Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 38

The King is Asleep

All powerful and ever-living God Your only Son went down among the dead And rose again in glory. In your goodness Raise up your faithful people buried with him in baptism to be one with him in the eternal life of heaven where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit One God, [Read More...]

Why is Christianity is the Best Religion?

I know. I know. This is not really politically correct. You’re supposed to pretend that all religions are equal. The comparative religions professor (who has comparatively no religion) teaches that all religions are human inventions based on interesting and unique historical circumstances and cultures. The theory is that religions developed from animism when cavemen grunted [Read More...]

The Resurrection and the Death of Atheism

This week’s article for Aleteia gives a brief outline of the arguments for the resurrection of Jesus Christ and why that is the best evidence for the existence of God. Atheists like to say, “Where is the evidence for the existence of God?,” and philosophical arguments aren’t really evidence as such. They work well enough, [Read More...]

Nuns in Washington: Who’s Not There?

Embed from Getty Images I don’t know, so I’m simply asking. I’ve seen pictures of various Catholic religious women in Washington standing up for The Little Sisters of the Poor. All the pictures I’ve seen are women in religious habits. As you may know, the Catholic women religious in the United States are divided into [Read More...]

Tonight I Will Kiss Feet

Tonight’s liturgy is the most poignant and tender of the year. We gather to commemorate the Lord’s Supper, and at the heart of the liturgy is the solemn ceremony of washing feet. The ceremony adds weight to the Chrism Mass earlier in the day when the priestly ministry is re-affirmed because the twelve men whose [Read More...]

Be A Friday Fish Eater

My latest article for Aleteia explains why we give up meat on Good Friday and the Fridays in Lent (and I’d suggest every Friday) A Protestant friend who lived in Philadelphia once said, “You know why those Catholics eat fish on Friday? They’re all Italians, and the Italians have the fish market downtown. So they got the [Read More...]

Blame Bad People not All People

What is it with bigotry? This week I’ve had people blaming whole groups for the crimes of a few. I’ve had Christians saying, “The Jews killed Jesus.” I’ve had Jews saying, “Catholics hate Jews because they say Jews killed Jesus.” I’ve had Christians saying, “Muslims are terrorists.” Stop. These accusations are stupid and dangerous. The [Read More...]

How Tenderness Leads to the Gas Chamber

Flannery O’Connor wrote, “In the absence of faith, we govern by tenderness.  And tenderness leads to the gas chamber.” Whaat? Here’s what she’s getting at: People who have left the Christian faith wish to retain the remnants of the Christian faith. They want beauty without truth. They want spirituality without religion. They want forgiveness without [Read More...]

What is Fundamentalism?

You can ask me. I’m a Bob Jones graduate remember? When I was at Bob Jones the term “fundamentalist” was only just beginning to get traction as a pejorative term. The Protestant fundamentalists at Bob Jones wore the label with pride. It set them apart from the Evangelicals they considered to be sweet, soft and [Read More...]

Killing the Way, the Truth and the Life

As we enter Holy Week we must remember the huge consequences of the choice made by human beings on that fatal week. The death of Jesus is not simply the tragic death of a good man. It is not just the heroic death of an idealistic martyr. It is not just the unjust execution of [Read More...]