Life is a precious gift to be honored and preserved. This does not mean we should artificially preserve life indefinitely, hooked up on a machine, never allowing a person to go to their natural death. When we do that, what they have is not true life, but its shadow, and with it, the person has lost most if not all the dignity which should be associated with life in the process. On the other hand, we should not be indifferent... Read more
One of the things being promoted by various Christian is the idea of Christian integralism, the notion that everything in the world should find itself subsumed into a Christian state, a state where Christian moral principles alone serve as the foundation of for its legal system. Such integralists also think that if people are unwilling to enter in and follow such a state, they can and should be forced to do so. Integralists deny the pluralism promoted by religious, as... Read more
Christ is Born! We have become so accustomed to hearing the story of Christ’s birth, telling it again and again, listening to it year after year, reflecting upon the same things over and over again, it almost feels as if there is nothing more to say. All its mystery has been taken away. That is because we come the story looking merely for facts which we can recite instead of trying to find a way to integrate ourselves into the... Read more
In the Systematic Collection of the Sayings of the Desert Fathers, there are many apophthegms which offer us anonymous pearls of wisdom. While someone remembered what was said, they did not remember, or at least did not record, who said it. While some might think this represents a slight to the speaker involved, in reality, we should understand it is not. Rather, it follows the kind of spirituality many such speakers had, where they did not seek fame or prestige... Read more
When a particular, limited good, is treated as or turned into the absolute good, those who embrace it in this fashion level off or deny all other goods which they believe interfere with or deny the promotion of that particular good. In this fashion, they enter into an idolatrous relationship with that particular good; they treat it as the absolute good which it is not. And, as the absolute good is holistic, integrating and engaging all particular goods, purposefully ignoring... Read more
Scripture appears to offer us contradictory statements about who or what is good. Some passages, such as found at the beginning of Genesis, show us that God finds all things are good: “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day” (Gen. 1:31 RSV). Other passages, however, suggest that nothing in creation can or should be said to be good, for only God is... Read more
Abraham, following the directions given to him by God, left his homeland, and his extended family, to go out into the world at large: Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who... Read more
Translations serve an important purpose. They help people engage texts which are written in a language they cannot read. But this comes with a caveat. All translations are adaptations of the original text. All translators have to interpret the original text in order to render it into a new language. In doing so, no matter how careful they are, they modify the text. Possible meanings or interpretations are excluded as a result of translation, even as new meanings or interpretations... Read more
If we are not careful, law and order can be used as a tool to promote tyranny. This happens, for example, when we try to use the rule of law to undermine the common good, to find ways to lift ourselves up above others, or to protect our standing in society, through the establishment of laws which do not cause us any trouble but will cause others all kinds of difficulties, difficulties which will make it next to impossible for... Read more
Abba Poemen, whose name means, “shepherd,” was well regarded and remembered in the Alphabetical Sayings of the Desert Fathers, as can be seen in the fact that one seventh of the sayings in that collection are those attributed to him. It should not be surprising that this was, in part, because of how good a spiritual director he was; he could be said to have been a good shepherd, who helped and cared for all the monks who came to... Read more
Select your answer to see how you score.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In