The Difference Between Paul And Herod: Zeal Vs Ambition

Last updated on: December 29, 2024 at 3:29 am By Henry Karlson

Christianity has always had people who wanted to stamp it out. Some, like St. Paul, thinking Christianity was an abomination for teaching blasphemy, had good intentions behind their attacks against the Christian faith. Those intentions can be the source of transformation, as they were for Paul, because the reason why he attacked the Christian faith (and Christ), was due to a misunderstanding, not only of what the new Christian community was teaching, but also of what God wanted for humanity.... Read more

Embracing Evolution: A Catholic Perspective On Creation

Last updated on: December 26, 2024 at 4:08 am By Henry Karlson

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Before I became Catholic, I was extremely literalistic in the way I read and understood Scripture. This should not be surprising, because I was nominally raised in a fundamentalistic tradition, that is, as a Southern Baptist. I did not realize Scripture was written with various genres and styles, and that its creation story (or stories) were better understood as myth than history. This is not to say such myth had no element of history associated with it, as history often... Read more

From Manger To Mission: Living Christ’s Love

Last updated on: December 25, 2024 at 3:19 am By Henry Karlson

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Christ is Born! Glorify Him! How can we glorify Christ if we keep our eyes closed to the horrors of the world, to the ways we, as a society, are making things worse for those in need? How can we say we love the poor boy in the manger if we deny bread to the poor, deny a place to stay to those who have no place of their own? How can we glorify the God who, having been born... Read more

Mary’s Empowering Legacy: Authority and Holiness Unveiled

Last updated on: December 23, 2024 at 6:28 am By Henry Karlson

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Many Christians imagine Mary, the Mother of God, to be a rather passive figure, a passivity which they attribute to her humility. They have been led to confuse humility with self-deprecation, the kind which leads people to deny their own agency so that they become mere followers of someone else. This kind of conception of humility is used to promote subjugation of people, telling them if they resist those in power, they are being prideful. In the end, such a... Read more

The Extended Family: Humanity’s Shared Journey

Last updated on: December 22, 2024 at 3:22 am By Henry Karlson

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Family is important. Even when we are raised up in and by a bad family, it is in and through our family situation we first find our place in the world. We should hope and pray that everyone would have good, loving, parents and siblings, making sure everyone has a good foundation for their life. Sadly, this is often not the case. We should also wish everyone was raised in a well-off family, one which is not struggling to survive.... Read more

Spiritual Growth Through Love And Service To Others

Last updated on: December 20, 2024 at 3:14 am By Henry Karlson

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A proper Christian spirituality has us embrace the need to be of service to others. Such service must be freely rendered: that is, it must not be something enforced, but rather, it should be done out of love. This is not to say we should ignore justice, saying that the enforcement of justice should be purely voluntary; grave injustices require action so that those who suffer them can find relief. Our loving service to others must, therefore, not be set... Read more

Faith And The Possibility Of Other Forms Intelligent Life

Last updated on: December 19, 2024 at 8:47 am By Henry Karlson

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A Universe Filled with Wonders and Possibilities When I was growing up, my father shared with me his love for reading, especially his love for reading science fiction and fantasy stories, which is why genre fiction remains my favorite kind of fiction to read. Similarly, my favorite type of film and television series has been, and continues to be, science fiction. Despite being disappointed in the way Doctor Who has become during the last several years, it has been, and... Read more

Called To The Feast

Last updated on: December 15, 2024 at 2:08 pm By Henry Karlson

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Jesus calls everyone to the eschatological banquet feast; he wants everyone to partake of him in it so that they can find themselves becoming one with him. They will then find themselves united with everyone else who, like them, partakes of Jesus. To get there, to arrive at the feast so as to be ready to properly partake of him, Jesus said we must pick up our cross and follow after him. He entices us to come to him, hungry... Read more

Embracing Trials: A Path To Personal Transformation

Last updated on: December 13, 2024 at 3:23 am By Henry Karlson

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Trials and tribulations are a part of life. We might wish they were not, especially when they come with suffering, but it is impossible to grow, to change, that is, to develop ourselves, without them. We might question God as to why this is the case, we might try to figure out why this is so for ourselves, but, as the book of Job warns us, when we do this, we often are led astray by our own reasoning, leading... Read more

True or False: Cain killed his brother Abel because God rejected Cain's offering.