Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 377
October 30, 2013
Justification by Faith Alone is Still the Issue
Back in the 1990s, I was asked to be on the council of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, an organization dedicated to applying the solas of the Reformation to contemporary Christianity. Organizations change, and I’m not a part of it anymore. But I was recently asked to contribute a post for the group’s website Place [Read More...]
Millions of health insurance cancellations
Millions of Americans already have individual health insurance plans. They chose their plans based on the services and coverage they needed or didn’t need and what they could afford. But now most of those already-insured Americans–maybe as many as 75% of them–are getting cancellation notices. Their existing policies don’t have all of the mandates required [Read More...]
October 29, 2013
“We are beggars; this is true”
The Reformation can be summed up in six words, according to our pastor in his Reformation Day sermon last Sunday. Not the solas, not some version of “Here I stand,” but the words written down on a scrap of paper that Luther had in his pocket on his deathbed: “We are beggars; this is true.” [Read More...]
Madisonian politics
George Will has found something that President Obama and the Tea Party have in common: Both disdain Madisonian politics; that is, the checks and balances that require the different factions to compromise with each other, as built into the very structure of Constitutional governance. From George F. Will: What Obama and the tea party share [Read More...]
Bible movies in the works
Major Hollywood studios are working on movies based on stories from the Bible. See the list after the jump. From Sarah Pulliam Bailey, whose story goes into detail about why and how filmmakers are turning to Biblical source material. Go to Hollywood looks to the Bible for screenplay potential | Religion News Service: LD Entertainment [Read More...]
October 28, 2013
Holy Communion, Culture, & Vocation
We often talk about how God works through material elements in the sacraments to convey His grace in Christ. But I came across a quotation that adds a dimension I never thought of before. The water of Baptism is certainly a natural substance, but the bread and wine of Holy Communion do not occur from [Read More...]
What the crises in health care and higher education have in common
Patrick J. Deneen writes about the similarities between the current crises in health care and education. He argues that the solutions put forward by both the left and the right will not work. Since both spheres had their origin in the work of the Church, he calls for a rediscovery of the Christian concept of [Read More...]
Our foreign relations debacle
American citizens in great numbers resented the revelations via Edward Snowden that the NSA was monitoring their e-mails and phone calls. But the outrage is even greater among our allies, who learned that not only was our government snooping on their citizens, but that we were specifically eavesdropping on as many as 35 government leaders, [Read More...]
October 25, 2013
When a bishop does not believe the Creed
The land of Gustavus Adolphus, who gave his life defending the Lutheran confessions, has chosen a new archbishop who denies that Christ was born of a virgin, rejects the existence of Hell, says that the Bible is not true, believes all religions are equally valid, but has a soft spot in her heart for Islam, [Read More...]
Central planning vs. complex systems
The problems with HealthCare.gov and the Obamacare rollout go beyond the technical glitches, says Michael Gerson. He draws on economist Friedrich Hayek, who showed why highly complex systems simply cannot be managed by centralized technocratic planners. From: Michael Gerson: Ailing Obamacare could become a crisis for liberalism – The Washington Post. The failed rollout has [Read More...]
