Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 67

Is “Conservative Dissent” Brewing Inside the Vatican?

  This article from the Washington Post gives a typical progressive slant on Catholic news. The headline suggests that “Conservative Dissent is Brewing Inside the Vatican.” Ho  hum. You can guess the tired narrative: Pope Francis is the great reformer who wants to clean up the corrupt Vatican Bank, open communion to divorced and re-married [Read More...]

Did Jesus Have Brothers and Sisters?

A reader commented recently that she has a Protestant friend who always refers to St James as “Jesus’ baby brother.” Maybe, and then again maybe not. The early church taught that the “brothers and sisters” of Jesus were his kinsmen from his extended family–most probably the half brothers and sisters from an earlier marriage of [Read More...]

Why the Kim Davis Case Matters

I’m sorry, but I can’t jump on the “Defend Kim Davis” bandwagon. I respect the woman’s faith and courage immensely, but I have explained here why I think her uncompromising stance is not actually the right decision at this time. In this article I compared her case to that of St Thomas More. If Ms Davis had been [Read More...]

Hobbit Holes and the Holy

This week’s article at The Imaginative Conservative is an abridged version of a chapter from my book The Romance of Religion This is why the hobbit (and Alice’s rabbit) lived down a hole. The hole was the entrance to the underworld. This is why Dante went through a dark wood and found a hole down [Read More...]

Is Hell Eternal?

Let me say right up front that I hope hell is not eternal. I hope God finds a way to offer his forgiveness even to those who are in hell. In fact, I’ll jump on the speculative theological bandwagon and propose that God’s mercy–since it is everlasting–will extend even to hell. I know I am [Read More...]

Pope Francis and Billy Graham

  My post for Aleteia this week compares the preaching method and message of Billy Graham and Pope Francis. I sometimes think the Pope is more Evangelical than Billy Graham. Like most Evangelicals of his generation, Graham was famous for inviting people to turn from their sins and have a “personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” [Read More...]

Kim Davis and Thomas More

As Kentucky clerk Kim Davis does jail time I have been thinking all day about her case compared to St Thomas More. What should a Christian do when their conscience clashes with the law of the land? When they actually work for the government the situation is different than that of an ordinary citizen. Thomas [Read More...]

Little Boy. Big Movie

I finally got the chance to watch Little Boy –the family film that came out in theaters last summer and is now released on DVD When his dad enlists in the army and disappears to fight the Japanese, seven year old Pepper Busbee’s world is shattered. Wanting to get his Dad back, he learns that magic won’t work, [Read More...]

English Aleteia Has a Facelift

Wow! Go here to see the beautiful re-design of the Aleteia website. Aleteia is a growing international Catholic website. It combines news, comment and Catholic insights on the news from around the world. I’m honored to be one of their regular contributors and look forward to working with my former colleague from Patheos–Elizabeth Scalia–as she [Read More...]

Abortion and Invincible Ignorance

In Catholic theology “invincible ignorance” is simply the lack of knowledge about the faith for which a person is not held responsible. So, for example, primitive people who have never heard the gospel, infant who have yet to learn,  and people who because of mental illness or disability cannot learn the faith. The term has [Read More...]