On “Owning” the Church
by George WeigelNo earthly power creates the Church and no earthly power owns the Church. The Church was created by the Lord Jesus, and it is his, not ours. Continue Reading »
Losing Control of History
by William Doino Jr.If there is one concept that’s taken a massive hit from Donald Trump’s election, it is the idea that secular history can be predicted with certainty by “experts.” Continue Reading »
Feasting with St. Thomas
by Robert P. ImbelliThomas Joseph White contends that many modern Christologies, by scanting ontological reflection, lack sufficient resources to undergird the New Testament confession of Christ’s uniqueness and its elaboration in the Church’s creedal and conciliar Tradition. Continue Reading »
Christus Rex
by Fr. Dominic BouckAs the dust settles and the role that conscientious dissenters will have in our New Society is made clearer, we who pray “Thy kingdom come” need not be afraid. What is new is the unfortunate decision of five Supreme Court justices. What isn’t new is the call for Christians to live lives of . . . . Continue Reading »
The Nativity of Our Lord
by Russell E. SaltzmanHe was born into the silence of this world. Because there was no room for him in a proper house the night he was born, the Gospel of Luke reports, he was born of his mother with Joseph nearby out there in the stable with the animals. Probably there was no one interested. That was the silence of that night. Who would care, anyway? Just one more peasant child, and who celebrates or notices or marks the birth of yet another peasant arriving in this world? Have you ever heard a prayer of thanks for the children born in a United Nations refugee camp? The children of peasants are always born into silence. Continue Reading »
Three Prayers
by Timothy MurphyI rarely pray to Christ. His sacrifice was so perfect, it’s far beyond my ken. I’m one of those who have denied Him thrice but take His bread and wine, then say amen. I pray three ways, first to the Holy Ghost in charge of poets who would serve the Lord, then to St. Michael, head of . . . . Continue Reading »
Pontius Pilate: The Unjust Judge
by Vito M. DeStefanoAs a lawyer and judge, my understanding of the Bible has naturally become colored by my experiences in, and knowledge of, the law and the legal system. Thus, in meditating on the gospel accounts of Christ’s interaction with Pontius Pilate, my focus in recent years has been on Pilate’s role as . . . . Continue Reading »
No Friend in Jesus
by Meir Y. SoloveichikI cannot conceive an argument with John’s Jesus,” Jacob Neusner once wrote, “because eternal Israel in John is treated with unconcealed hatred.” The Gospel of Matthew, on the other hand, was written for a Jewish audience, and the Jesus it portrays is someone with whom Neusner could imagine a . . . . Continue Reading »
Historians and the Reality of Christ
by Avery Cardinal DullesAfter a period of relative quiescence, the quest for the historical Jesus has again become a center of controversy. Two major contributions to the theme—John P. Meier’s A Marginal Jew and John Dominic Crossan’s The Historical Jesus—appeared just before Christmas 1991 . . . . Continue Reading »
Reason Public and Private: The Pannenberg Project
by Richard John NeuhausThere are numerous obstacles to making the connections between religion and public life. For some moderns, a quasi-religious commitment to secularism produces an overt hostility to religion in all its manifestations. For many others, religion is self-evidently a purely private phenomenon. In that . . . . Continue Reading »
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