Spilled Coffee on Ancient Scrolls
Finding Ways to Live as Humans Fully Alive
The image that most of us conjure when we think of God becoming human is a newborn lying in a manger with Mary and Joseph smiling from ear to ear. The scene evokes warm feelings of nostalgia and motherhood and wonder. Most people today don’t give much thought about the mechanics or the theology behind …
“Bring Polycarp!” someone else shouted, and thus the manhunt for the bishop of Smyrna began. He wasn’t hard to catch. He was eighty-six years old and power scooters hadn’t been invented yet. So soon, the crowd brought him before the proconsul for questioning. Things went south fairly fast. The proconsul wanted Polycarp to deny his faith and go home, which seemed like a reasonable request. But alas, Polycarp refused. Losing his patience, the judge yelled, “Out with the atheist!” To which Polycarp yelled back. “Yes! Out with the atheists!” And he pointed to the crowd. Well, that didn’t help.
Patrick is one of those ancient saints who became larger than life. His charismatic personality and scant material about his life motivated many later biographers to colorfully fill in the gaps. And thus rose legends about Patrick where he performed fantastic miracles, including driving out all the snakes from Ireland and single handedly defeating the …
Continue reading "Snakes and Green Beer: The Real Saint Patrick"
Many people have this monolithic notion about Christianity—that it has been the same since Jesus and Paul walked the earth. But the truth of the matter is that the Church has often changed its mind on what it deems to be the essential elements of faith. One way to look at this is to ask, …
Continue reading "Mere Christianity: What Has it Been And What is it Now?"
A short while before Jesus walked the earth and the Romans conquered the western world, Antiochus IV ruled Judea. He was a Seleucid (Greek) and he didn’t like the Jews. He thought they were too…uncivilized and uncouth. And so, in an attempt to bring them kicking and screaming into the 2nd century BC, he passed …
How did communion turn into a place to exclude people? And what did Jesus expect when he held up the bread and the cup, declaring them to be His body and blood?
If you ever had any doubt whatsoever that the Church was patriarchal, consider the fact that the very first BIG fight the early Christians got into was over what the penis should look like (Acts 15).
In John 4, Jesus taught that true worship must be done “in spirit” because God is spirit. Now, granted, this phrase is quite nebulous and open to a wide variety of interpretations. But what did Jesus mean? A part of the answer lies in a very ancient tradition that turned to silence to solve this …
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. I was in first grade the first time I participated in an Ash Wednesday service. I attended a parochial school, and our teacher, a very stern nun, paraded us into the chapel where we all knelt and were told to be still and quiet, an …
Continue reading "Ashes, Tattoos, the Sign of the Cross, and My Friend Connie"
Will there be heat in Hell? And if so, will it be wet or dry? I think it’s safe to say that the general consensus is that Hell should be as miserable as possible; therefore, reason would lead us to conclude that Hell is a wet heat. But we can’t be sure with just reason, …
