Every so often a commuting college student will realize his final (“Don Rags” here) is in twenty minutes. The difficulty is that he is one hour away and traffic is bad. He is still not late, but he surely will miss the final nobody should miss. This is an odd position: failing before failure. Sometimes to be on time for Christmas (or even Epiphany) we have to start early. So it was with the magi in a distant land who would come... Read more
People are complex immortal souls, consciousness, in an animal body. We are not angels, we have bodies. We are animals, but not merely animals, because we have eternity in our hearts. When we want to eat, we are animals. When we imagine a dish that has never been, then we are souls. When the bread and wine in the Eucharist are seen in the True Light, the outer symbol of bread and wine becoming the Body and Blood of Christ, then... Read more
Great entertainment will often contain a message, but it takes great entertainment to do the job well. Hacks who try to send a message end up making a mess that is neither entertaining nor helpful for the message. Handel gave us the Messiah and that was wonderful, but the 1980s’s gave us the Young Messiah and that was wonderfully woeful. Christians need not despair, everyone makes this mistake. Genius can do two things at once (entertain and educate), the rest of us should... Read more
Mary was born, raised by good parents, decided to say “yes” when she could have said “no,” and so we got Christmas. We should be thankful. Christmas showed for the first time the True Light. Every Christmas tree, each candle light service, all the house lights are an outer sign of this inner reality. The True Light came when a woman gave her consent to God. I am thankful. Thankfulness is not worship. I venerate my grandparents for standing in... Read more
My Dad has a pastor’s heart. He set a high standard for ministry and he has written some thoughts on the need for good shepherds. He was and is a good shepherd. Here are his thoughts: The people of God are called ‘the salt of the earth’, lights in a dark world, the Body of Christ, and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the advance of His Church.... Read more
From a brief retrospective here: In an issue honoring a remarkable scholar, I have been asked to do two things: honor Michael Ward and tell how he and Apologetics came together at Houston Baptist University. This requires saying something about why cultural apologetics was (with cinema and new media) such a priority for me during my time at HBU. Michael Ward was a major part of answering a question I had all my life about education: how can we continue... Read more
I get questions.* For a person who teaches by asking questions, these are always tricky for me. Should I answer them? Maybe. The American academy is not so welcoming to Christians just now, especially if you are rooted in the global and historical faith. If African or Asian Christianity matters to you, as it should, then you are not going to do well in secular American academics. That’s nothing compared to what our sisters and brothers face in nations like... Read more
JK Rowling (JKR) did sub-creation splendidly in the Harry Potter series. She had seven books, with increasing editorial freedom in each one, and told the story she wanted to tell. She could have said more than she did, but chose not to do so. Dumbledore has two siblings and is not gay or heterosexual in the books. Nagini? A snake. Rowling wrote her books, gave us a cosmos, and now that completed work is ours to enjoy. We can write all... Read more
We need stranger friends. Now this is not an appeal that people befriend me eccentricity and all, though that would be nice. Instead, I am picking up on language that Plato uses in his Laws. There three gentleman from very different places (Athens, Sparta, and Crete) meet to discuss (wait for it) laws. Two of them are named, but the sage from Athens goes by “Athenian stranger” during an entire conversation that lasts hundreds of pages. This is strange to... Read more
There must have been something wonderfully contrarian in the water of the Hitchen’s house as the two brothers, Christopher and Peter, were growing up. Christopher was not always right, but he was interesting and boldly opined. Brother Peter is more in my tribe (being a theist), but proves that theism does not prevent intellectual cussedness. Peter Hitchens always is worth reading whether arguing against thoughtless drug legalization or in defense of values now forgotten. Peter Hitchens’ latest book The Phoney Victory dares... Read more
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