This might sound a little strange or even morbid to some, but I am captivated by the topic of death. The first Catholic funeral I attended as a boy fascinated me. I’ll never forget the elaborate Funeral Mass, the foreboding casket lying near the altar, and the priest’s liberal use of incense, which filled the church with a pleasant aroma.…
This current blog series on Reflections is intended to encourage Christians to read more vigorously by providing a beginner’s guide to some of the Christian classics in such fields as theology, philosophy, and apologetics. Hopefully a very brief introduction to these important Christian texts will motivate today’s believers, as St. Augustine was called to in his dramatic conversion to Christianity,…
In the Christian world-and-life view, both work and leisure are considered good things. Both come as gifts from God’s hand and are rooted and discerned from the Lord’s foundational act in creation. Yet these gracious endowments can be easily misused and become idols that wreak havoc in people’s lives. The diabolical nature of sin is that it so enslaves people…
This current blog series on Reflections is intended to encourage Christians to read more vigorously by providing a beginner’s guide to some of the Christian classics in such fields as theology, philosophy, and apologetics. Hopefully a very brief introduction to these important Christian texts will motivate today’s believers, as St. Augustine was called to in his dramatic conversion to Christianity,…
Everybody knows about the Middle Eastern monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. But few people know there is another religion that originated in the Middle East whose adherents also believe in and worship one God. That little known religion is called Zoroastrianism, or the Parsi faith. As we saw in my previous article, Zoroastrianism is the ancient Persian religion that…
This current blog series on Reflections is intended to encourage Christians to read more vigorously by providing a beginner’s guide to some of the Christian classics in such fields as theology, philosophy, and apologetics. Hopefully a very brief introduction to these important Christian texts will motivate today’s believers, as St. Augustine was called to in his dramatic conversion to Christianity,…
When you mention Middle Eastern monotheistic religions virtually everyone knows of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. But there is a fourth religion—with an estimated 200,000 adherents—that fits that same category, yet few people know much about it at all. Allow me to briefly begin exploring this lesser-known religion by starting with a thought experiment about what might await human beings in…
This blog series on Reflections is intended to encourage Christians to read more vigorously by providing a beginner’s guide to some of the Christian classics in such fields as theology, philosophy, and apologetics. Hopefully a very brief introduction to these important Christian texts will motivate today’s believers, as St. Augustine was called to in his dramatic conversion to Christianity, to…
I like to visit cemeteries because they remind me that I’m mortal and life is very short. Seeing the graves of people also focuses my attention upon eternal issues like what will await me after death. I like to think that reflecting upon my death will help me live a more authentic and focused life. Having now briefly examined nine…
It is hard to exaggerate the importance of Jesus’s resurrection to Christianity, for Christ’s resurrection truly stands at the very center of the Christian faith. It serves both as a crucial Christian doctrine and as the faith’s most potent argument: If Jesus actually conquered death, then there is no more important news for all human beings to hear and to…
