Greg Smith offers a bracing thought for those of us who’re trying to be followers of Jesus:   https://seesangelsinthearchitecture.wordpress.com/2015/04/05/the-discipleship-of-the-stressed/   Fortunately, Christ atoned for our shortfalls, which are many.   Posted from Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany Read more

    C. S. Lewis, of course, is extremely well known — though I always want to encourage those who haven’t read him to do so, and to encourage those who think they already have to read him again.   But Joy Davidman, who became all too briefly his wife, is considerably less famous.  (Those who have read Lewis’s A Grief Observed, or who have seen the play or the film Shadowlands, will be acutely aware of her.)   This... Read more

    Have you heard about all of these?   http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/december-web-only/biblical-archaeologys-top-ten-discoveries-of-2014.html   Posted from Frankfurt, Germany     Read more

    One convert’s perspective:   http://www.aggielandmormons.org/2015/08/5-things-i-saw-in-latter-day-saints.html   Incidentally, late on Friday night my wife and I ran into two missionaries in the Altstadt (the “Old City”) of Erfurt as they were returning to their apartment not far from the Domplatz (Cathedral Plaza).  One was from Utah, and the other was from Montana.   We had a nice chat.  At one point, I asked the elder from Montana how the work was going.  I expected him to tell me that it... Read more

    The XXI. Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions now being over, my wife and I devoted a substantial part of the day to Martin Luther.     We made a last trip down to the Erfurter Altstadt, for example — this time to visit the Augustinian cloister where Luther lived as a monk between 1505 and 1508, and where, in 1507, he was ordained a priest.  It was in this monastery that he began to... Read more

    This is rather difficult stuff, but its implications are stunning:   Mind influencing matter?  Action instantaneously across potentially vast distances?   http://www.nature.com/news/quantum-spookiness-passes-toughest-test-yet-1.18255   Posted from Frankfurt, Germany     Read more

    “Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave.” Martin Luther   Posted from Frankfurt, Germany   Read more

    I could be mistaken, but I don’t think I’ve posted a link to this article:   http://www.nationalreview.com/article/422566/colorado-baker-gay-wedding-cake-court-appeal   There is, I think, considerable reason to be concerned.   Posted from Erfurt, Germany     Read more

    The other day, I posted an item entitled “Is the Internet Killing Religion?”   In response, somebody — I think that it was Ray Agostini — drew my attention to this interesting piece:   http://www.psmag.com/nature-and-technology/internet-killing-religion-america-80149   As I’ve remarked previously, it’s essential for those who wish to foster and spread faith to understand the environment in which that task is to be done.  These two articles may represent valuable contributions to that understanding.   Posted from Erfurt, Germany... Read more

    Well of course it is.   http://www.the-american-interest.com/2015/08/25/is-polyamory-next/   And don’t try to say that we didn’t warn you.   Posted from Erfurt, Germany   Read more