The crisis in family life which has convulsed the West since the 1960s has meant that a good portion of the Church’s teaching mission over recent years has been dedicated to outlining a coherent and compelling vision of Christian marriage, and rightly so. But this should not lead Christians to downplay the nobility of the celibate life, which Christian tradition has always held in the highest regard… . Continue Reading »
Recently the Evangelical Environmental Network and Young Evangelicals for Climate Action took a delegation to Malawi for first-hand examination of global warming’s ostensible impact. One participant wrote for Religion News Service (RNS): “At first blush, it is difficult to understand why there is so much suffering in Malawi,” but the “changing climate neutralizes the benefits of Malawi’s natural resources… . Continue Reading »
When he was elected as Paul VI just fifty years ago, Giovanni Battista Montini seemed the perfectly prepared pope. He was the son of a middle-class family of Italian professionals with good Vatican ties. A competent linguist who had enjoyed a distinguished career in the Holy See’s diplomatic service, he was also a man of pastoral sensibilities … Continue Reading »
Paul Ryan’s recent off-the-cuff statement that he supports gay adoption while he opposes gay marriage is as likely to be a one-time slip as a change in position. Whether or not it represents his real view, it certainly is gaining traction among some Christians. This trend reveals a profound ignorance of the reasons for opposing same-sex marriage even among those who do oppose it… . Continue Reading »
Last Thursday Russell Saltzman took on “Forgiveness Therapy.” This therapeutic approach represents a self-centered vulgarization of forgiveness that Saltzman rightly criticizes, even as he wrestles with what motivates Christian forgiveness of others. I recall some years ago being knocked down flat when I finally read”I mean really read”the short passage in Mark in which Jesus says, “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone.” … Continue Reading »
As a confessing Lutheran in a doctoral program at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS), the institution at the center of the Calvinist Baptist movement, I have watched with interest the conflict over Calvinism in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). While the seminary is not formally Calvinist, it is no secret that many of its faculty and students love Reformed theology … Continue Reading »
When Timothy Dolan was elected president of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2010, it caught almost everyone by surprise. The custom had been to select the sitting vice president”which Dolan, at that time, was not. He was, however, the recently installed Archbishop of New York, the most influential pulpit in the nation, and a man of unique gifts… . Continue Reading »
Christianity has resources of skepticism that would make Nietzsche and Foucault blush. Read a few pages of Augustine or C. S. Lewis, and squirm as they surgically strip away the layers of self-justification and self-deceit and self-righteousness that you didn’t know you had wrapped on. They are true masters of suspicion. … Continue Reading »
There is a movement gaining steam among advocates for the disabled to spread awareness of so-called “people-first language,” that is, usage that puts a little distance between an individual and his or her physical or intellectual challenges. The goal is to train the government, the media, and the medical professions to learn to talk about “kids with cerebral palsy” or “people with autism … Continue Reading »
I know I do it, but not as often as I ought. That might explain why I can’t figure out how to explain it to anyone else: how to forgive someone. Clearly, though, forgiveness”the Christian sort”comes in different shades, because the reasons for its necessity are equally shaded … Continue Reading »
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