My list of religious developments, focusing on Christianity, that took place in 2019 and that strike me as significant. They raise the question, is secularism bottoming out? To be sure, things are still falling to the bottom and secularism is still increasing. But some of these developments, even those that are not positive for the faith, seem to contain the seeds of potential renewal.
The Julius Caesar's calendar began the year with January, named after Janus, the god of thresholds. He had two faces, one looking back and the other looking ahead. Which is what we will do on this blog, culminating in our New Year's Eve custom of looking back at our predictions for last year. On New Year's Day, we will make new predictions for the year to come. Be thinking about what you predict for 2020!
Winter is a time of darkness, cold, and lifelessness. And yet, Christmas, unlike other winter festivals, is a time of joy. Christmas carols, imagery, and customs play with this paradox. It speaks of the Cross, the Gospel, and Jesus as the light that comes into the darkness.
I wanted to give all of you readers of this blog, whom I appreciate very much, a Christmas present. I'd buy you something online, but I don't know your size. So I am giving you (1) highly comical cartoons from a new website; (2) a highly comical television show that you can stream for free; (3) a highly non-comical Christian literary masterpiece that you can download for $0.00.
A fixture of Christmas decor is the nativity scene, the depictions of Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus, plus shepherds, Wise Men, and a small menagerie of animals. This popular devotional art, which exists in many different forms, was invented in 1223 by St. Francis of Assisi.
Some economists, policy-makers, and politicians are calling for the revival of the Biblical principle of the Jubilee, which offered a mechanism for cancelling everyone's financial debts. Is that a valid application of Scripture?
In the controversy over the value of liberal democracy, it's hard to see how Luther fits. Some scholars credit him and others blame him for the rise of liberalism. Still others present him as a conservative or reactionary. In light of such disagreement, perhaps Luther can show us how to be a conservative liberal or a liberal conservative.
The House of Representatives has voted to impeach President Donald Trump. Now the Senate will put him on trial, probably after the New Year. What do you think of this?
The United States has the world's highest rates of children who live with only one parent. The U.S. also leads the world or is among the leaders in other marks of family breakdown. And Christians have the same rates of single parenthood as the "unaffiliated."
"If Christ had arrived with trumpets and lain in a cradle of gold, his birth would have been a splendid affair. But it would not be a comfort to me. He was rather to lie in the lap of a poor maiden and be thought of little significance in the eyes of the world. Now I can come to him." Luther's Nativity Sermon (1530)
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In