Category: Uncategorized
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Christianity of the Third Millennium: A Response
I very much enjoyed reading Benjamin Bjorkman’s “Christianity of the Third Millennium.” Based on the PC games Ben and I enjoy, one can surmise that we both find it fun to look into the future with an eye toward strategy. At the same time, I do wish to voice a few criticisms of his article,…
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Of Concupiscence and Temptation
When I was younger, I remember confessing my temptations to a priest. He swiftly admonished my ignorance on the situation. “Being tempted to sin is not a sin,” he told me, “but rather succumbing to the temptation by acting upon it. Think about it: Jesus would have been guilty of committing a sin when He…
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Mass Production
It’s something I’ve felt, and undoubtedly something other people have felt. Things seem… cheaper. With regards to price, perhaps, but certainly with regards to quality. I can point out a myriad of examples, but I’d like to highlight just a few. Reasonable quality fabric used to be extremely durable and well-designed. People had one, maybe…
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On Reading Scripture “Literally”
When I was studying theology at Loyola, my Old Testament professor told our class that we should seek to read the Bible literally, but not always verbatim. Coming from a theology department that was lacking in Protestant fundamentalists, this comment impressed me. My professor went on to say that when approaching scripture, we should take…
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A Message to Incels
You have my sympathies. The traditional role as butt of the joke in every situation is small comfort. As a Christian on the internet, I would know a little about that. However, rather than hold a collective pity party, I would prefer to share a Christian perspective which I believe is relevant and which I…
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Why and How to Keep Up with World News
When Americans look around the world, we often see more of ourselves. America boasts massive influence in the international community. From America come many of the world’s top academic institutions, the greatest inventions of the past century, and the power behind general global peace and economic prosperity. In spite of the millennia-old musical traditions of…
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The Crescent Moon and the Church of the Nones
Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light. God saw that the light was good. God then separated the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:3-4) God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God. (Nicene Creed) A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the…
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Is Circumcision Efficacious?
This is a response to Daniel Sutkowski’s Baptism and Circumcision, which extended into his conversation with Anisha on Efficacious Baptism. I push back against the stance that physical circumcision is efficacious. Daniel contends that physical circumcision is efficacious.* Efficacy entails not only necessity, but also sufficiency. (Genesis 17:4 commands circumcision, making it a necessary to…
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The Strange Image of America
It is common in American immigrant communities to view things from their ancestral homeland as sacred and holy, while viewing everything American as profane and disposable. This trend is difficult to quantify, and it is based solely on my observations. Yet I noticed it consistently throughout immigrants from Eastern Europe as well as even some…
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Simplicity and Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is soon approaching and there is so much good food to look forward to in the upcoming days. Thanksgiving, much like the Sabbath, is a day on which we rest and look back on all that we are grateful for. Yet despite the myriad of things that we can say we are truly glad…
