James R. Rogers

Freedom in the U.S. is poised to collapse sooner rather than later, according to Os Guinness in his new book, A Free People’s Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future. The reasons pertain both to external relations”imperial overreach and hubris in particular”but results more particularly from the increasing internal decadence among its people and leaders… . Continue Reading »

Below, Matthew Schmitz lists “fifty essential religious songs” and asks what he missed. I wouldn’t suggest that Matt has missed anything on his list. For me, though, I add at least a few classical selections. The Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah would rank at the the top . . . . Continue Reading »

In yesterday’s column , George Will wrote that When Mitt Romney selected Paul Ryan, Republicans undertook the perilous but commendable project of forcing voters to face the fact that they fervently hold flatly incompatible beliefs. Twice as many Americans idenify themselves as . . . . Continue Reading »

A comment in a Huffington Post article on the “new monasticism” caught my eye a few months back. “Nobody wants their kid to get interested in new monasticism, ” joked Ben, a young seminarian from Michigan when he arrived at The Simple Way for a visit, “They want them to become businessmen. ” This joke is an exaggeration of what many Christian parents want for their children … Continue Reading »

I make way too many mistakes to play “gotcha” journalism. Yet the first paragraph in this Huffington Post blog entry did arrest my attention: Mitt Romney’s choice of Paul Ryan as his running mate marks the first time in American history that no Protestant will appear on a . . . . Continue Reading »

Interesting piece by Harvard’s Steven Ozment on Lutheranism’s changed approach toward charity relative to extant practice in medieval society (HT: Real Clear Religion). Consider Luther’s view on charity and the poor. He made the care of the poor an organized, civic obligation by . . . . Continue Reading »

Some years back I visited several Christian schools to help a friend’s widow choose where to send her four young children. While touring a large evangelical school, the principal showed me to the auditorium where the school choir rehearsed Joy to the World in preparation for the upcoming Christmas concert. At the conclusion of the song, the choir director instructed the children that Joy to the World didn’t apply for today, it was a “millennial hymn” because “Jesus doesn’t reign today.” The choir director’s comment would be non-controversial in many, perhaps even most, American evangelical churches… . Continue Reading »

Matthew 25.31-46 exemplifies the divine inversion. Inverting worldly expectations, the king explains to those gathered before his throne that they served him as king by serving the least kingly people of all: the hungry, thirsty, naked, and the sick and imprisoned. The king identifies these individuals as his very brothers… . Continue Reading »

Except under a narrowly defined religious exception, the requirement under the Affordable Health Care Act that employers provide insurance that pays for contraception and other reproductive services, even when employers are religious institutions with long-standing convictions opposed to the use of contraception, has justifiably been sharply criticized… . Continue Reading »

The Christian Science Monitor reports growth among evangelicals in France. Largely young and drawn from minorities. Seems as though the churches are mainly Baptist or Pentecostal. . . . . Continue Reading »