Anyone who pays any attention at all has noticed that church attendance in America has dropped off in recent years. Some of the reasons are obvious. Others are more subtle or more complex. In this article, we will examine some of the reasons from what others have seen and from the author’s personal experience and we will explore at least one possible solution. Why do people stop going to church? Articles appear frequently, lamenting the fact that church attendance in... Read more
Of all the noise in American politics and journalism, one of the loudest arguments is this: Was the U.S. founded on Christian beliefs, were the founders Christian men and did they intend for the Bible to guide the country? What can we learn from the founding documents? We will look individually at some of the major players among the corps of founding fathers, but first, let us examine the documents themselves. The United States Constitution The text of the United... Read more
Not everyone approaches the Bible in the same way. The way that a reader plunges into the text of the Bible will strongly affect what value the reader emerges with when re-gaining the surface. While I was in the process of writing a little article about the Biblical Book of Revelation, one morning I joined my local on-line Bible study led by either the rector or deacon of my local Episcopalian congregation. The subject was the apocalyptic Book of Ezekiel.... Read more
Some Christians, even today, some 200 years after it was written, believe that the Book of Revelation is a blueprint for the end of time, which they believe is now likely at hand. Let us examine that belief and see what we can make of it. Failed Prophecy Gemini-generated Image by William T. Orr, Jr. The book reports that it was written by God’s servant, John in the Greek island of Patmos. No... Read more
Frequently, I hear people say that they know something to be true when they actually do not possess the evidence necessary for knowing. What they mean is that they believe whatever it is they say they know. I refer to this as Delusory Dysfunction. In my experience, it seems that many people suffer from this condition, which serves to limit the capacity for critical thought. What is Delusory Dysfunction? Sadly, when I have observed this in a person, more than... Read more
Does Shane MacGowan reveal his Christianity in his lyrics? When the news came last November that Irish singer/songwriter Shane MacGowan had died after fighting an infection for several months, it was a sad day for Irish music fans and especially for fans of the brand of Irish music typified by the Pogues, the popular band partially founded by MacGowan. Shane had been expected to make it home for Christmas, which would have been his 66th birthday, but it was not... Read more
In our last post, we discussed several reasons why reading the Bible has value for believers, agnostics and atheists alike. In this post, we will discuss some of the reasons people do not read the Bible. What are some of the reasons not to read the Bible? Over time, people have taken positions against reading the Bible. This does not negate its value as a part of the history and culture of Western civilization. We will, however, discuss some of... Read more
People have found many reasons to read the Bible. Here, we will explore some of these reasons and we will examine what the reader can take from a study of the Bible. Why should I concern myself with a collection of books as old as the Bible? There can be a multitude of reasons to read the Bible, some spiritual, some academic, some cultural. Here, we will take a look at some of the reasons people have read the Bible... Read more
Some Christians (and I am betting almost no Jews) take the entire Bible literally and view its accounts as historically accurate, seemingly without question. Is the Holy Bible the unerring revealed word of God? This question has plagued scholars and theologians. It is a question that we cannot approach, much to the aggravation of fundamentalists, with an eye to discovering “proof,” a concept that is meaningless in matters of faith. In such matters, the idea of proof is not helpful... Read more
Beltane? What’s that? Beltane is celebrated as the midpoint between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice and for thousands of years, heralded the beginning of summer. Beltane is one of the eight spokes of the pagan Wheel of the Year. What is the Wheel of the Year? In ancient times, before the Christian missionaries arrived in northern Gaul and Britain and Ireland, the Celtic people who lived there already had their own religious beliefs and practices which Christians deemed... Read more
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