John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body” began as a series of Wednesday audience talks in 1979, part of his preparation for the Synod of Bishops on the Family that took place in the fall of 1980; the series, however, was to continue through 1984. He begins to discuss the Christian understanding of marriage with…
Historic Fundamentalism, a reaction to the Modernist crisis in mainline Protestantism, particularly Presbyterianism, was so named because of a series of pamphlets published in the early 20th century, The Fundamentals. These were not the reactionary screeds of illiterate country bumpkins, as the despisers of Fundamentalism would assume, but were written by some of the best…
I was reminded today of a book I had read in the 1970s by M. R. DeHaan, The Chemistry of the Blood. DeHaan was a physician and minister, founder of the Radio Bible Class. What struck me as odd when I first read the book was his strange Christology. The sermons making up this book…
Scientologists are gloating over reporter John Sweeney‘s on camera meltdown. Get info about Scientology at Xenu.net. Why “Xenu”? Find out here.
Jerry Falwell dead at 73. Many images come to mind. I first heard him on the radio in the ’70s, before he founded “The Moral Majority.” Through the ’80s, he was the face of that movement, much pilloried in the press. In the wake of the PTL scandal, he assumed the role of “elder brother”…
After lunch with my pastor yesterday, he handed me a book he’s found useful: Leading Congregational Change by Jim Herrington, et al. I had to laugh. I know Jim from an organization he founded, Mission Houston. He’s a Baptist pastor, formerly head of the Union Baptist Association. He blogs at Faithwalking, and has just started…
Samuele Bacchiocchi explores the Christian “Theology of the Body” in his latest newsletter, The Debate over Human Nature and Destiny (scroll down past the announcements), and in a recent book. John Paul was heading in the right direction with his “Theology of the Body,” but he was a bit timid, and didn’t go far enough.…
New British law mandates “no smoking” signs be posted outside of churches. Anglican bishops, normally a placid bunch, are fulminating at the costly inanity of it all. “Another example of the aggressive nanny state,” said the Rt Rev John Broadhurst, the Bishop of Fulham. “The whole thing is stark-staring mad.” Quite. Wouldn’t it be more…
I had missed this: the Reagan diaries are soon to be published. Given the silliness at the White House over the recent visit of the Queen of England, I appreciated this tidbit: Reagan enjoyed meeting the “most likable” Prince Charles in 1981, but tea proved a disaster because the royal visitor refused to drink it:…
Thomas Long on homiletical plagiarism.
Martin Marty comments on a pair of pentecostal preachers who have registered the word “Gospel” as a trademark in Brazil.
My grandfather, F. W. Smith, was a musician at Ft. Myer, Virginia, in the years following WWI, playing “Taps” at funerals of countless servicemen. It’s a key piece of the ceremony of a military funeral. But today, as that mournful tune echoes over the grounds of cemeteries around the country, it is more often a…
