The Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck, featuring the adoration of the Lamb of God, is one of the world's greatest and most influential paintings. A recent restoration found that the Lamb was originally painted with uncanny human eyes. Many observers found this "shocking" and "confrontational." But the work is only an unusually effective rendition of Christ and the Gospel.
When same-sex marriage was legalized, many observers foresaw still more redefinitions of marriage. Now Utah, a state known for opposing same-sex marriage, has decriminalized polygamy. The place of "plural marriage" in Latter-day Saints history and theology.
The two Minnesota districts of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, along with the Catholic Archdiocese, have announced that they will defy the Minnesota governor's decision to keep churches shuttered, even as other public gatherings are allowed. LCMS and Catholic congregations throughout the state will begin in-person worship services, under strict social distancing protocols, starting May 26.
Memorial Day is a time to remember those who gave their lives for us and our departed loved ones. It is also a good time to reflect upon memory, one of the superpowers of the human mind.
The COVID-19 epidemic has forced churches to worship online. It's possible to hear a sermon or pray online, but how about receiving the sacraments? Can a pastor consecrate elements that the worshippers have at home? Here are reasons why that should not be done. Communion has to do with "body" and "presence," both of Christ and the Church.
In the early days of the COVID-19 epidemic, officials, worried about an overwhelmed health care system, urged the public to stay away from health care facilities unless absolutely necessary. Now emergency room visits are down as much as 50%. Fewer people are seeking treatment for heart disease, strokes, and cancer. Some physicians worry that more people may be dying from staying away from medical care than are dying from the virus.
Today's leftists tend to be from the affluent middle class, while the rightists tend to be from the working class. This violates conventional wisdom, political stereotypes, and socialist ideology. Nathan Pinkoski argues that today's leftists have adopted what classic socialism denounced as "bourgeois" values. Namely, the ideals of individual autonomy and self-creation. This sets them against the working class they used to champion.
Why haven't governments required social distancing, stay at home orders, and economic lockdowns in other epidemics? It turns out, these tactics were developed in 2006 by a scientist who got the idea from his 14-year-old daughter.
Will there be animals--particularly, our pets--in Heaven, or, to be more exact, in the Resurrection and New Creation? Most arguments on the topic are something like, "in Heaven we'll be happy, and how can I be happy without my pet?" But Mark Driscoll actually digs into the Bible and cites evidence that animals--indeed, our pets--may be part of the afterlife.
Some Christians, particularly younger adults, are reacting against secularism and contemporary Christianity by embracing "anti-modern" Christianity, with its sacramentalism, liturgies, and ancient theologies. They prize Christianity in all its "weirdness"--that is, its mind-blowing supernaturalism--and call themselves "weird Christians."
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