Today is the Feast of Christ the King. The script that calls out the liturgical year on this site simply refers to this as the Sunday before Advent, and that's what it was for centuries. The idea of this feast--at the end of the liturgical year--comes from the "new theology", one that generally gets a …
Victoria Osteen's Moment, or "What Are We Doing Here Anyway?"
It's another week along the Southwest Freeway in Houston as Victoria Osteen has embroiled herself in a controversy over remarks about why we worship God. The usual people say the usual things, and the usual fracas ensues, just as it has over much of what her husband Joel says. I think we'd be better off, …
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The Sign of Peace and Those "Happy-Clappy" Masses
Amidst the sorrow and tragedy that dominates the news these days, the Vatican weighs in on a matter that may seem trivial to some: The Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship (CDW) has urged the church’s bishops to crack down on boisterous exchanges of peace during the Eucharist service. In a letter dated 8 June 2014 …
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Born to be Alive: The Spirit Poured Out
For the entire work and an interactive table of contents, click here. "`No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. …
Messing With a Celtic Agenda Isn't a Good Idea
From time to time I've made many disparaging remarks about the Scots-Irish, some of whom I count as ancestors. These range from their inauspicious (but prophetic) arrival in this land to discussing Grady McWhiney's research, which I find priceless. I think that understanding this ethnic group is crucial to understanding these United States more than …
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My Favourite Preacher: Jaques-Benigne Bossuet
Two summers ago I posted a piece on my favourite pastor, my first parish priest. Protestants in general and Pentecostals in particular like their pastor to be a great pulpiteer to boot. With the advent of Christian (well, part of the time) television, people have an opportunity to follow preachers other than their own pastor …
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Is Bridge Building Really a Ministry?
About a year ago I did a piece on the French scientist and engineer Adhémar Jean Claude Barré de Saint-Venant, whose combination of scientific prowess and Christian conviction made for an interesting career in Revolutionary and post-Revolutionary France. When he died in 1886, Karl Pearson, as well-known an enemy of Christianity as, say, Richard Dawkins …
Good Friday and Easter Reflections
With the central event of the Christian calendar coming up, I'd like to link to some of my past pieces for the occasion. If you're looking for something different for this, I can recommend the following: Good Friday They Tell Us What To Do and We Do It Every King is Proclaimed by Soldiers Cross …
If We Had Been a German Colony, We Would Have Been Further Down the Road
I've mentioned on occasion that, where I teach, the full-time faculty in my discipline is entirely African. We recently had a faculty retreat and, before we got underway with the matters at hand, we discussed various items. One of them was the subject of Americans keeping lions as pets, which the Africans found understandably unbelievable. …
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To Stay Out of Purgatory, Read the Bible
While out and about on holiday earlier this week, I purchased at an antique store a copy of a family Catholic Bible from the early 1950's. In addition to translations that have fallen out of favour (even in the RCC) it contains several fascinating aspects that you don't see any more. First, it gives an …
Positive Infinity 