One of my favorite stories about the ever-brilliant Catholic journalist G.K. Chesterton is when the Times of London once asked several of Britain’s leading intellectuals what they thought was the problem with the world. In response, Chesterton sent a postcard with two simple words: “I am.” Chesterton’s response is as revealing as it is informative. […]
In (partial) defense of “Two and a Half Men” star Angus T. Jones
Angus T. Jones has found himself in the middle of a controversy because he has taken a controversial stance against the show in which he stars, Two and a Half Men. Earlier this week Angus sat down with Forerunner Chronicles, a Seventh-Day Adventist media group that produces what I will call “Christian propaganda,” to talk […]
Pope Benedict XVI says Jesus was born years earlier, the Christian calendar is wrong
The Pope is stirring up discussion surrounding Jesus’ birth just in time for Christmas. In the final part of his three-volume work on the life of Jesus called Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives, Pope Benedict XVI claims that the Christian calendar is based on a mistake made by the sixth-century monk Dionysius Exiguus (“Dennis […]
How to respond to the Israel-Gaza conflict
How does one begin to understand and respond to the most recent escalation of violence between Israel and Gaza? And where does one go for accurate and up-to-date news that does not paint the conflict with large brush strokes that the situation simply does not allow? I cannot hope to answer these questions here but […]
UK Charity Commission says Christian church not for “public benefit”
Britain’s charity watchdog has put the charitable status of the nation’s churches in question after it ruled that a Plymouth Brethren congregation in Devon in the South West of England did not exist for “public benefit.” The Charity Commission ruled that the Plymouth Brethren Church will not receive charitable status because it does not permit […]
“Real World” Justin Welby Named the New Archbishop of Canterbury
Justin Welby, the current Bishop of Durham, was named Friday as the 105th archbishop of Canterbury, primate of the Church of England, and leader of the worldwide 77 million-member Anglican Communion. Welby was an oil executive for 11 years before leaving to train as a priest in 1987. Since then, many have described his rise […]
“Four More Years”: Taking Stock of the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election
@BarackObama On Tuesday November 6, Barack Obama won a close Presidential race against Republican candidate Mitt Romney to return to office for a second term, or as Obama said himself in a tweet that has become the most re-tweeted tweet of all time, he will return for “Four more years.” People haven’t been shy about […]
November is National Adoption Awareness Month
November is the calm before the Christmas storm. It is the month in which snow becomes the rule rather than the exception. And more recently, it has become the month in which men who shouldn’t have moustaches grow moustaches – for a good cause of course. However important and necessary these and other November related […]
Is Hurricane Sandy an “act of God”?
Hurricane Sandy has been called many things: Superstorm, Frankenstorm, Mammoth storm, and Monster storm. But, the most interesting (and loaded) name for hurricane Sandy has been “act of God.” This should not be surprising because it has been happening for, oh, all of history. In the ancient world, a natural disaster or an act of […]
The Book of Common Prayer after 350 years
This year marks the 350th anniversary of the final version of Thomas Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer. Thomas Cranmer, the archbishop of Canterbury under Henry VIII, published the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549, over 100 years before the Psalter was added in 1662 to complete the version we now have. The fact that […]