On suicide and despair
For centuries, suicide was considered as an act of despair and despair itself was seen as the most grievous sin of all. In many religious circles, despair was seen as the most sinful of all acts and ultimately unforgivable.
Guest columns
‘Do this in memory of me’
Our Memorial Day was originally known as “Decoration Day,” an opportunity to decorate many graves of the over 600,000 men who died in the Civil War.
The shortcomings of a digital immigrant
Information technology and social media aren’t my mother tongue. I’m a digital immigrant.
Michelle Wolf and the throwaway culture
At the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Michelle Wolf, who I’m told is a comedian, regaled the black-tie and sequin-gowned crowd with her “jokes.”
‘A Quiet Place’ unexpectedly shows religious themes
I went to see “A Quiet Place,” John Krasinski’s new thriller, with absolutely no anticipation of finding theological or spiritual themes. I just wanted a fun evening at the movies. How wonderful when a film surprises you.
Putting God on trial
In both our piety and our agnosticism, we sometimes put God on trial and whenever we do that, it’s we who end up being judged. We see that in the Gospel accounts of the trial of Jesus, particularly in John’s Gospel.
A survey of women in the church
Last month, America magazine published a fascinating survey regarding the attitudes of women in the Church. They were kind enough to publish a few of my reactions to the study, but I would like, in this article, to offer a fuller response to their findings.
Death of an evangelical titan
I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Billy Graham preach about 20 years ago in Cincinnati.
A testimony on celibacy
Writing in the first person is always a risk, but the subject matter of this column is best done, I feel, through personal testimony.
A season of learning
What is Lent all about? In responding to this question, many will turn to various words ending with –ing.