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Advent, St. Nicholas, & the Deity of Christ

December 10, 2018 By Gene Veith

Pictured above is my favorite meme of the season (HT: Mary Moerbe). The point is that the “real St. Nicholas” was said to be at the Council of Nicaea, where a major theme of the debate was whether Christ was “homoousios”–meaning “one substance”–with the Father, or “homoioousios”–of similar substance with the Father. In other words, is Christ truly God, as St. Nicholas and the other orthodox bishops believed, or is He just similar to God, a very special… Read more

The New French Revolution

December 7, 2018 By Gene Veith

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When Americans have a “tax revolt,” they mostly complain and express their opinion by voting. In France, tax protesters are rioting, burning cars, smashing shops, and vandalizing the Arc de Triomphe. But what is happening in France with the “Yellow Vest” uprising is symptomatic of larger political problems, not only in Europe but in the United States. It started back in November when French president Emmanuel Macron announced the imposition of a carbon tax on fuel designed to combat global… Read more

Movie Features a Journalist of Real News, Not Fake News:

December 6, 2018 By Gene Veith

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It’s one thing to be in a movie. But it’s even better to be of such significance that someone plays you in a movie! That has happened to a friend of mine and of my family: the Lutheran journalist Mollie Ziegler Hemingway. She’s the one who broke the story of Kermit Gosnell, the homicidal abortionist (but I repeat myself) who murdered not only infants in the womb but infants after they were born and their mothers. The case has been… Read more

The Babylonian Trick

December 5, 2018 By Gene Veith

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The estimable Hans Fiene, the pastor behind Lutheran Satire, puts a name to a particular and time-honored technique for violating religious liberty. He calls it the “Babylonian trick.” In a piece published in The Federalist, entitled Twitter’s New Trans Speech Rules Emanate From Religious Extremism, Rev. Fiene discusses a new Twitter policy that would ban users who use pronouns for transgendered individuals that they do not prefer. (That is, calling a man who identifies as a woman “he,” as opposed to “she.”) Or… Read more

Trying to be a Missionary Apart from Vocation

December 4, 2018 By Gene Veith

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You have probably heard about John Chau, the 26-year-old who was dropped off at Sentinel Island, home of one of the most isolated tribes on earth, so that he could tell the inhabitants about Jesus. They responded by shooting him with arrows, killing him on the beach. Some Christians are hailing him as a martyr. Some secularists are condemning both him and missionaries in general of being “colonialists.” Lyman Stone, a missionary with the Lutheran Church-Hong Kong, offers a different… Read more

Advent and the Problem of Evil

December 3, 2018 By Gene Veith

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Fleming Rutledge reminds us that Advent is not primarily about the baby Jesus. Rather its main emphasis is the Jesus who comes as the mighty judge who will set the world aright. That was the theme of John the Baptist: “He who is coming after me is mightier than I. . . . His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn… Read more

The Death of George Bush the First

December 3, 2018 By Gene Veith

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George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st president of the United States, has died at the age of 94. He was one of the most qualified and experienced individuals ever to hold the office, having served as a decorated Navy pilot in World War II, a U.S. Congressman, Ambassador to the UN, envoy to China, director of the CIA, and Vice President under Ronald Reagan. President Bush presided over the collapse of the Soviet Union and the repudiation of communism in Eastern… Read more

Is it “Un-Christian” to Support Trump?

November 30, 2018 By Gene Veith

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Conservative Christians, especially white evangelicals, are among President Trump’s most loyal supporters. Which seems odd to many people, given his history as a womanizing casino magnate, some of his policies that critics deride as heartless, and his intemperate insulting tweets. Even though Trump has been repaying his Christian supporters by appointing conservative judges, implementing strong pro-life policies, and protecting religious liberties. But now commentator William Saletan, writing for Slate, has written a scathing piece entitled “Trump’s Christian Apologists Are Unchristian.”… Read more

How Running a Government Is Different Than Running a Business

November 29, 2018 By Gene Veith

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In this era of political outsiders and disenchantment with government, many candidates from the business world with no governmental experience have been running for office promising to “run the government like a business.” President Trump is the most noted example, but business outsiders are being elected at every level, including, most recently, the new governor here in Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt. The Daily Oklahoman has published a piece by Scott Meacham, a successful businessman who was brought into government work when… Read more

The Growing Need for Exorcisms

November 28, 2018 By Gene Veith

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Following up with our recent post on exorcism, The Atlantic–which is far from being a Christian or culturally conservative magazine–has a fascinating, sympathetic, and rather in depth article on the subject. The author, Mike Mariani, cites data indicating that about half of Americans believe in demonic possession. And the demand for exorcism is growing. He interviewed the official exorcist for the Catholic archdiocese of Indianapolis who told him that, as of October, in 2018 he has received 1,700 requests for exorcism. Mariani… Read more