This past August, while contemplating the beauties of the Ottawa River from the deck of my family’s cottage on Allumette Island, Father Raymond de Souza, the Canadian commentator and a former-student-become-friend-and-colleague, offered an interesting take on World Youth Day 2016, which will be held in Cracow. When you think about it, he said, “the 20th century happened in Cracow” … . Continue Reading »
Gary Krupp is the president of the Pave the Way Foundation, an organization whose main purpose is to break down the non-theological obstacles between religions, particularly the three Abrahamic faiths. Krupp has particularly contributed to Catholic-Jewish dialogue, and in 2000 Pope John Paul II knighted him Knights Commander to the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great… . Continue Reading »
The first and most important piece of a new “pursuit of happiness” agenda should restore equal opportunity to the first and most important institution of them all… . The institution that unites all Americans regardless of race, class, creed, or politics: the institution of the family… . Continue Reading »
Scholars have long noted the contrasting portraits in the Bible of the Apostle Paul’s public speaking abilities. Acts depicts him as a bold and powerful rhetorician while Paul’s own letters tell a dramatically different story. His letters are rhetorical gems, but he did not think he was a polished speaker. Paul presents himself as one best known for the hard work of organizing small groups of new Christians rather than for persuasive proclamations in open theaters and forums. The difference between these portraits is one major reason why many scholars doubt the historical validity of Acts. There is, however, a simple way to reconcile them… . Continue Reading »
There has been a spate of editorials and columns”even a book”criticizing Republicans in Congress for being “radical,” “crazy,” “extremist,” and focused on the GOP “brand” rather than on “problem solving.” Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein’s 2012 book, It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism, exemplified and encouraged much of this criticism. Mann and Ornstein”both stolid fixtures of the Washington policy establishment”make the argument that the Republican Party bears unique responsibility for what ails Washington and the nation… . Continue Reading »
Ten years ago this month, Warren Zevon died and the world of music lost an extraordinary talent. Gifted and mercurial, Zevon’s tumultuous life often paralleled the self-destructive paths of other celebrities; and yet”in significant ways”also diverged sharply from them… . Continue Reading »
Truth be told, for us bibliophiles, it can be as menacing, as it is rewarding, to “manage” the books that we possess (or have access to through various libraries). Most every professor I know has stacks, and stacks, of commentaries, monographs, and reference works in his office or den, and only the best of us have any real system of organization… . Continue Reading »
I have occasionally given students a “pop culture” survey that tests their knowledge of movies, music, and TV. They do scarily well. Some of them remember advertising jingles and silly sitcoms from my childhood. Then I give them a Bible trivia quiz, asking them to identify the daughters of Zelophahad or give the weight of Goliath’s armor or identify Jeremiah’s birthplace. On that test they typically do, shall we say, less well… . Continue Reading »
In a recent Washington Post article on a medical mystery, a radiology technician is reported to have exclaimed, “Oh my God, look at that aorta.” After reading the article, I wondered about that quote. Not about its accuracy, not about whether the aorta really was something to behold, and not about what it must have felt like to be the owner of the aorta when he realized “that the man was talking about him.” I wondered about God. More specifically, I wondered about the capitalization of God… . Continue Reading »
The original lyrics of what eventually became Canada’s national anthem were composed by Sir Adolphe Basile-Routhier in 1880. Judge Routhier was a devout Catholic, of strong ultramontanist convictions, and the lyrics he wrote—retained in Quebec but much modified in English Canada”run as follows … Continue Reading »
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