Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 114

Romance of Religion for Christmas

Why not order a signed copy of my book The Romance of Religion as a Christmas gift? Here’s an excerpt In a world of useful things it might seem absurd to write a book in praise of romance. Who needs romance in a world that has been rationalized, economized, mechanized and computerized? Can romance survive in [Read More...]

Mother Mary and Calvinist Me

On this busy Solemnity there has been no chance to share my thoughts about the personal effect the dogma of the Immaculate Conception has had on me. Coming from an Evangelical background with a strong Calvinist slant, I was taught the doctrines of Total Depravity and Eternal Security. The subtleties of these beliefs, their nuances, [Read More...]

Did John the Baptist Really Eat Grasshoppers?

On the second Sunday of Advent I am always intrigued by John the Baptist’s diet of “locusts and wild honey.” The locust is a large grasshopper common in many places of the world. Known for swarming and devouring huge swathes of greenery and causing famine, it could be that the people of the Middle East [Read More...]

A Post for Slap A Heretic Day

In commemoration of St Nicholas who famously slugged the heretic Arius I publish this piece written a few months ago for The Catholic Thing website: There was an odious man named Frank in our fundamentalist church when I was a boy who had a brood of badly behaved children. When one of them would act [Read More...]

The Coming Demographic Winter

Catholic convert Charles Moore write in today’s Daily Telegraph about the coming demographic winter. This is the term for the plummeting birth rate in developed world and the catastrophic economic and social effects. He highlights P.D.James’ novel The Children of Men–a dystopian novel that, I predict, will become increasingly famous as her predictions prove true. James [Read More...]

What Ever Happened to St Nicholas?

My latest article for Imaginative Conservative charts the evolution of St Nicholas–the fourth century, heretic slapping bishop of Myra to Santa Claus–a Coca Cola swilling American elf St. Nicholas travelled well because, among other things, he was the patron saint of seafarers. Therefore, the first Europeans to arrive in the New World travelled with St. [Read More...]

Frankenstein…not the Monster….the Church

One of the delights during my recent visit to Missouri was an afternoon tour of some of the country churches of the Diocese of Jefferson City. This church in the tiny town of Frankenstein was a delight Built in the Romanesque style, it is a delightful version of Romanesque scaled down for a small country [Read More...]

The Angels of Advent

I’m of the opinion that angelic encounters are far more frequent than many people think. It’s just that who talks about it? Who was aware that what happened was an angelic interruption? Maybe that meaningful dream you had, that close call you had in the car, that accident that didn’t happen, that chance meeting that [Read More...]

Here’s Why You Hate Round Churches

Have you noticed that nobody loves modern churches? Nobody. I mean NOBODY. Seriously. Have you ever met anyone who sees a church like this and and heard them whisper, “I just love that church! It is so inspiring!”. No. Never. Have you ever gone into a “worship space” like this and heard someone say how [Read More...]

Catholic Churches Bouncing Back from Wreckovation

I have written several posts this week about the brutal iconoclasm that took place in American Catholic churches over the last fifty years. I was therefore delighted this afternoon to be taken on a tour of some central Missouri country churches where pastors and people are restoring beauty and dignity to their old churches. The [Read More...]