Paul, in the book of Romans, gives one of the great foundations for the Christian understanding of the conscience. He suggests that everyone has been given a conscience and that they will be judged on the basis by which they follow its promptings in their lives: When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law... Read more
Many Christians say that anyone who has a different understanding of God than the one they have must worship or follow a different God. To make that point, they ask how could people believe in the same deity if they say different, indeed, contradictory things about God. This is a bad line of argument. If that line of reasoning was valid, it would end up leading to all kinds of similar conclusions, such as, historians who believe in two different,... Read more
Abdul Ghaffar Khan, My Life and Struggle. Trans. Imtiaz Ahmad Sahibzada (Roli Books: Greater Noida, India: 2021); 556 + xix pgs. Most people in the United States have heard of Gandhi, but many, if not, most of them have not heard of his fellow-worker and friend, Abdul Ghaffar Khan (“Badshah Khan”). If they did, they would know of a Muslim who orchestrated a large, non-violent resistant movement, organized, in part, parallel to a military organization, known as the Khudai Khidmatgar... Read more
It is a strange thing to see that many try to use Jesus’ words about the poor, that they shall always be with us, as an excuse to do nothing for them. They say, because they will always be with us, we should ignore them and be concerned about other things, like culture war initiatives. They seem to think he was speaking of the futility of helping the poor, which, however, is far from what he said. Rather, Jesus suggested... Read more
The Feast of All Saints reminds us that Christ did not come to save us as individuals separate from each other, but as a community, as a body which is made one in and through him. All those who are saved, through their union with him, through their placement in his body, will become sanctified. Their union with him, in and through his human nature, will allow them to engage the divine nature, for he is God and man, and... Read more
Among the many qualities Christians are expected to have is that of being kind. “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience” (Col. 3:12 RSV). God is love, and Christians are expected to reveal that love to the world. Indeed, it is how they are to show the world what being a Christian is about (cf. Jn. 13:35). Christians are to love others, even their enemies. They are not meant to be... Read more
Sadly, it seems that in the United States (and other countries), many politicians are interested in flexing their power. They do not care about governing, creating helpful, sane policies. Instead, they want to find a way to control the people. A common way to do this is to put in laws which keep those who are poorer, or weaker, in their place, pushing them down so they do not challenge those in power. There seems to be some kind of... Read more
Trying to live a holy life, such as the desert fathers did, can easily led to great pride, and from that pride, we end becoming judgmental and hostile to others. We try to judge them based upon our accomplishments, thinking they should be just like us. Or, if we think they might not be our equals, we then expect them to take note of what we have done, and honor us. Indeed, when they don’t treat us as highly as... Read more
After their encounter with the risen Christ, and their experience of his glorification in his ascension, early Christians were able to come together as one, allowing the grace they received counteract anything which would otherwise divide them and have them contend against each other. In this fashion, they were able to present, even if for a limited time, the eschatological church, the body of Christ, in an empirical form. That is, they were able to show the ideal which Christians... Read more
God is love. Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God (cf. Col. 1:15). While we come to know God through God’s works, through the uncreated energies, those works are shown to us in a comprehensible fashion through the human image of God, that is, in Jesus. All the things God does as God, Jesus does in a humanly fashion (while still, in his divine nature, doing them as God). We best come to know the goodness and love... Read more
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