Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 368

Weird math fact

A comic strip  (which you can see here after the jump) raised a mathematical conundrum that I’ve been trying to get my mind around.  Maybe you can help. (1) 9 x 1/9 = 1.   Right?  That’s what the fraction 1/9 means. (2)  1/9 = .1111111. . .  If you turn 1/9 into its decimal form, [Read More...]

An Easter sermon by Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela died at the age of 95.  He exemplifed an unusual kind of political power.  He spent 27 years in prison for his anti-apartheid activism in South Africa.  Whereupon he built up so much moral authority that the apartheid government, with its overtly racist system in which whites ruled over blacks,  ended up dismantling [Read More...]

The Christianity of Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela, who led South Africa out of racial apartheid, was a Christian, whose faith shaped his activism.  So reports British journalist Michael Trimmer after the jump. From Michael Trimmer, Nelson Mandela and his faith | Christian News on Christian Today [a British publication, not to be confused with Christianity Today]: Although it is almost [Read More...]

Christ’s use of donkeys

The Gospel reading for the first Sunday of Advent last week was about Christ’s Triumphal Entry.  Rev. William Weedon, the chaplain of the LCMS headquarters in St. Louis, preached about Christ coming on that donkey.  He started by quoting G. K. Chesterton’s poem  on the subject.  He goes on to point out how God seems [Read More...]

Church growth for confessional Lutherans

OK, I’ve been kind of hard on the church growth movement lately (e.g., here and here), but I acknowledge its good intentions and practical advice.  My CCLE colleague Paul J. Cain (not to be confused with Paul McCain), is a confessional Lutheran pastor in Wyoming who has published a little book entitled  5 Things You [Read More...]

Lawsuit over the Statue of Liberty

You know the  “forever” stamp with a closeup of the face of the Statue of Liberty?  A few years ago, there was a bit of controversy when it was discovered that the image on the stamp is not of the Lady Liberty who presides over the harbor at New York City.  Rather, it is a [Read More...]

“The Lord sustains my life”

A Nigerian ship sank to the bottom of the Atlantic.  Three days later, divers went down to recover the bodies.  As a diver reached out to a floating hand, the hand grabbed him.  A man survived, thanks to an air pocket and a bottle of Coke.  And, of course, God.  All through his ordeal, he [Read More...]

Man as hybrid of chimp and pig

A prominent evolutionary scientist, Dr. Eugene M. McCarthy, is advancing a new theory about the origins of man.  He says that while it is true that a chimpanzee is our closest genetic relative, human beings have characteristics that are unlike any other primate.  For example, we lack the hairy hide of chimps and instead have [Read More...]

What’s the matter with kids these days?

My former student Brett Harris shows that he was paying attention when our literature class studied irony.  But notice his overall point: Young people have absolutely NOTHING to offer. The sooner they realize this and stop trying to do grownup stuff the better for everyone. For example, this 13-year-old girl got so overwhelmed visiting a [Read More...]

Charismatic sacrament, charismatic liturgy

Charismatic Christians consider “praise and worship songs” to be, in effect, sacramental, bringing worshippers into the presence of God.  So observes Matthew Sigler, who supports this tradition.  Furthermore, he says, the music and other features of contemporary worship, as the Charismatics devised it, unfolds in a specific sequence according to a theological model.  That is [Read More...]