St. John Damascene has been recommended as the patron saint of science, for his writings on the Christian significance of the material realm. Luther too emphasized the importance of physical reality in his teachings on Christ, the sacraments, and vocation.
We were in the age of the megachurch. We are now in the age of the minichurch. This is not always by design. But congregations of all sizes are showing some strengths. And small churches, despite their struggles, have some advantages over larger congregations.
We made our predictions for 2024, but other people have been making predictions too. In addition, there are a few things ahead of us in the coming year that we know will happen.
Last month Donald Trump hosted the Log Cabin Republicans--an organization of gay members of the GOP--at Mar-a-Lago, reaffirming his support for their cause and saying "our movement has taken incredible strides." This is nothing new for Trump. So why do so many cultural conservatives who decry the LGBTQ movement treat Trump as their standard bearer?
J. G. Hamann's "London Writings," his spiritual and theological journals, has been compared to Augustine's Confessions as an account of a great mind coming to Christ. Last year John Kleinig came out with the first English translation of this important work. The hardcover edition was kind of pricey, but the book is now available on Kindle at a very reasonable price. Read more
What do you think will happen--or might happen--in 2024? This is the time to hazard a guess in our annual contest to see who can make the best prediction for the year ahead. When 2024 draws to a close, we will review the predictions and proclaim a winner Read more
Today we invite you to make predictions for 2023. We will check them at the end of that year and bestow the virtual, meta, non-existent Gluten Free Award for the best prognostication. Read more
Looking back at the previous year is usually an exercise in reflecting on how bad everything was. I do that myself. There were lots of bad things in 2022. But let's also reflect on good things that happened last year. Help me compile a list of positives.
Last year about this time, we made our Predictions for 2022. Now that year is fading into history, so we can check to see who was right and who was wrong. And who wins the coveted Gluten Free Award, named after the reader who actually predicted COVID. Read more
Most of us here have lived through the development of a technology that can be described as world-changing, impacting for good and for ill the way we conduct our economic and personal lives: the information revolution, with its computers, internet, cell phones, etc.. Now 2022 may have marked the birth of the next world-changing technology: nuclear fusion, which has the potential to generate safe, pollution-free, cheap, and unlimited energy.
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