New Testament scholars have spent an impressive amount of energy on the study of the historical Jesus and much of it in the last few decades has revolved around his Jewishness. Christian reawakening to the Jewishness of Jesus began in the late nineteenth century but received greater attention as Christians devoted increased attention to Jews Read more
Thank God for Fred Phelps. That’s what I say, of the controversial, hate-mongering founder of the Westboro Baptist Church. But something tells me Fred Phelps already thanked God plenty of times for Fred Phelps, given the two were on such apparently close terms. After all, it was Phelps who so graciously enlightened the rest of Read more
“THAT is totally untenable!” my friend yelled over the party music. “You can’t be a feminist and a Christian.” \ She was a staunch atheist, and spent the evening telling me, as many have done before, that Christianity is unavoidably and embarrassingly patriarchal. She urged me to throw off the shackles of my misogynistic faith. Read more
In recent days, the Ukrainian peninsula has been at the heart of what some have described as the greatest international crisis of the 21st century. But this is not the first time the region has been so critical to international affairs. Many educated people have at least heard of the great struggle known as the Read more
Thousands of Syrians from traditional Muslim backgrounds are turning to Jesus Christ, reports Christian Aid. Suspicious of the reports, Christian Aid, a US-based Christian organisation which supports international mission, investigated further, concluding the openness to Jesus and the Gospel appears genuine. Christian Aid says the numbers are not inflated nor an optimistic estimate. “We determine they are Read more
I am fascinated by how Doctor Who slips under the radar of contemporary scepticism in a way that Christianity doesn’t. Perhaps its simply because it doesn’t assert itself as being true. The Bible is extremely weird in places: monsters with horns on their horns, men wrestling with angels, devils entering pigs, floods covering the whole Earth, people Read more
He liked to be called Jack. Plain Jack. But Clive Staples Lewis, arguably the greatest communicator of the Christian message in the 20th century, was anything but plain. He died on November 22, 1963, the same day as Aldous Huxley and President Kennedy, and while Lewis never completed the journey from Anglican to Catholic, he Read more
“Christianity, the world’s most persecuted religion, now risks being wiped out in countries where until recently it has been well established,” declares a new report from Aid to the Church in Need. “Oppression and exodus now threaten Christianity’s status as a worldwide religion.” The Catholic charity, which operates directly under the Holy See, said over Read more
In The Unquiet Grave Cyril Connelly, the 20th century Anglo-Irish critic, writer, and editor, having acknowledged the existence of the thousands of people like him (“…Liberals without a belief in progress, Democrats who despise their fellow-men, Pagans who still live by Christian morals, Intellectuals who cannot find the intellect sufficient—unsatisfied Materialists…”), concludes nonetheless that “there can be no Read more
This is not a particularly successful season for converts to Christianity. Often more respect is shown to those who “dialogue” from outside of the Church than to those who embrace the Christian faith and ask for baptism. But it is also true that conversions to Catholicism are more numerous than one might think. Departing from Read more