A light to the Nations? The Problem in a Nutshell

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The greatest sin in the world today may well be the senseless division of Christianity. One regrettable consequence of that partition seems to be that the fabric of Western culture is unraveling under the onslaught of radical individualism. This belief holds that self-determination, even regarding one’s own gender, ought to trump not only centuries of human tradition but the very laws of nature itself. And as the institution of family recedes ever deeper into its crisis of identity, society has becomes increasingly chaotic. A kind of intellectual anarchy now routinely assaults reason to substitute its own tenets for that great deposit of wisdom known as common sense. Meanwhile, in the West, Christianity seems to be in full retreat so that even an unobtrusive order of religious sisters, by following their consciences, is being threatened with ruinous fines Continue reading →

The Splendor of God

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God without man would still be God: but man without God is reduced to nothingness. Forgetfulness of this simple truism can lead an entire society or a lone individual to ruin, however. Without that acute awareness of God’s perpetual, abiding presence we are sure to become what C.S. Lewis so eloquently called, “men without faces.” In other words, we lose our true identities, because men and women quickly forget who they are when deprived of some positive reference to their Creator ~ a state of mind that can lead one to desperation and, even more, to desperate actions. For instance, the growing push for society to legitimize suicide is fast becoming one more symptom of modern man’s sense of desperation. But, of course, this is not a part of God’s plan for the human race. In fact, he intends quite the opposite. Continue reading →

The Game of Power

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Due to last minute demands in getting my new book to press, I have been somewhat remiss since posting my last article. I apologize for this delay and hope you will all be anxious to peruse that forthcoming work titled Word Without End: The Mass ~ Splendor of the Incarnation which should be available by the end of April. The sub-script on the cover of the book, “How the Power of Love conquers man’s Love of Power” leads us directly into today’s topic. You may ask, “But what connection is there between the Incarnation and a discussion of human power?”

First I would propose that the most intoxicating substance known to man is neither alcohol, nor any drug, nor even money or pleasure. Enticing as those things can be, I still suspect that the most addictive intoxicant around is power, Continue reading →

A Mormon Odyssey ~ Final Thoughts

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My final thoughts in this series on Mormonism are excerpted from a recent letter to a young Mormon Evangelist whom I have not heard back from since posting it. Since Mormons base their apologetic on a well rehearsed and scripted narrative, any direct challenge to, or deviation from, that script is certain to evoke not robust rebuttal but generally a retreat from the debate. For the good Mormon faith is necessarily divorced from reason, or shall I say that the two things are hermetically “compartmentalized” out of fear that latter might somehow contaminate the former.

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A Mormon Odyssey: Part II

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Mormonism is one of the faster growing religious bodies in the United States today as a result of active and constant proselytizing. Nonetheless, the sect continues to arouse suspicion, not the least because of its insistence that it is the only true and valid expression of Christianity. To answer this rather exalted claim one must investigate whether the primary supplemental scripture underpinning Mormon beliefs, i.e. the Book of Mormon, is a credible document. Continue reading →

Fantasy as Faith ~ A Mormon Odyssey

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Mark Twain famously joked about the Mormons, “Their beliefs are singular ─ but their wives are plural.” Since Twain’s day though, mainstream Mormons have officially renounced polygamy (as a necessary condition of statehood back in 1896). But one can still strongly make the case that the beliefs of the Latter Day Saints remain quite singular, one might even say fantastic. I will get into more specific details presently, but first it may help to explore the idea of fantasy as faith, an American phenomenon which is in no way intended to cast dispersion on denizens of the Beehive State. In fact most tenets of the Mormon religion are surprisingly rational when set against many newer cultish practices, both secular and religious, that have proliferated since the advent of the 20th century. Continue reading →

Refugees in Crisis

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This column attempts to avoid engaging in political topics in order to focus on the truth of Christianity. That is why I hesitate to tread into the contentious topic of immigration which has become so politically charged lately. But there is a particular subset of immigration policy that I believe has clear moral dimensions, aside from purely political considerations, which is the refugee question.

Refugees are a special type of immigrant ~ not of their own making but forced to migrate elsewhere under the compulsion of war, persecution, even hostile governments. For that reason all Christians should have a special compassion for their plight. In fact, we must remember that Christ himself, as a mere infant, became a refugee and was forced to flee into Egypt. In that sense he became the blessed type and patron of all refugees. Continue reading →

Christmas 2015

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I thought that I might share with you a small excerpt from my forthcoming book, Word Without End, which is due to come out sometime out this spring. The book treats the Splendor of the Incarnation (as I call it) in depth and, since Christmas is the celebration of the God’s Incarnation as man, I thought a sneak preview might constitute a nice Christmas meditation. The following section is taken from Chapter 2 of Word Without End:

Every person must answer the question, “who is Jesus Christ,” for himself or herself. Unless we affirm in our hearts that Jesus is the Incarnate word of God then his work of redemption has little effect on us. The world today would like to reduce Jesus Christ to a Continue reading →

An Advent of Peace ~ or War?

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This Advent begins a new liturgical year which Pope Francis has proclaimed to be a “Year of Mercy.” Certainly our world, beset by terrorism and frightful intolerance on many fronts, is in great need of mercy. But there is an added dimension to the pope’s plea. Quite recently the pontiff remarked that the world has already entered into “Piecemeal World War III,” a frightful prognosis, to be sure. Is the world, in fact, sliding headlong into an extended period of chaos and conflict from which only God’s mercy will be able to deliver us? And is mercy only the province of God, or do human beings also share some obligation to participate in the extending of mercy?

Civilization itself is tottering on the brink as 2016 dawns, and yet our leaders, rather than trying to pull us back from that cliff, seem content to push mankind ever closer to the precipice. Continue reading →

In Thanksgiving ~ Lest We Forget

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The best kept secret in the media over the past few years has been the 150th anniversary of the most significant event in American history. The Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865, yet there has been a strange, deafening silence and the absence of any fanfare commemorating that bitter conflict fought to end racial slavery. One would assume, with the first ever black president in office, that the costly struggle which initiated the long journey toward full civil rights for every American would merit a little official attention. Alas, nobody in today’s smug political establishment seems overly concerned that a few million white guys and several hundred thousand black ones fought and made heroic sacrifices to remove the canker of slavery from our land, while also preserving a tottering Union mortally threatened by sectional strife. In short, this was a war that cemented what the American Revolution had only begun, thus insuring the continuation of the greatest human experiment in self-government that history has ever seen. Continue reading →