One of the greatest blessings of my life is that my Mom had the guts to not have TV. Yep. I grew up in the 1960s and 70s with no TV. My folks were not especially strict or puritanical. They didn’t tell us TV was wicked or “Hell’s sewer straight into your home.” They just simply and positively said we don’t need a TV. OK, there was a little bit of the right kind of snobbery too–sort of “We’re better... Read more

From time to time I will get an email asking whether I considered Eastern  Orthodoxy when I left Anglicanism. The answer is that I did not. Here’s why: I certainly learned a bit about Eastern Orthodoxy while I was at Oxford. Bishop Kallistos Ware lived around the corner in North Oxford. and I attended the little Orthodox church there a couple of times. I also went to some seminars there, and over the years scratched the surface of Eastern Orthodoxy.... Read more

Let's face it, we're the world's only superpower. And yet we're so insecure. Read more

You may have heard of my latest book project called The Mystery of the Magi- the Quest to Identify the Three Wise Men. I’m really excited by this book. It has been so interesting to investigate the historicity of the Magi story. One of the reasons the book has been so exciting to produce is because it undermines the modernist Biblical scholars who simply dismiss the Magi story as “mythological”. I’ve shown, on the contrary, that it has a firm foundation... Read more

One remembers the day when a good, strong pope and a good, strong president--both having survived assassination attempts-- got together with a sense of mission. Read more

Why is there such madness, hatred and meaningless violence? Read more

I remember as an Anglican priest Archbishop George Carey launched a big initiative called “The Decade of Evangelism.” It was more like “The Decay of Evangelism.” It was a big flop. From time to time in every church the leaders feel they must give evangelism and renewal the old college try. They form committees and the committees form working parties and the working parties form action teams and the action teams form focus groups and the focus groups organize deanery... Read more

Maybe we should change terminology and talk about a church that is Tough and Tender. Read more

The Catholic Church will sometimes seem to you to be full of human failure, incompetence, futility, fighting and frailty. But there is great treasure hidden in that muddy field. Read more

Apostolic succession is more than the paperwork. Read more