Headlines of religious and secular sites have abuzzed with the recent news of Pope Francis’ opening of the Holy Door of the Vatican in proclamation of the Jubilee of Mercy (also known as the Year of Mercy). Pope Francis speaks of this Year of Mercy as a “revolution of tenderness,” a subtle yet strong act against the violence and the suffering of our age. During this Year of Mercy, the Holy Father urges us to

When a Christian moves into a new town or city, typically one of the first things one does is look for a church. This situation commonly requires attending a number of different churches on Sunday mornings to see if the particular church fits in some way with predetermined criteria for how a church ought to be. Does the preaching proclaim the gospel? How is the music? How friendly are the people? What are the demographics

Happy Weekend and Happy New Year, Dear Readers! Below is this week’s selection of theology, religion, and current events articles from around the internet. If you read a thought-provoking or well-written article that did not make this list, feel free to share the link in the comments section below. Happy reading! Conciliar Post Allegory and the Church Fathers by Ben Winter Birth Pangs by Kenneth O’Shaughnessy Resolved: Learn More Doctrine by Jeff Reid The Problem

Oh sure there’s the baby shower But after that there just the waiting Well, and the nursery decorating And the putting things in order And the bag for the sudden flight And all the fears for the future And all the perhapses of the past And all the pushing pushing push And the breathe I know it hurts When all you need to decorate Is fresh straw and a star window Your hospital births lambs

Today the Virgin gives birth to him who is above all being, and the earth offers a cave to him whom no one can approach. There has been found the undug well From which David once longed to drink. For this, let us hasten to this place where there has been born A little Child, God before the ages… -Romanos the Melodist, trans. Ephrem Lash Blessed Christmas to you all! This week, find out what Christmas

“God has ventured all in Jesus Christ to save us….” –Oswald Chambers Tomorrow Christians around the world will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, Messiah of Israel, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Savior of Creation, Son of God, Logos Incarnate, God-become-man. This advent—arrival—and incarnation of the Christ has rightly fostered much contemplation from Christians over the centuries. Ranging from nativity accounts to creeds, and from hymns to Charlie Brown Christmas performances, Christians throughout the

In my favorite scene of the Jim Carrey flick Bruce Almighty––after Bruce has been given Divine powers only to abuse them, then hit rock bottom and seek reconciliation with his girlfriend––Bruce asks God [played by Morgan Freeman]: “How do you make someone love you without affecting their free will?” To which Morgan Freeman responds, “Welcome to my world, son.  You find an answer to that, you let me know.” For the Reformed Calvinist, this problem

These are hard times. All we have to do is look around us and we see that our world is in serious trouble. Where can we turn, where can we go? People try to blame guns, abortion laws, or terrorism. But until we see ourselves in Christ as the solution to these problems we will never make any progress. We are not helpless. When it comes to sin, nothing is really new under the sun.

Can God feel? For years, I didn’t think so.  I grew up in a very conservative Christian environment that imparted many benefits to me, but it also scarred me in some deep ways, particularly in leaving me with a flawed perception of God.  To its credit, this movement developed in rejection of the emotionally-charged mainstream churches that prioritize a “feeling” of closeness with God over the relationship itself, which ought to be steeped in the

Do the best things only happen when we pray? If so, from your lips to God’s ear; only you hear me. For every Rachael there’s a Leah For every Lot a wife and daughters For every Shunamite woman a Shunamite woman So we sit in the darkest place at the darkest time Rendering to Caesar our inheritance Marrying and giving in marriage Watching sheep and stars by night And Christ comes when nobody is looking

Happy Weekend, Dear Readers! As we continue moving through the Advent Season, we hope that you are able to find time to reflect on the gifts that God has given us through his Incarnation. As an aid to your own reflection, we have curated a list of articles from the past week for consideration. Articles considered deal with Christian theology specifically, religion in a broad sense, and current events. If you read a thought-provoking or

Introduction The Christological controversies of the early Church are simultaneously some of the most fascinating and frustrating events of Christian history. At the third of the four great ecumenical councils—Ephesus, in 431 AD—the theologies of Cyril of Alexandria and Nestorius of Constantinople squared off concerning the makeup of the person of Christ. The heart of this debate was whether there were two distinct persons (divine logos and human) within the incarnate Jesus Christ, or if

On the Rich Man and Lazarus Our whole life is one of choices, and they all have consequences. Yet at the same time we did not choose to be male or female, short or tall. We did not choose to be born on the day or century we were born.  We are here at the corner of two streets, Lemon Creek and Garr, because we choose to be and yet we did not choose for

By Blake Hartung The last book of the Bible, the Revelation (or Apocalypse) of John, has been a consistent source of mystery and bewilderment for Christians since its composition in the last decade of the first century. This is of course, shouldn’t be too surprising; we are, after all, talking about the book that has given us such bizarre tableaux as a pregnant woman clothed in the sun pursued by a dragon, four colorful horsemen,

Happy Weekend and Happy December, Dear Readers! Below is this week’s selection of theology, religion, and current events articles from around the internet. If you read a thought-provoking or well-written article that did not make this list, feel free to share the link in the comments section below. Happy reading! Conciliar Post Catholic-Lutheran Dialogue on Grace: Part I by Benjamin Winter Remember Lot’s Wife by Kenneth O’Shaughnessy An Ex-Calvinists Tiptoe Through TULIP: Limited Atonement by

This article marks the close of my bi-weekly writing at Conciliar Post. It has been a joy to contribute and discuss the faith here. I hope I have produced a coherent framework in these articles for viewing all five branches of Christianity as one common faith to be embraced and learned from across denominations and lines of tradition. In my final regular article, I have no intent to malign Protestantism since I myself continue to

If you were a betting man (or woman), you’d probably agree that family stories are fairly memorable. So would I. Well, at least up until a couple weeks ago. It all started innocently enough. One of my sisters was taking a storytelling class. A recent assignment (beginning, you guessed it, a couple weeks ago) involved sharing one of those stories that must come up for a family gathering to actually be a family gathering. It

The Calvinist teaching of Limited Atonement is an understanding based upon a penal substitutionary model of Christ’s accomplishing salvation on the cross.  That is, salvation is understood to consist in Christ receiving God the Father’s wrath and punishment on the cross in the place of mankind, which results in a legal acquittal in the sight of the Father of people who accept this substitutionary gift.  However, since not everyone will accept this gift and be

This week, Conciliar Post saw the publication of another fascinating Round Table discussion. Check it out! Conciliar Post: JOHANNA BYRKETT: DARK NIGHTS END IN DAWN CHRIS CASBERG: STEPHEN COLBERT’S MINISTRY OF JOY VARIOUS AUTHORS: ROUND TABLE: AFTER DEATH JACOB PRAHLOW: IN A LAND WITH MUCH FOR WHICH TO BE THANKFUL JOHN EHRETT: V FOR VENDETTA AND THE PROBLEM OF EISEGESIS From Our Authors: JOHANNA BYRKETT: Cleansing Fire JACOB PRAHLOW: MHT: Assessing Historical Metanarratives (Part I)

Happy Thanksgiving, dear American readers! Today marks the day when we pause to take time away from our busy schedules to spend time with family, stuff ourselves with choice foods and rich drinks, watch copious amounts of football, and offer thanks to our Creator for His bountiful gifts. Meister Eckhart once said that “if the only prayer you ever say is thank you, it will be enough,” and today we stop to offer thanksgiving for