Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 28
March 30, 2018
The First Image of Christ on the Cross: The Staurogram
Just as some liberal Bible scholars have claimed that belief in Christ’s divinity “evolved” over some centuries of tradition, some have claimed that the emphasis on the Cross of Jesus Christ, along with the atonement and everything else it represents, only developed after the time of Constantine. They say that because Christian visual art did […]
March 29, 2018
Holy Communion and Vocation
Today, on Maundy Thursday, we commemorate Christ’s gift of Holy Communion, in which He gives in an ongoing way His body and blood for us in bread and wine. Peter Leithart at Christianity Today connects the Lord’s Supper to vocation, though he doesn’t use that term: Keeping our eyes fixed on the surface helps us see how the […]
The New Discovery of Your Body’s Biggest Organ
Scientists have discovered a new organ in the body. In fact, it is the largest organ in the body: the interstitium. This is tissue containing liquid-filled spaces that exists between the major organs, functioning in part as shock absorber protecting the organs. The interstitium fluid empties into the lymph nodes, giving it other functions relating […]
March 28, 2018
Excruciating: The Ironies of Holy Week
We had our Tenebrae service on Tuesday, here in Australia, and the Scripture readings struck me with their irony. It’s excruciating, I thought, using an adjective often used to describe irony in its extremest form. Then I realized that the very word “excruciating” comes from “crucify.” Irony is very difficult to define, but let me […]
Repealing the Second Amendment
The young anti-school shooting crusaders are discrediting the NRA and influencing public opinion to support gun control. Opponents of gun rights are coming out of the woodwork, organizing boycotts, shaming companies, and trying to make gun rights advocates social pariahs, almost as despicable as opponents of gay marriage. Now retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul […]
March 27, 2018
I, Thou vs. I, It
Years ago, I read the book I and Thou by the Jewish theologian Martin Buber. I have found it very useful in understanding human relationships and how things can go wrong. Peter Leithart writes about it for First Things, and I appreciate being reminded about it. Briefly, he says that our relationships are either between persons (an […]
Male Coercion, Gendercide, & Abortion’s Violence Against Women
Pro-abortion advocates wrap themselves in the mantle of “the woman’s right to choose.” But many women don’t choose to get abortions. Their husbands, boyfriends, or other men pressure them to do so. Pro-abortion advocates make abortion a hallmark of feminism. But they don’t say much about the large-scale “gendercide” taking place in many parts of […]
March 26, 2018
When Christ’s Work Comes Together “For Us”
Our new granddaughter, Hannah Grace Hensley, was baptized on Palm Sunday. Now comes Holy Week. Christmas celebrates the Incarnation, God becoming a human being. But this week and the events it commemorates shows, in rapid succession, why this happened and how it was all “for us.” In fact, all of the strains and themes of […]
Trump Signs Republican Spending Bill–Planned Parenthood Gets $500 million
Back in February, with great effort, Congress passed a budget agreement, but the details and actual appropriations were not worked out. That required an “omnibus spending bill.” After helping to negotiate the bill, then threatening to veto it, Trump finally signed the $1.3 trillion spending bill that blows up his own budget proposals, expands Obama-era programs, […]
March 23, 2018
Nietzsche’s Critique of the New Atheists
Traditional atheists argue that God does not exist. The “new atheists” employ a moral argument against God, trying to make the case that God and believers in God are bad, then jumping to the non sequitur that He therefore does not exist. Then there is Friedrich Nietzsche, the arch-atheist, who is in a class by himself, rejecting […]
