Consider this remarkable fact: in the Sermon on the Mount, there is not a single word about what to believe, only words about what to do and how to be. By the time the Nicene Creed is written, only three centuries later, there is not a single word in it… Continue reading
Avarice, greed, concupiscence and so forth are all based on the mathematical truism that the more you get, the more you have. The remark of Jesus that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35) is based on the human truth that the more you give away,… Continue reading
I often hear people my age and older speak harshly regarding the work habits of young people. “They want everything given to them…They don’t want to work…They expect to start their careers with a luxurious home, a new car, and a six-figure salary with multiple benefits…They would rather stay home… Continue reading
So many people assume religion is what we believe about God. The primary assumption of the religious is that there is a God and they know something about that God. Theology is man’s systematic beliefs about God. (I purposely used “man” because with a few exceptions, women have not been… Continue reading
A photographer for a national magazine was assigned to take photos of an immense forest fire in the United States. Smoke at the scene hampered him, so he asked his home office to hire a plane. Arrangements were made, and he was told to go at once to a nearby… Continue reading
Humility, uncertainty, and doubt are not found in fundamentalism. Faith is equated with unexamined belief in certain “fundamentals” which must never be questioned. Such an understanding of faith overlooks the two primary meanings of faith in the Bible: trust and fidelity to God and the way of the God we trust. Continue reading
“All sufferers can find comfort in the solidarity of the Crucified; but only those who struggle against evil by following the example of the Crucified will discover him at their side. To claim the comfort of the Crucified while rejecting his way is to advocate not only cheap grace but… Continue reading
On September 13, 2022, the Pew Research Center and the General Social Survey released some alarming statistics. In the early 1960s, approximately 90% of the U S population identified as Christian (this percentage included children). In 2020, only 64% identified as Christian. The number of people who identify as religiously… Continue reading
In Part One of this two-part series, we saw that the great Jewish philosopher Abraham Joshua Heschel observed that our later years can be regarded as “formative years, rich in possibilities to unlearn the follies of a lifetime.” In that article, we saw how those autumn and winter seasons of… Continue reading
I have never met anyone who would like to live his or her live over again with the same repetition of experiences—a perpetual “Groundhog Life” repeated ad infinitum ad nauseum. At times, I’ve wished I could live my life over again knowing what I know now. I would make fewer… Continue reading
