-
All Saints
O Almighty God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of thy Son Christ our Lord: Grant us grace so to follow thy blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys which thou hast prepared for those who unfeignedly…
-
A paleocon Democrat in the Senate?
I admit that I haven’t followed the Virginia Senate race between George Allen and Jim Webb very closely. I knew Webb was a former Republican and Reagan Administration official who opposed the Iraq war, but I assumed that meant he was some kind of centrist Republican. Turns out, though, that he’s got a long history…
-
Further Reformation Day reflections
LutherPunk and Without Authority both have worthwhile stuff to say on the issue of Protestant/Lutheran identity.
-
Whither Protestantism?
October 31st is traditionally observed, at least in Lutheran and some other Protestant churches, as “Reformation Day.” The idea is to commemorate Martin Luther’s posting of his 95 theses and the unofficial beginning of the Reformation. However, in these more ecumenical times, the triumphalism of Reformation Days past is significantly muted. The legacy of the…
-
Putting the conserve back in conservatism
The Boston Globe ran an article yesterday on the attempt by some activists to reach out to evangelicals on environmental issues. A new documentary “The Great Warming” is aimed at least in part directly at mainstream conservative Christians and features appearances by Richard Cizik, an official at the National Association of Evangelicals. It’s fairly easy…
-
Dinner with Bishop Wright
So, yesterday at about four o’clock I received a somewhat cryptic e-mail from the curate of our church asking if I had gotten the invitation to “dinner with Bishop Wright.” I hadn’t received any such thing and, intrigued, I gave him a call. And it turned out, yes, he meant that Bishop Wright, the Bishop…
-
Taking Ahmadinejad seriously
Not what you might think. The always-interesting Paul Griffiths asks what would happen if American Christians took seriously the Iranian president’s advice to President Bush (whether sincerely intended or not) that he be guided above all else by his professed faith.
-
The immortality diet
This article about one writer’s attempt to practice the so-called Calorie Restriction Diet is very interesting. The CR diet, which essentially entails keeping one’s caloric intake to near-starvation levels has a fair bit of scientific evidence indicating that it may substantially increase one’s lifespan. Indeed, some of the practicioners seem to think it could provide…
-
Diocese of Mass: Just say no to marriage?
Some priests in the Episcopal diocese of Massachusetts are sponsoring a resolution to be considered at the upcoming diocesan convention that would get the church out of the business of marrying people. Instead, couples would have to get married by a justice of the peace and could then come to the church for a blessing…
-
Living in the Berkeley of the East Coast
Someone told me the other day that in something like 80% of the congressional races in Massachusetts there is no Republican even running. However, in my district, the incumbent Democrat, Michael Capuano, is not running unopposed. It just so happens that his opponent is running on the Socialist Workers Party ticket. We also have three…
