Year 16 — Passionate voices on God beat

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 5:19 pm By tmatt

The Harvard Divinity School didn’t hide its feelings about “The Passion of the Christ.” Mel Gibson’s hit is “deeply sadistic” and “militaristic,” said history professor Robert Orsi, during a panel discussion. “Pornographic,” added New Testament scholar Ellen Aitken, speaking with what a press release called “biting contempt.” The always outspoken Harvey Cox called it a “celebration of apocalyptic violence.” Make that “obscene” and “blasphemous,” according to writer James Carroll. The room was packed but, apparently, there were no dissenting viewpoints.... Read more

All those Left Behind Catholics

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 5:22 pm By tmatt

Catholic writer Carl Olson was struggling as he led his audience through the maze of competing Christian beliefs about the Second Coming of Jesus. There are premillennialists who believe Christ will reign for 1,000 years on earth. But it wouldn’t be fair to lump them with the ultra-literal premillennial dispensationalists, he noted, since these camps contain bitter rifts over the timing of “the rapture.” That’s when the trumpet sounds, the dead rise and Christians soar to meet Christ in the... Read more

Passover questions for 2004

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 5:22 pm By tmatt

The lobby contains what security experts call a “mantrap.” Guards monitor these bomb-proof doors, along with exterior video cameras and a device that sniffs the mail. Windows are laminated with plastic, so an explosion would not send glass shards slicing into offices. Massive concrete barriers could stop a truck. Welcome to the American Jewish Committee’s home in New York. This isn’t mere “ethnic panic.” No, “lethal anti-Semitism” is on the rise, even in places long thought to be safe, noted... Read more

Facing a low-carb Lent

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 5:22 pm By tmatt

Depending on who is counting, somewhere between 5 million and 50 million Americans are on low-carbohydrate diets — give or take a few million. Trend watchers are even tossing around this monster statistic — one in four Americans has caught the low-carb bug. That’s a lot of bacon, sausage, eggs and cheese for the Atkins disciples and turkey, fish, egg substitutes and low-fat cheese for those who walk the way of the South Beach Diet. This also means — with... Read more

Baylor, same-sex marriage and ink

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 5:22 pm By tmatt

Every decade or so Baylor University endures another media storm about Southern Baptists, sex and freedom of the press. Take, for example, the historic 1981 Playboy controversy. It proved that few journalists can resist a chance to use phrases such as “seminude Baylor coeds pose for Playboy.” Right now, all kinds of people — from the New York Times editorial board to Baptist Press — are hyperventilating about a Baylor student newspaper editorial backing same-sex marriage. By a 5-2 vote,... Read more

Saving the Baylor brand name

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:19 pm By tmatt

WACO, Texas — Looking out his window, athletic director Ian McCaw has been watching workers tear up the turf in Baylor University’s football stadium one more time. The environment is brutal in there, and not just because the Bears play Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and other Big 12 powers. Central Texas offers searing heat and then its share of ice. Since 1950, Baylor has tried grass, various brands of fake grass, real grass again and now Prestige System artificial turf. “We’re... Read more

The Passion according to Judas

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:19 pm By tmatt

It’s hard to watch Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” without concluding that the suicidal Judas Iscariot was chased by demons into the pit of hell. On the other hand, it’s hard to watch the ABC television movie “Judas” without concluding that somehow, before he hanged himself, his sense of remorse put him back on the road to redemption. These movies offer radically different takes on the Passion and events that led to it. While Gibson has been attacked... Read more

Conservative thumbs down for ‘Passion’

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:19 pm By tmatt

Classics scholar John Granger will not be joining the throngs of other Christian conservatives as they pack theaters to witness “The Passion of the Christ.” Why not? Granger answers with four words: “Gone With the Wind.” Think about it, he said. Long ago, this best seller was devoured by legions of devoted readers. Then it was made into a Hollywood blockbuster, with Rhett Butler played by the charismatic Clark Gable. The film ruled. “Ask yourself, after reading this 900-page novel,... Read more

The Mystery Worshippers are out there

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:19 pm By tmatt

It is a sight that British vicars fear more than an empty collection plate. The business card is deposited anonymously with the loose bills and change at the offertory. It states: “You have been visited by the Mystery Worshipper.” This means a detailed review of their church will soon be posted for all the world to see at the humor site www.Ship-of-Fools.com. Were the pews comfortable? Was the service “stiff-upper-lip, happy-clappy, or what?” How was the preaching, on a scale... Read more

The Passion and the Talmud

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 4:20 pm By tmatt

The ancient rabbinic text is clear about the punishment for those who twisted sacred law and misled the people of Israel. Offenders would be stoned and then hung by their hands from two pieces of wood connected to form a “T.” The Talmud once included this example from the Sanhedrin. “On the eve of Passover they hung Jesus of Nazareth,” said the passage, which was censored in the 16th century to evade the wrath of Christians. “The herald went out... Read more