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Fifty Shades of Nothing

Nothing is all the rage of late. Physicists Stephen Hawking and Lawrence Krauss have devoted pop science bestsellers to trying to show how quantum mechanics explains how the universe could arise from nothing. Their treatments were preceded by that of another physicist, Frank Close (whose book Nothing: A Very Short Introduction should win a prize for Best Book Title)… Continue Reading »

Where’s the Sin?

The word sin never once appears in the English text of Lumen Fidei, the new encyclical letter released last month by Pope Francis. (It does, however, appear in a quotation in the Latin text that is clipped in the translation.) Neither Francis nor Pope Benedict XVI (whom Francis acknowledges as the author of the encyclical’s first draft) are afraid… Continue Reading »

Against Flameless Candles

I recently had the opportunity to do some traveling and was heartened to see so many churches in the nation still using wax votive candles rather than the obnoxious flameless ones. Of course, I have nothing against a flameless candle per se; it has its place, such as a veiled windowsill in wintertime… Continue Reading »

Do Fine Things

In a May commencement address at the historically black Morehouse College, President Obama promoted same-sex marriage and cohabitation, advising the male audience of graduates to “Be the best husband to your wife, or your boyfriend, or your partner.” As Southern Baptist pastor William Dwight McKissic, Sr., pointed out, this was “an assault on Christian values and convictions… Continue Reading »

Five Myths About Pope Francis

He has been called an “improv pope,” a pope of many surprises, but the biggest surprise of all is that Francis continues to elude all efforts to classify him. Since the opening days of his papacy, a flood of commentators have come forth to tell us what to expect of him, only to miss the mark… . Continue Reading »

Church in the Metropolis

It seems that denominationalism has had its day. A 2009 Barna survey found that denominational commitments have gone squishy in mainline Protestant churches, and Evangelicals don’t fare much better than the rest. After a similar survey, Ron Sellers of what was then Ellison Research said that Protestants are as “loyal to their denominations as they are to their toothpaste … Continue Reading »

Fuller Seminary’s Art Immersion

The art of the church is theology for the masses. That’s what Professor Todd Johnson told his students this week at Fuller Theological Seminary’s New York City Immersion class. Johnson has been teaching for eight years at the Brehm Center at Fuller Theological Seminary, which “empowers and equips a new generation of artists and church leaders… Continue Reading »

Word Compression Blues

Now I find I am in that generation, according to someone from his generation, still using Facebook. Doesn’t everyone use Facebook? No, turns out, his generation doesn’t. Facebook was okay “for its time” but he and his crowd are turning to Twitter… . Continue Reading »

Visualizing the Human

It is no vice that we can hold things to be true that, nonetheless, we are unable to visualize. Mathematicians do it every day when they work with imaginary numbers (which, contrary to their name, cannot be imagined). Particle physicists likewise write equations that express the truth about matter, a truth that is deeply paradoxical and thus unimaginable. And theologians, such as yours truly, speak of God as creating us while realizing that there can be no picture of creation … Continue Reading »

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