The State Finds Against Parson Brown

by Betsy Childs Howard

Complainants, a same sex couple, alleged that they were unlawfully discriminated against when Respondent refused to perform their marriage. Continue Reading »

17 Dec 2014

Christmas Wars in France

by Mark Movsesian

I used to think that the annual Christmas Wars were strictly an American thing, like corn dogs and attorneys’ contingency fees. Only in America, I thought, do people seriously argue about whether to allow Christmas trees in public parks or to permit public school choirs to sing “Silent Night” at holiday concerts. The issues become more and more bizarre. This year, a Maryland school district decided to remove even a reference to “Christmas” in the school calendar–as though the reference amounted to religious oppression and removal would make people forget what holiday comes round every 25th of December. Continue Reading »

11 Dec 2014

Removing Christmas (and Everything Else) from the School Calendar

by Mark Movsesian

The Board of Education’s decision to remove Christmas from the calendar has only succeeded in creating religious conflict. Continue Reading »

20 Nov 2014

Glory in the Highest

by Phillip Cary

In many churches, Christmas Eve is the first time we hear the Gloria since Advent began. We have been awaiting the coming of glory, and now here it is, the angels singing Gloria in excelsis: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace (Luke 2:14). Both the song and the occasion speak of a new . . . . Continue Reading »

24 Dec 2013

Fatherhood After Christmas

by Nicholas Frankovich

My friend’s six-year-old son wanted to be God the Father in the Christmas pageant. He reasoned that he was too old to play the second person of the Trinity, whose part in any case had been assigned to a doll. Continue Reading »

8 Jan 2013

Christmas Caroling in Colonial Williamsburg

by Duane K. Caylor

Many of those here only know a verse of any given carol, sometimes less— sometimes an isolated phrase or terse refrain like “Gloria.” Most still confess the apostolic faith, though as naïve in its theology as those days when as children they would sing on Christmas Eve in church. Now . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Dec 2012

Carl’s Rock Songbook #33: The Waterboys, “December”

by Carl Scott

Have there been good Christmas rock songs? I mean Christmas music here, not happy holidays fare like “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” etc. The classical canon is of course full of beautiful evocations of Christ’s birth, the annunciation, the flight to Egypt, etc. And then . . . . Continue Reading »

24 Dec 2011

The Incarnation

by R. R. Reno

It’s easy to step back and denounce the excesses of the Christmas season: the orgy of spending, too much food, too much drink, too many parties, and expensive ski vacations that bring aching credit card hangovers. Easy, but mistaken. Continue Reading »

23 Dec 2010

Christ Welcomes You to His Feast

by John Mark Reynolds

It’s His party, but you can come if you want to, even if, like a football poseur at a Super Bowl party, you forget the cause of the fun.Christmas is not for Christians, it is for the Lord Christ, and Jesus is merry. He loves all people, so if you are not a Christian: “Welcome to the . . . . Continue Reading »

21 Dec 2010

The Best Science Fiction Movie Ever

by Collin Brendemuehl

My normal inclinations lead me to conclude 2001: A Space Odyssey.  But today my opinion has changed.  No longer is it a Star Wars or Star Trek movie.  Not one of The Matrix trilogy.  Nor is it a “B” movie with Leslie Nielsen.  Nope.  None of the . . . . Continue Reading »

30 Dec 2009