (Please note: I took the liberty to bold or italicize some phrases that I found memorable. Therefore, emphasis is mine, not hers).

The Convocation Video

Wow. That was good.