Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 23

“I Am the Heavy Cross You Had to Bear”

  I came across a remarkable poem by the Dutch author Jacobus Revius (1586-1658).  He was a contemporary of George Herbert and John Donne, whose “metaphysical” style he follows. He Bore Our Griefs by Jacobus Revius No, it was not the Jews who crucified, Nor who betrayed you in the judgment place, Nor who, Lord […]

All the Lonely People, Where Do They All Come From?

Most Americans are lonely, according to a new study.  And, contrary to what we might expect, the older you are, the less lonely you feel.  In fact, loneliness is greatest among young people. The study, sponsored by Cigna Insurance, surveyed 20,000 Americans, aged 18 and over.  It made use of the USC Loneliness Scale, which […]

Dropping Our Sin Down the Black Hole of Jesus’ Death

I just got back from Concordia University Chicago (formerly known as Concordia River Forest).  The new president, Dr. Daniel Gard, seems to be doing some good work with that institution.  The bulletin from the chapel service (Morning Prayer from the Lutheran Service Book), had this quotation on the cover on the nature of God’s forgiveness. […]

Respecting the Office

French President Emmanuel Macron and American President Donald Trump disagree on just about everything–economics, immigration, the Middle East, climate change, you name it.  And yet in Macron’s recent state visit to the U.S., the two got along swimmingly.  President Trump called his French counterpart “perfect”!  How is that possible? Columnist Marc Thiessen observed that Macron treated […]

Luther’s Political Teachings

In yesterday’s post on Luther and Trump, we drew on the work of economist Lyman Stone, who describes himself as “a theologically confessional Lutheran and politically conservative Republican,” and elsewhere as a member of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.  In discussing the various claims that Martin Luther gave us Donald Trump, he does an excellent […]

NIetzscheans of Both the Left and the Right

Ours is seemingly a polarized society, but the extreme “left” and the extreme “right” have more in common than they realize.  In fact, the postmodernist academy with its identity politics, moral relativism, and power reductionism and the Ayn Rand objectivists with their “virtue of selfishness” and social Darwinism  share a common philosophy:  that of Friedrich […]

Luther and Trump?

Did Martin Luther give us Donald Trump?  Are Lutherans responsible for getting Trump elected?  This is what some writers are saying. Whether you think Luther’s alleged complicity with Trump would be a good thing or a bad thing, most of these writers see it as bad.  In doing so, they tend to get Luther wildly […]

Give the Word “Evangelical” Back to the Lutherans!

  Many evangelicals are giving up the term “evangelical.”  They are embarrassed by their movement’s seemingly uncritical embrace of Donald Trump.  They are frustrated that non-Christians associate the label with culture-war issues, such as opposition to abortion and homosexuality, instead of with their religious beliefs.  And they want to avoid the negative connotation that the […]

“God of the Bible” or “A Higher Power”?

“I believe in God.”  That sounds like a straightforward statement.  But what God do you believe in?  And what do you believe about God?  Conversely, if you don’t believe in God, what God do you not believe in?  A new Pew Study delves into some of these complexities in a research report entitled When Americans Say […]

The Consequences of Gendercide in China and India

China and India have been practicing gendercide–that is, the systematic abortion of female babies–for decades.  Now those countries are paying the price.  Men in those countries, the most populous nations on earth, outnumber women by 70 million.  That means 70 million men have no prospects for marriage, which is causing unforeseen social, psychological, and cultural […]