Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 259
March 27, 2015
The sacrifice of Christians
Rev. Adam Roe, in the series on vocation at MissionWork, discusses the concept of “sacrifice” in the Lutheran confessions. Unlike in Roman Catholicism, Holy Communion is not seen as a sacrifice, nor are pastors considered priests who offer up sacrifices. And yet Christians are called to sacrifice, but not for the forgiveness of sins, since [Read More...]
Big local government
Conservatives complain about Big Government, saying that huge, distant, super-powerful centralized government should often give way to decentralized state and local governments. But what about when local governments do what big centralized government does? That has become an issue in Texas. . . . From Kate Scanlon, Texas State Leaders Attack Local Governments for Going [Read More...]
How a movie can go terribly wrong
Imagine a movie with two of the biggest stars in Hollywood, directed by an Oscar winning director, based on a best-selling novel, and backed by the bottomless pockets of a billionaire. That’s a sure fire formula for a hit movie, right? Well, not necessarily. After the jump, an account of a movie with everything going [Read More...]
March 26, 2015
Who the unchurched really are
Most evangelism programs, church growth tactics, and other attempts to reach the “unchurched” concentrate on Millennials, young urbanites, college types, and the suburban middle class. But, as Robert Putnam reminds us, the demographic that is the most unchurched is the working class, the lower income non-college-educated folks. A big segment of these blue-collar workers has [Read More...]
How could medieval maps be so accurate?
In the 13th century, so-called “portolan maps” appeared that are so accurate, they could be used in navigation today. But it has been a mystery how they were made and how, given the limits in technology of the time, they could be so accurate. (This is another example of how the notion that people from [Read More...]
“Unbroken”: the Christian cut
The movie version of Unbroken, about the trials of World War II hero Louis Zamperini, left out the account of his conversion to Christianity and his trip to Japan to forgive the ones who tortured him as a POW. But now a new version of the movie is being released on video that supplements director [Read More...]
March 25, 2015
Drinking His cup, being baptized with His baptism
Our sermon for the beginning of Passiontide was Mark 10:32-45, the passage about James and John asking Jesus if they could sit on His right hand and His left when He comes into His kingdom. I had studied this text extensively for what it teaches about authority and vocation (how authority is not to be [Read More...]
Social Capital and the Opportunity Gap
More on Robert Putnam and his book Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis, on the class gap in raising children. The Chronicle of Higher Education tells about how Putnam came upon his thesis and conducted his research. The article also tells about the neo-traditional “Ozzie and Harriet” families that have come back in middle class [Read More...]
Where your tax dollars go
The Heritage Foundation has an interesting report entitled The Breakdown of Where Your Tax Dollars Go. After the jump, an informative graphic.
March 24, 2015
Whatever happened to working class families?
Robert Putnam’s book Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis continues to get attention. Michael Gerson has a good discussion of its impact, excerpted and linked after the jump. The problem being documented is that whereas a new traditionalism in middle class families is paying off in stronger marriages, better parenting, and successful young people, [Read More...]
