10 Questions To Ask Before Doing the Social Justice Thing

Last updated on: August 31, 2022 at 1:45 pm By Anthony Costello

“But let justice flow like water, and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.” – Amos 5:4 The conversation in the evangelical Church right now concerning social justice, intersectionality and critical race theory is inescapable. It seems appropriate, therefore, to consider some practical questions on how one might engage in social justice issues given today’s cultural context. These questions are primarily addressed to Christians, but not necessarily everyone who calls themselves Christian or who goes to church. I am mainly addressing those... Read more

Eros, Agape and Why We Cannot Love Well

Last updated on: August 31, 2022 at 1:40 pm By Anthony Costello

In an incisive, albeit slightly esoteric, essay entitled “The Schizoid Christ,” theologian Graham Ward criticizes a view of love held by the post-modernist philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas. Ward quotes Levinas on Lévinas’ understanding of what it means to live a life for the Good: A Jew is accountable and responsible for the whole edifice of creation. Something engages man even more than the salvation of his soul. The acts, utterance, thoughts of a Jew have a formidable privilege of destroying or... Read more

Was Afghanistan Worth It?: Part 3, “Was it Worth it for Soldiers?”

Last updated on: October 9, 2023 at 8:40 am By Anthony Costello

In his brutally honest treatment of men in war, philosopher and soldier J. Glenn Gray reflects on man’s strange relationship with combat: Beyond doubt there are many who simply endure war, hating every moment. Though they may enjoy garrison life or military maneuvers, they experience nothing but distaste and horror for combat itself. Still, those who complain the most may not be immune from war’s appeals. Soldiers complain as an inherited right and traditional duty, and few wish to admit... Read more

Was Afghanistan Worth It?: Part 2, “Was It Worth It For Afghans?”

Last updated on: August 31, 2022 at 1:37 pm By Anthony Costello

In this series, I am asking the question on many American minds right now: “was Afghanistan worth it?” As I pointed out in the first essay, the question is deficient. The question we must ask is: “was it worth it for whom?” or “For whom was this war worthwhile, if anyone?” In the previous post, I argued that the war was worthwhile for America as a nation, so long as we stayed in Afghanistan. Now that we have left, it... Read more

Was Afghanistan Worth It?: Part 1, “Was it Worth it For America?”

Last updated on: August 31, 2022 at 1:38 pm By Anthony Costello

Afghanistan is once again newsworthy. To me this is unfortunate (often, from a military perspective, the old maxim “no news is good news” is true). As such, I feel compelled to write something about it. In this article I will try to tackle the question that is on many minds: “Was it worth it?” However, that question is not really valid, as it implies another question, “for whom?” “Was it worth it for whom?” is therefore the question we should... Read more

Losing Orthodox Christianity in America – Losing The Heart

Last updated on: February 28, 2024 at 11:02 am By Anthony Costello

In this series, I am arguing that there are three battlefields of human culture upon which a form of Christianity, orthodox Christianity, has failed to successfully contend. Moreover, in failing to do so, this orthodox Christianity will go into rapid decline. Finally, those who continue to profess and practice this form of Christianity will face actual instances of persecution. In addition, I argued that there is another form of Christianity, Progressive Christianity that will not face the same kind of... Read more

Losing Orthodox Christianity in America – Losing The Mind

Last updated on: February 28, 2024 at 10:30 am By Anthony Costello

In this series I am arguing that a certain form of Christian faith and practice, an “orthodox” form, is gradually collapsing in America. Moreover, it is likely that pastors, priests, bishops and orthodox laypersons who adhere to this form of Christian orthodoxy will experience concrete instances of state-sponsored aggression. The reasons for this persecution are critical losses on three battlefields of culture: the battlefield of the senses, the battlefield of the mind, and the battlefield of the heart or emotions.... Read more

Losing Orthodox Christianity in America – Losing the Senses

Last updated on: February 28, 2024 at 10:18 am By Anthony Costello

Cardinal Francis George, the former arch-bishop of Chicago, said the following just few years before his earthly demise, I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history. That is quite a claim. One that seems to predict mass incarceration of... Read more

The Tempting Power of Human Creativity

Last updated on: September 30, 2024 at 11:53 am By Anthony Costello

One of the most powerful forms of idolatry is the tempting power of humanity’s own creativity. Consider the words of one of the greatest artistic minds in history: Hier sitz ich, forme Mensche Nach meinem Bilde, Ein Geschlecht, das mir gleich sei, Zu leiden, zu weinen, Zu genießen und zu freuen sich, Und dein nicht zu achten, Wie ich! Behold Here I sit, fashioning men In my own image, A race after my likeness, A race that will suffer and... Read more

The Destructive Power of Motherly Love

Last updated on: August 30, 2022 at 1:24 pm By Anthony Costello

One of the most chilling scenes in fiction is the portrayal of a mother named “Pam” in C.S. Lewis’ novel, The Great Divorce. In the story, Lewis envisions the eternal separation between heaven and hell, where we encounter a number of ghostly beings who are invited to visit heaven from what is presumably hell (or possibly purgatory). For a moment, these vapor-like specters are allowed to see the divine realm with their own “eyes.” These lost souls receive one final... Read more