Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 4

Christmas? Pagan? No But New Years Day Is

Some atheists, Muslims and Christian fundamentalists like to grumble and gibe that the celebration of Christmas and Easter are “pagan.” They are right and they are wrong. They are right inasmuch as the wellsprings of our Western culture are deep in the pre-Christian cultures of Europe. They are wrong because the early Christians, like the […]

Yes, Jesus Really Was Born in Bethlehem on December 25

There is an increasingly silly notion going around that Jesus never really existed, and if he did the stories about him in the New Testament are sort of like Johnny Appleseed legends and have as much to do with the historical Jesus as the Disney film has to do with a real life Native American […]

The Bethlehem Shepherds Were Not Just Country Bumpkins

The charming story of Christmas night is that the shepherds were a bunch of country bumpkins who were dozing around the fire on the hillside when some angels appeared in the sky and sang “Glory Hallelujah” and the farmers rubbed their chins and said, “Ye know Festus, I speck we oughter go down there to […]

Yes, Jesus Really Existed and He Was Born on December 25

When will the silly nonsense stop? Once again this year we will hear from internet atheists about how “There is no evidence that Jesus ever existed. His “birthday” was simply the fact that the early Christians took over the Roman mid winter feast of Saturnalia and the birth of Sol Invictus -the unconquered Sun.” First […]

The Power of Podcasting

I’ve always been amazed at the power of the blog. You can write an article and post it instantly for worldwide publication. Podcasting has become easier and easier and over at my main blog I have now started several different podcast series. You can listen to a twenty three part series on church history called Triumphs […]

Does DNA Prove Noah’s Ark?

Have scientists proven the story of Noah’s Ark? A most interesting article popped up in the news feed this morning. The headline asks whether some great cataclysm happened before Adam and Eve. The story goes like this: In one of the most provocative and misunderstood studies of the year, scientists in the U.S. and Switzerland […]

Tree of Life Synagogue and the Tree of Death

I couldn’t help noticing the irony that the terrible shooting over the weekend took place in a synagogue named “Tree of Life” My blog post today over at my main blog explores the heart of darkness in yet another senseless killing in America. So in a calm weekend in suburbia another gunman loads his weapon […]

Cardinal Whirl Resigns

What if there were a terrible scandal in the church and the leading cardinal archbishop of the nation decided to accept the blame and wrote this resignation letter? Go here to read it  

Does This Mean Death for the Death Penalty?

Pope Francis’ ruling that the death penalty is inadmissible in all circumstances has raised the temperature on this debate in the Catholic Church. I’ve written on the subject over at my main blog here and on the hierarchy of truth in the Catholic Church here. My own views? I think it is a good decision […]

The Collusion and Confusion of Catholic Bishops

What is to be made of the increasing moral confusion and seeming collusion of the Catholic bishops in the new wave of sexual scandals? Ed Condon at Catholic News Agency outlines the problem here. He points out that the case of Cardinal McCarrick is just one of a number of scandals on the level of […]