Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 108

Top religion stories of 2016

The Religion News Association announced its top 10 religion stories of 2016.  Number one:  Donald Trump’s election. Why was that a religion story?  An important factor in Trump’s win was his support from evangelical voters, even though his lifestyle, moral history, and religious beliefs would not seem to be in accord with those of most Christian conservatives. What [Read More...]

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What you do to your neighbor you do to Christ

It still being Christmas–there are twelve days of it, remember–we can still contemplate the inexhaustible topic of God’s incarnation.  After the jump, read an excerpt from one of Luther’s Christmas sermons, which our pastor quoted in his Christmas Eve message.  The passage deals both with Christmas and vocation–that is, our calling to love and serve our [Read More...]

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Top news stories of 2016

The Associated Press polled editors and news directors to come up with the top stories of 2016.  Number one was no surprise:  The U.S. Election. In fact, you could probably spin out ten top stories from the U.S. Election:  Donald Trump’s election, the primaries, Hillary Clinton’s email scandal, the Russian connection, Bernie Saunder’s campaign, Republican [Read More...]

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The superiority of the left-handed

People who are left-handed constitute 10-15% of the population.  The other 85-90% have often given them a hard time.  But new research suggests that lefties are wired in a way that makes them, among other things, quicker thinkers and more creative.  And, judging from my left-handed wife, I know it’s true. Read details after the [Read More...]

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“The darkness didn’t comprehend it”

I do not agree with N. T. Wright on “the new perspective on Paul,” but he has a published a fascinating reflection on John 1.  He particularly focuses on this theme: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness didn’t comprehend it; the world was made through him and the world didn’t know him; he [Read More...]

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Marshall McLuhan, conservative Catholic

Marshall McLuhan, who basically invented the study of media, became an icon of the 1960’s with his praise of the new information technology and his predictions of the new tribalism that it would make possible.  McLuhan arguably predicted the effects of the internet before the internet was invented. And yet, as Jefferson Pooley reminds us, [Read More...]

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Happy Boxing Day!

Today, the day after Christmas, is celebrated as “Boxing Day” in the United Kingdom and many of its Commonwealth nations, such as Australia.  We Americans need to adopt this holiday too!  After all, we too are former British colonies! Accounts of the origin of the name vary, but it seems to have something to do [Read More...]

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“The light shines in the darkness”

How fitting that we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ around the time of the Winter Solstice, when the day is at its shortest and the night is at its longest.  At this darkest time of the year, we celebrate Christ’s coming.  Just as He comes at the darkest points of our lives.  (This is also [Read More...]

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A medieval Christmas for the children

In a review of what sounds like an excellent book on Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Nathaniel Peters quotes a 17th century theologian on what Christmas was like under Medieval and 17th century Catholicism. He describes the processions, featuring actors dressed up like the Christ Child, St. Peter, other saints, angels, and “damned spirits,” including the terrifying Knecht Ruprecht (who [Read More...]

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What to do with your Amazon boxes

If you or people who gave you presents did much of your Christmas shopping online, you will accumulate lots of Amazon boxes.  Don’t throw them away!  Amazon has partnered with Goodwill for an ingenious program. Save the box.  Then fill it with something you would like to donate to Goodwill.  Go to GiveBackBox.com, where you [Read More...]

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