This post is dedicated to the ‘lesser of several evils’ issue. I remember a moment in a class in seminary in the 70s when a professor asked the question– What will you do when you only have 2 or more bad choices? One student stood up and said ‘God would never put me in such a situation!’. But frankly, Christian history makes clear that this view is naive at best, and seriously wrong at worst. It’s simply not true. Some... Read more
This post is devoted to the issue of ‘unwanted pregnancies’. The proper question to be asked about that phrase is— unwanted by whom? There are literally thousands of good parents out there who have not been able to have children of their own who are desperate to adopt a child. If a pregnant mother is going to be unable for whatever reason to raise a child, the first thought should not be— How can I get a quick abortion? It... Read more
Back to the issue of public policy. According to the surveys I’ve seen, the vast majority of Americans are not in favor of abortions of convenience, by which I mean abortions that do not involve medical emergencies which risk the very life of the mother, and do not involve rape or incest. The general public thinks abortions should be legal and available from capable medical professionals in such exceptional cases. But one should not make a principle or rule out... Read more
The Bible, on any fair reading, has what would be called today a rather strict sexual ethic. The basic position is no sexual activity outside the context of marriage, and marriage is defined, going all the way back to Gen. 1-2, and reiterated by Jesus (see Mark 10/Matt. 19) as involving one man and one woman. No, polygamy is not endorsed in the Bible, though it is described in places as an existing condition. And no, same sex sexual activity... Read more
This novel will not be published in the U.S. until the end of July ($26.00 in hardback), but that does not stop me from ordering in from Amazon U.K. where it’s been out for some months now. This is now the seventh novel in Davis’ Flavia Albia series, the sequel to her long running series about Flavia’s father Falco. Flavia has taken up the family business, by which I mean being a sleuth. And here is the summary of the... Read more
Pictured above— Mary asking— How could I be pregnant? I’m under no illusions that these blog posts will settle anything in the ongoing issues surrounding abortion but since a challenge to Roe vs. Wade appears likely to be on the horizon, a few reflections from a Christian viewpoint (notice I do not say THE Christian viewpoint) will not go amiss here. Firstly, it is a debatable issue whether Christians, in an increasingly less Christian culture, should be dictating public policy... Read more
Like his predecessor Michelangelo, Tintoretto worked in various media, including sculpting. Here is his own work on Samson, following Michelangelo’s previous efforts to depict the same scene. First he did a sketch, then the statue itself. Sometimes, Tintoretto would make other preliminary sorts of works, for example mannequins, so he could get the proportions right…… All in all, this exhibit was splendid and very revealing of the scope of Tintoretto’s work. Of course he also did standard portraits as well….... Read more
One of the more truly colossal paintings of Tintoretto is the one he did in the Doge’s Palace covering an entire wall. It is the scene called ‘Paradise’ and serves as a reminder to those who came to the Doge for ‘judgments’ that there would be a final one, and a heaven to be gained. This painting owes something to Michelangelo’s famous Sistine Chapel painting, as is readily observed. Read more
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