Silly me

From the State of the Union: “Yet the destination of history is determined by human action, and every great movement of history comes to a point of choosing.” And all along I’ve been thinking it was divine providence. Continue Reading...

Building on the tithe

A brief opinion from yours truly, featured in the February issue of The Banner, the denominational magazine of the Christian Reformed Church in North America: “Building on the Tithe.” With an eye towards Christians in other parts of the world, I observe, “In North America the conflict we face is largely between spending our leisure or disposable income on ourselves and spending it on others.” Continue Reading...

Everyone is valuable

An excellent post by Bryan Caplan at EconLog examines the intentions of eugenics against the actual effects of the implementation of such policies. His point? “Even if genetics explained ALL differences in success, many policies that raise average genetic quality would backfire.” Continue Reading...

Epiphany and creation

Today, Orthodox Christians all over the world are celebrating Epiphany, one of the great feast days of the Eastern Church. Epiphany is, for the Orthodox, the manifestation of the Lord’s divinity and the mystery of the Trinity, the inauguration of the sacrament of baptism, and the beginning of the preaching of the Kingdom of Heaven. Continue Reading...

Brief Stark review

First item in this month’s Christianity Today Bookmarks. Conclusion: “Disconcertingly, Stark argues without qualification, nuance, and the balancing of perspectives that academics love so much. Nonetheless, he may be right.” Continue Reading...

Reason and revelation

Here’s what Shakespeare’s Hamlet has to say: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy” (Hamlet, 1.V). To be sure, the immediate cause of Hamlet’s comment is the appearance of the ghost of his father. Continue Reading...

Prayer of the Incarnation

O God, who didst wonderfully create, and yet more wonderfully restore, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, thy Son Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Continue Reading...

Come, ye believers!

From the Orthros service (Tone 4) which precedes the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox churches on December 25, the Nativity of Christ. Come, ye believers, let us see where Christ was born. Continue Reading...

The Coventry Carol

The Coventry Carol (Words Attributed to Robert Croo, 1534; English Melody, 1591). Click here for MIDI version (and sing along!) Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child, By by, lully lullay. Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child, By by, lully lullay. Continue Reading...

A Stark contrast

Kishore has helpfully pointed out the discussions going on elsewhere about Rodney Stark’s piece and the related NYT David Brook’s op-ed. He derides some of the commenters for their lack of economic understanding, but I’d like to applaud one commenter’s post. Continue Reading...