This article by Kristin Romey at National Geographic summarizes the amazing archeological discoveries over recent years that confirm the general historical background of the gospels. It highlights the discovery of Nazareth, Peter’s House in Capernaum, the “Jesus Boat” found in the mud at the bottom of the Sea of Galilee, the excavations at the Galilean village of Magdala and other important finds. You can go into more detail by reading my friend Robert Hutchinson’s book Searching for Jesus. In connects... Read more

The big news this week is the engagement of Prince Harry to Megan Markle. Nobody likes to rain on the parade, but one or two people have had the temerity to point out that the bride to be has already been (ahem) a bride. The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster (the leader of Catholics in England and Wales) has tweeted his official congratulations to the royal couple, sidestepping the matter that the bride is a divorcee, but like Pope Francis—who is... Read more

Scenes of hungry angry shoppers fighting over big screen TVs are likely to show up today as Black Friday hits us once again. Its easy to see the greed and blame our materialistic culture without seeing the deeper threat. Every argument is a theological argument, and the vulgarity and futility of Black Friday reveals a philosophical-theological crisis at the heart of our culture. Its called “Materialism”. Its easy enough to see the consumerism of Black Friday and say this is... Read more

I find it odd that all the people who are talking endlessly about mercy are oddly silent at the death of  Charles Manson. This is the problem with the sentimental approach to mercy–an approach that promotes mercy at the expense of justice and tenderness at the expense of truth. Charles Manson and other serial killers exhibit the very worst of humanity’s fallen condition, but it is these monsters of humanity that the tender hearted mercy merchants quietly ignore. What I... Read more

As the sexual misbehavior accusations accumulate in the world of politics, entertainment and business, prepare for the new Puritanism. I have written more on this over at my main blog here, but suffice it to say that things really are changing. Liberal commentators have observed that the things liberal women were willing to put up with and gloss over in the nineties with Bill Clinton are not longer acceptable. Furthermore, the news columns and opinions of people like Gloria Stenheim are being... Read more

And now its Charlie Rose, and I reckon the hits are going to keep on coming. There’s something spooky about this that nobody else has noticed: all these revelations about creepy predatory celebrities have suddenly tumbled out right after the death of Hugh Hefner. It’s almost like that Hugh’s death closed the Playboy Chapter of American history and now all the girls are speaking out and saying, “Hey. We don’t want to be bunnies anymore!” The sexual revolution was all... Read more

Warning: there is some creepy sexual content in this post. In a hard hitting article at The Atlantic Caitlin Flanagan attacks the amazing hypocrisy of the left concerning Bill Clinton. At a time when it seems to be open season on all sexual predators–no matter if their crimes are thirty years old–Flanagan wonders why Clinton continues to rise above his murky past. First she points out the present public relations schmooze job on Clinton. He’s now a warm hearted and... Read more

Embed from Getty Images When faced with the mindless violence we saw in Sutherland Springs one can’t help but wonder if there is a diabolical element in what happened. What makes a man plan to mow down innocent people and then meticulously carry it out, then turn the gun on himself? Was Devin Kelley demon possessed? What about the Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock? Its all too easy to blame the devil when something like this happens, but it is... Read more

Today’s post at Standing on My Head is about Saints and Statues The saints became role models only. Sure, modern Catholics still told the stories of saints, but they were handed out in colorful children’s books with the stories of the saints and their heroism. That’s all well and good, but saints are more than role models. The communion of the saints is more than a book shelf full of biographies. The saints are not simply holy heroes or saintly... Read more