Christmas is a season of expectation and the joyful fulfillment of our deepest yearning. That is easy to forget as we strive with the tensions and complexities of modern life. So, let us take a brief pause to embrace hope and experience the simple joys of giving, receiving, and . . . . Continue Reading »
Need a last minute gift recommendation for a young reader? Check out Joseph Bottum’s discussion of over eighty children’s books from the Victorian era to the presen day. . . . . Continue Reading »
If the world was really coming to an end from global warming, there would be no NIMBY (not in my back yard) rejections of alternative energy projects, and more leadership by example—notably unlike the approach of Al Gore. Now Senator Diane Feinstein won’t let a solar and wind farm . . . . Continue Reading »
This is Pastor Paul Gerhardt’s great Christmas hymn. It first appeared in a collection of hymns published in Leipzig by Johann Crüciger in 1653, with the tune that Crüciger specifically prepared for it. The hymn is a sermon on the meaning of Christmas, and a deeply devotional . . . . Continue Reading »
A fun and interesting blogger named Ellen Painter Dollar takes up the seasonal reminiscence we reposted here on the First Things website, ” Dakota Christmas .” She likes my writing—”so gorgeously, lucidly written that I wanted to lay my hands on my laptop screen, hoping I . . . . Continue Reading »
Exhibit A is this insightful bit of prose written in response to the plot of James Cameron’s Avatar : The question is whether Nature actually deserves a religious response. Traditional theism has to wrestle with the problem of evil: if God is good, why does he allow suffering and death? But . . . . Continue Reading »
In one of the most morally corrupt and cynical acts of recent political history, the Senate has passed Obamacare. More fighting ahead with a required blending with the even worse House version. But I predict ultimate passage. That ends it, right? Not on a bet.Obamacare . . . . Continue Reading »
The following piece appeared in the 8 December 2008 issue of Christian Courier, as part of my monthly column, Principalities & Powers:In the liturgies of some churches, the congregation stands at the reading of the gospel lesson. There may even be a gospel procession in which the celebrant walks . . . . Continue Reading »
They keep coming out with “studies” steeped in hysteria intended to convince us to destroy our economies in order to stop climate change, which is impossible, and halt a human-caused global warming that may not be happening. The newest one is that animals and plants may have to . . . . Continue Reading »
This is the eleventh part in a twelve part devotional commentary on “O Holy Night.” See the introduction here.Sweet hymns of joy In grateful chorus raise we,Let all within us Praise His holy name.The third response to the gospel in O Holy Night is deeply rooted praise from a joyful . . . . Continue Reading »
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