Listen to anyone criticize Christianity and eventually they may mention the notion that Christian holidays are based on pagan holidays. Which would make sense if ancient Christians celebrated modern holidays like Christmas and Easter. But they didn’t. The book of Acts and the letters of the New Testament are the first and best accounts of what the earliest Christians did and didn’t do. (There you can find what some people call ‘contradictions,’ which are in fact different accounts of early... Read more
We have exactly zero writings of Socrates today, do you believe he existed? If you take the four Gospels, and consider them as the four different accounts they are, written at four different places, at different times, by different people, then toss in Paul’s letters, and the Acts of the Apostles (written by the author of Luke) you’ll have more documented authors writing about Jesus than you have writing about Socrates. The common confusion comes from looking at the Bible... Read more
I’ve determined I’m a horrible example of a Christian. (I am a wonderful father, just not someone you can point to and say, “he is a good example of a Christian.”) I reached this conclusion during a time of deep introspection. The 40 days of Lent represent the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness which represent the 40 years the Israelites spent in the wilderness. During the Lenten season we look inwardly and consider our lives and actions. While... Read more
Have you heard about Kelly Renee Gissendaner? The Georgia woman is on death row for a murder she didn’t commit, but did plan with her lover, the actual killer. Her lover, Gregory Owen, plead guilty to the murder and assisted the prosecution. Owen will be eligible for parole in a few years. Evidently this is what passes for justice in Georgia. Gissendaner’s execution has been stayed twice, the second time for a problem with the drugs intended to kill her.... Read more
Shopping at Costco today, my wife and baby and I garnered a lot of attention because we were wearing matching hockey jerseys. Checking out, I struck up a brief conversation with the man boxing our items. Probably in his late 50s, the man commented that as an immigrant, he appreciated learning new information. We talked about several things, including my baby, riding on my shoulders. After checking out, I put our baby back in the cart and as we turned... Read more
Are you familiar with Plato’s allegory of the cave? A super simple explanation goes like this: People are chained in a cave, facing a back wall, unable to turn their heads. There’s a fire behind the people and objects hung in front of the fire cast shadows against the cave wall. People see the shadows and hear echoes cast by the unseen objects. Unable to see the original objects, people pass judgments and form opinions, believing the shadows are reality.... Read more
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