Ex Aegypto vocavi filium meum. “Out of Egypt have I called my son.” We all know this quote from having heard, year after year, the Gospel readings in connection with Christmas and the events that follow it. The Holy Family had to flee to Egypt from Herod, who was about to mount the Slaughter of … Read more
Bound up with the biblical understanding of God from the get-go is the conviction (one almost wants to call it the foregone conclusion) that God knows the future. This isn’t always necessarily the case with those delightful works of pagan imagination called “the gods.” In some pagan myths, one gets the impression that the … Read more
Discussing the moral sense of Scripture would seem easy. After all, we’re talking the Good Book here. Even when they were busy abandoning Christianity as supernatural revelation from God, Americans for the past couple of generations still tended to treat the Bible as a Solid Moral Code Enshrining Tested Values with some lingering respectability. … Read more
Recently on the InsideCatholic blog, Irene Lagan remarked how in Rome there was a palpable public sense of joy over the election of Barack Obama. News reports from November 5 told of a similar story around the globe. Of course, given the pre-election polls showing strong international support for Obama’s candidacy, this wasn’t surprising. But … Read more
InsideCatholic is headquartered in Washington, D.C., but I write from Oxford, Mississippi. Oxford has a population of about 14,000, which approximately doubles when the University of Mississippi students are in town. So, as you might imagine, the presidential debate here at Ole Miss tonight — assuming it comes off — is a big deal. The … Read more
By adding Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain made his presidential ticket a whole lot more attractive. (See my own endorsement: “Me Vote Pretty This Time.”) Of course, Palin’s presence is no guarantee that McCain will keep his word and appoint solid choices to the U.S. Supreme Court — any more than doting husband Al … Read more
Archaeologists find a pre-Christian stone that describes a savior who will die and rise in three days. Has Christianity been debunked? Mark Shea takes a look. In a story that has "Academic Seeks Publicity Gig" written all over it, the New York Times breathlessly revealed the other day that some professor had found a stone … Read more
Scott Hahn once remarked to me that the biblical pattern seems to be that what pride is to an individual person, nationalism is to a people. Sooner or later, every people seems to hit the point where they want to feel as though they occupy a special and privileged place in the Divine Plan. Now, … Read more
Storms are not the only things that have been flooding the United States this summer. There has been a deluge of wonderful classical music CD releases. I aver that this time — our time — will go down as the golden age of recording. The riches are unbelievable. It’s not simply that I am now … Read more
Every now and then, I come across a film of such unexpected charm and emotional power that I find myself compelled to recommend it to anyone and everyone who will listen. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made … Read more
Catholics in the United States have been slow to grasp the problems facing Christians living in the Holy Land. Many Catholics don’t even know they are there, or that they are Arab Christians. Most Americans equate Arabs with Muslims, in spite of the fact that Arabs were Christians long before they were Muslims. Arab Christian … Read more
A few days ago, Osama bin Laden released a message threatening Benedict XVI for leading a “new Crusade” against Islam. Whether he meant to or not, the Holy Father issued a ringing answer to the architect of 9/11 by receiving into the Church Europe’s most vocal Muslim critic of bin Laden and Islamic terrorism. Magdi … Read more
A couple of weeks ago, I made the case that the biblical warnings against confusing the traditions of men with the Tradition of God still apply in our day. A few days later, as if divinely ordained to illustrate my point, an outraged reader of my blog sent along a story that recently ran on British … Read more
You’ve got to hand it to Hollywood producer James Cameron: He’s not about to let his lack of knowledge, credentials, and competence stand in the way of announcing a major archaeological find. On March 4, the Discovery Channel aired a Cameron-produced documentary titled “The Lost Tomb of Jesus.” In it, various “experts” argue that a … Read more
Dinesh D’Souza knows controversy. The author of the bombshells Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus (Free Press, 1998), The End of Racism (Free Press, 1996), and What’s So Great About America (Penguin, 2003) — as well as a former editor of crisis — he is not afraid to stir things up. … Read more
I met my guide, Helmut Konitzer, at the airport. A German who visits the West Bank to assist the sisters, monks, and priests living there, Helmut had the look of a well-cut drifter. I wasn’t surprised when he told me his preferred mode of transportation was his motorcycle, especially when medicines have to be delivered quickly … Read more
The Jesus Seminar, so-called, has been running out of steam. Its two flagship projects on the words of Jesus and the deeds of Jesus recently have been completed. The chairman, Robert Funk, has great agendas for reconstructing the whole of the first five centuries of Christianity, showing that the creeds and theology of St. Paul … Read more