Anyone Can Change: A Westboro Baptist Defector Proves it

Last updated on: February 7, 2013 at 2:03 pm By Kyle Roberts

Anyone familiar with the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, KS (and who isn’t?), knows that they are synonymous, in public perception, with their “God Hates Fags” protests. They are a public nuisance, a blight on Christianity’s witness to society, and filled with hate. They are firmly entrenched in their insipid theology of hate and fear, and unflinching in their unworkable biblical literalism. They are a cult, pure and simple. That’s why I was amazed to read, just today, the account... Read more

George Herbert

Last updated on: February 6, 2013 at 5:21 pm By Daniel Harrell

Just back from visiting a congregant at his workplace made me think about George Herbert, the 17th century English pastor and poet. He wrote: “The Country Parson upon the afternoons in the weekdays, takes occasion sometimes to visit in person, now one quarter of his Parish, now another. For there he shall find his flock most naturally as they are, wallowing in the midst of their affairs: whereas on Sundays it is easy for them to compose themselves to order,... Read more

Free to Receive

Last updated on: February 6, 2013 at 6:57 pm By Daniel A. Siedell

Let’s face it. Evangelicals are a pretty grumpy lot when it comes to the arts and culture. We’re perpetually on the lookout for artistic evidence to prove that this is the most evil of generations. In fact, it seems as if many of us delight in being offended so that we can crow about the good old days when the Church was the patron of the arts and collectively bemoan the consequences of the Enlightenment. We like our art and... Read more

The Secret of the End Times in Matthew’s Gospel

Last updated on: February 1, 2013 at 2:26 pm By Kyle Roberts

Everybody wants to know the secret of the end times. John P. Meier, in his commentary on Matthew, suggests that the “secret” is given in Matt. 11:27: “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” The secret is reducible, he suggests, to “one basic mystery: the mutual knowledge and relationship between the Father and the... Read more

Aleppo

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 7:01 pm By Daniel Harrell

Aleppo, Syria Jan. 29, 2013 This citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Revolution Against Assad’s Regime which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows dead bodies on a street. Syrian activists say at least 65 bodies, some of them with their hands tied behind their back, found on a river bank. Most nights after dinner, my family reads Scripture and then prays for Syria and the ongoing conflict there. It is unspeakably tragic. Tuesday’s photo... Read more

Sur le motif: The Paintings of Paul Cézanne

Last updated on: January 31, 2013 at 6:03 pm By Daniel A. Siedell

Last week, after finishing Alex Danchev’s stunning biography, Cézanne: A Life (Pantheon, 2012), I flew to New York to see some of Cézanne’s paintings at the Museum of Modern Art. This is not exactly the kind of behavior one would expect from an evangelical on staff at a conservative Presbyterian church in South Florida. To make matters worse, I wasn’t going there to gather evidence on the evils of modernism or research the disastrous effect of modern art on... Read more

The End of Evil and Escape from Planet Earth

Last updated on: January 25, 2013 at 2:00 am By Kyle Roberts

On the plane today I was reading Marjorie Suchocki’s The End of Evil. A friendly flight attendant, while pouring my coffee, noticed the book title. “The end of evil?” she said. Do you think there’s going to be an end to evil? “Well…yes…I believe that. I certainly hope for it,” I responded (probably with a measured academic tone that came from just having worked through Suchocki’s comparison of Augustine and Leibniz on finitude and freedom). “Well I know there’s going to be... Read more

Area Codes

Last updated on: January 23, 2013 at 12:40 pm By Daniel Harrell

Whenever I call someone with Caller ID (which would be everybody these days), they’ll see my 617-Boston area code flash on their screen even though I now reside in Minneapolis. It explains why most of my local calls go straight to voice mail. Who in Minneapolis would be getting a call from Boston? These days, with long distance being no distance, many of us hold onto our hometown area codes if only for nostalgia’s sake. It gives us a sense of... Read more

The Poetics (and Theology) of Painting

Last updated on: January 21, 2013 at 10:46 am By Daniel A. Siedell

Last week I concluded a four-part series over at Good Letters, the blog of IMAGE Journal. Entitled “The Poetics of Painting,” I explore four foundational aspects of painting as a studio practice: the relationship of the artist and her intentions to the work of art; the pictorial dynamics on the surface of a painting; the relationship of the viewer to the painting; and finally, the important role of tradition, for both artist and viewer. Although I’ve previously linked to some... Read more

A Murderous Monster’s Weapons Stash

Last updated on: January 20, 2013 at 7:05 pm By Kyle Roberts

How easy is it for an average citizen to acquire an arsenal of assault rifles and high powered hand guns in our country? So easy, even a convicted murderer who has been institutionalized for insanity can acquire a weapons permit, and then collect a stash of them (see the pic) over a period of years. He only had to switch his first and middle names on the permit application. Easy as that. Thankfully, an astute sheriff in Minnesota took notice... Read more