Kim Jong Il and the Great Lie North Korean men, women, children, newscasters, soldiers weep openly, gnashing their teeth and pounding their fists on the ground in grief. The unthinkable has happened. Their “Dear Leader,” Kim Jong Il, is dead.
Apologetics and Evangelism at the Bundestag The sign on the wall in the professor’s office stated his worldview clearly and succinctly: “If It Can’t Be Measured, It Doesn’t Exist.”
New Era of Worship Nears As someone who was received into the Catholic Church less than a year ago, the new translation of the Mass comes as a surprise and as a gift.
Recovering the Lost Meaning of Marriage Gene Simmons, lead singer of the rock group KISS, recently married former Playboy model Shannon Tweed.
"Chaste Marriage" for Today “Treat yourself,” my friend said. “It will be a shot in the arm for your marriage.” He was encouraging me to read Pius XI’s December 1930 encyclical, Casti Connubii (Chaste Marriage).
The Bumpy Road to Religious Freedom On Sundays most Christians get up, get ready, and head to church. And we don’t slip quietly into hidden buildings. Rather, many of our churches are in prominent places in our communities. There are no government agents taking down license plate numbers in the church parking lot.
Religious Believers: A Less-Than-Endangered Species. “Religion may become extinct in nine nations, study says,” announced the headline on (oddly enough) the Science and Environment page of the BBC website.
It's About Space Scholar and papal biographer George Weigel wrote this about growing up in Baltimore, Md., in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
High Tech Holidays "Ho, ho, ho! And what do you want for Christmas, little girl?" The question is one most of us remember from childhood. And it was one that came up last week on, of all places, sports talk radio.
Human Sacrifice in Cancun: Then and Now A widely circulated photo showed Greenpeace's "aerostatics balloon" emblazoned with the message "Rescue the Climate" floating near the ancient Mayan pyramid temple in Chichén-Itzá.
The International Day of Prayer: Joining the Souls of the Slain On October 31, 2010 the day before All Saints Day, worshippers arrived at their church in the Karrada neighborhood of Baghdad to remember the Christian saints and martyrs of the past. Few if any would have imagined that within minutes two of their pastors and several dozen other friends would be added to the souls under the heavenly altar crying out for justice.
Think Again Having been unceremoniously tossed out of his English boarding school, Patrick Leigh Fermor thrashed about wondering what to do next. He considered several options including a career in the Army, but in the end, he decided on something less conventional. At 18, he decided to walk across Europe following the two great rivers, the Rhine and the Danube, from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople (Istanbul).
Stool Repair 101: The State of the Pillars of Family. In the beginning, God created a three-legged stool: marriage, sex, and children.
John Henry Newman: A Saint for Today On September 19, during the first state visit a pope has ever paid to Great Britain, Pope Benedict XVI beatified Englishman John Henry Newman. Newman is now one step away from being officially named a Saint with a capital "S."
When Scripture Becomes An A-La-Carte Menu “We’re really quite happy that our church doesn’t attract any young people.” It’s a good guess that no one says things like that at your church. We all want young people because to exclude them represent an ecclesial suicide pact. Without young people congregations literally die out.
Time to Stop the EPA's Assault on America In spite of fine sounding words to the contrary, Washington is planning a devastating blow to small businesses, hard-working families, and people living on fixed incomes.
Trying Patience And as if running into Starbuck's wasn't quick and convenient enough, they've revived instant coffee. Just fill a mug with instant hot water and stir in a packet of instant VIA® for instant caffeinated gratification.
Natural Law: The Hope for Solid Footing in a Sea of Subjectivity In his new book Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults, Christian Smith writes: "[W]hen we interviewers tried to get respondents to talk about whether what they take to be substantive moral beliefs reflect some objective or universal quality or standard [or] are simply relative human inventions, many—if not most—could not understand what we interviewers were trying to get at."
Does Lady Liberty Need a Mate? The Statue of Liberty stands on a small island off the shore of Lower Manhattan. She has been there since her arrival in the United States in 1885, a gift from the people of France. She is an East Coast thing and there are some—not many but some—who think she needs a mate.
Share Christ's Sufferings Someone said that the meaning of grace comes in three parts: "Grace means you don't do anything; you don't do anything; you don't do anything."
Ashes of Affirmation: Lent and Worldview Every year Washington, DC, along with every other city and town in America, is filled with a vast and silent witness to Christian faith in the face of inevitable death.
Dissecting Tiger's Apology Lent this year began with the usual ashes and list of "things to give up." But added to that, on February 19, the first Friday after Ash Wednesday, we saw an act of public confession and repentance that still has people talking.
Individualism and the Death of Liberty No one will be surprised by the assertion that American culture—including most of the American Church—is characterized by individualism. Self-actualization, deciding for oneself, and believing what seems true to you, is seen not only as a right, but as a duty.
Stopping the Green Police "Paper or plastic?" the attractive, young checkout girl asks her customer.
Give it a Rest "You know," my wife said over coffee as she watched vacation photos on the electronic picture frame, "I love the pictures of you in Maine. You look so completely relaxed and happy — more relaxed and happy than at any other time."
Missionary Zeal, Practical Wisdom and Haitian Orphans "Natural disasters increase individual vulnerability and break down rule of law, key factors exploited by human traffickers," explained Gary Haugen who heads up of International Justice Mission (IJM), a group that helps victims of human trafficking, slavery and other forms of oppression. "Unfortunately in such situations, children are the most vulnerable to abuse and exploitation…. The situation in Haiti is ripe for a tragic acceleration in the trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable children, and the world must stand vigilant against it."
Tomorrow We March The U.S. Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, which brought wholesale abortion to the United States, on January 22, 1973. Every year since 1974 on that anniversary we gather in Washington, D.C., to march from the National Mall to the Supreme Court. Come rain, sleet, snow, wind or calm, we march.
You Dirty Dear Rat Rat. As in, "You dirty rat." As in vermin. The carrier of disease, plague, and death. Destroyer of walls, denizen of the sewers. I hope never to deserve the name "Rat." At the same time, I pray to be worthy of the name, "Rat."
Christians on the Job: Doing Well a Thing Worth Doing In the weekly prayer list handed out each Sunday at church, one regular item urges prayer for the “Marketplace Servants of the Week,” that is, for church members in their careers.
Faith, Finances, and Fantasy: The Prosperity Gospel at Work "Did Christianity Cause the Crash?" asks the cover of the December Atlantic. Now there's a question I never thought to ask.
Angels, We Have Heard For a mere $12.95 (plus shipping and handling) you and I can purchase the new book Angelwhispers.
Where are the Brave New Christian Thinkers? Staring intently from the cover of the November Atlantic magazine is John Fetterman, the mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania. Fetterman is one of The Atlantic's "27 Brave Thinkers Who are Shaping the Future."
Evangelicals and the Crisis of Authority An October 28 Christianity Today article began: "The homosexuality debate that has torn apart mainline denominations is fanning faculty and student protests at Calvin College, and highlights a growing issue facing evangelical schools."
An Anniversary to Mourn: Assessing 40 Years of No-Fault Divorce At the first annual men’s retreat at our church, I was asked to speak about prayer. One of the topics we discussed was trust.
Religious Liberty in an Age of Toleration After being assaulted by a family member, the sixteen-year-old British girl was placed in a foster home. Her foster mother had years of experience, a good reputation, and was fully licensed by the state. She was also a practicing Christian.
"Bread and Circuses" Don't Help Poverty in Washington, DC It was a small article in the July 16 Washington Post, but one that betrayed that some in Congress have either given up on the poor or have decided that the poor are best left in their poverty.
The Episcopalians' Problem - And Ours About three years ago while on a flight leaving the Episcopal Church's tri-annual General Conference in Columbus, Ohio, I was reading Dutch theologian and politician Abraham Kuyper's "Lectures on Calvinism."
Giving Thanks Amid the Dandelions It was a hot, sunny day. School was out for summer, but while other children played and frolicked, my lot was a cruel one.
Politics, Theology, and Embryonic Stem Cells "Today, with the executive order I am about to sign,” remarked President Obama on March 9,2009, “we will bring the change that so many scientists and researchers, doctors and innovators, patients and loved ones have hoped for and fought for these past eight years: we will lift the ban on federal funding for promising embryonic stem cell research.”
Remedial Economics: Money, Greed, and God “The history of capitalism is a history of slavery, child labor, war, and environmental pollution.” So said an anonymous critic quoted by Dr. Jay Richards in his new book Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism is the Solution and Not the Problem.
Congress, Carbon, and the Poor: Why Wealthier is Healthier The cherry tree and dogwoods along my driveway are in full bloom. The hundred tulips I planted on either side of our front door make a startling display against the dark brick and wood door. There are robins preparing a nest in my neighbor’s huge holly bush.
Holy Matrimony, Holy Trinity Last week was a tough one for proponents of traditional marriage.
Food, Glorious Food! As I began writing this article, the clock downstairs chimed 11 a.m. It's been about five hours since I ate breakfast and about an hour until lunch.
Performance Bifocals and Brideshead Last summer, on vacation in Maine, my wife and I stopped at the original L.L. Bean store in Freeport. There I purchased what may be the emblematic baby boomer product: “Polarized Performance Bifocals.”
Libido Dominandi: St. Augustine and the Lust for Domination The whole thing started with what seemed a reasonable request and ended as a mud-slinging mess. A friend and her 5-year-old son toddled down to the town public library so that he could get his very own library card.
The Dangers of Liberal Toleration In the polarized world in which we live, the most praised virtue is toleration. We must be tolerant of all people, we are told—all races, genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities, religions, and cultures.
To Hell with Dante (Part 1 of 3) For reasons now unfathomable, as a freshman in high school I read Dante's Inferno. Remembering little to nothing of that first journey through the horrors of Hell, I recently decided it was time to begin the great poem again.
Love and Suffering in Dante's Purgatory (Part 2 of 3) "Why is there suffering?" is a hardy perennial among philosophical questions. And the question goes beyond simple philosophical speculation because behind it lurks another question: "Why do I suffer?"
A Taste to Acquire: Dante's Paradise (Part 3 of 3) In her introduction to Dante's Paradise, Barbara Reynolds begins by noting, "It has been said [by C.S. Lewis] that the joys of Heaven would be for most of us, in our present condition, an acquired taste." And how can it be otherwise?
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