So it’s a myth. Now let’s go to church
A billboard outside the Lincoln Tunnel in NYC carries this message. But all of us unreasonable Christians have nothing to worry about Just today, Fox Nation broke the first of what will certainly be a nice long string of “Save Christmas!” stories. Apparently American Atheists have placed the above message on a billboard, right out [...]
Jesus and Buddha are alive and well in suburban Tokyo
Buddha and Jesus wait for the train during rush hour in suburban Tokyo. The two spiritual masters leave Paradise to spend some time in the 21st century in Nakamura Hikaru‘s manga Seinto oniisan, which, roughly translated, is Saint Young Men. In Japanese the title carries overtones of brotherliness. You can download a number of episodes [...]
Advent I: The waiting may not be, in fact, the hardest part
The annunciation to Zechariah. Gabriel stands on the left, Zechariah on the right. I’m not sure what the birds signify, but I like them. Ethiopian Orthodox icon, ca. 1700. Image source: Wikimedia Commons This is the First Sunday of Advent. Throughout this season I will be posting a small devotional-type thing like this one every [...]
Imagine there’s no heaven
Gustave Doré, Rosa Celeste: Dante and Beatrice gaze upon the Empyrean, 1892. The big red X is of 21st century provenance. Source: Wikimedia Commons What makes a Christian, a Christian? More precisely: Must one believe in heaven to be a Christian? A few days ago, I wrote an opinion piece for Religion Dispatches. In this [...]
Hearing the whole concerto
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943). Source: www.sunar.ru It is 1902. You are attending a piano concerto. Imagine it is Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, a personal favorite of ours here at psnt.net, performed by the man himself. But suppose that when the music starts, something sounds wrong; you can’t hear the low tones of [...]
Queen of the Damned quits Christianity. One asks, why not?
Anne Rice by I Am Second. She was a Christian, now she’s not The news is a few weeks old, I guess, and maybe I need to get out more. But just this week it has come to my attention that Anne Rice, most famously the author of many dark and popular vampire tales, has [...]
Space Ranger Jesus rocks the Drake Equation
One of the most entertaining issues that comes up in any discussion about science and Christianity is the question of God, Jesus, the Atonement, and extraterrestrial life. (If you think this is not a serious issue for some people, please look here or here or here or here or even here.) Specifically, if we are [...]
The truth is not out there
It’s stunningly beautiful, yes. And unimaginably large. But you won’t find what you’re really looking for in NGC 6188, a star-forming region 4000 light years away in the southern constellation Ara. The light of young hot stars reflects off the dust in the cloud out of which they were formed several million years ago, and [...]
The Body of Christ, shattered again
Hans Holbein the Younger, The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb, 1522 Wieuca Road Baptist Church, the church that raised me and loved me without reserve, is laid out in its tomb. Once again the Body of Christ has been broken by anger, mistrust, and fear. Once again we humble ourselves and beg [...]
Mark Rothko recovers the sparrow
Mark Rothko. No. 61 (Rust and Blue), 1953 I have just finished reading a book called Buddhism is Not What You Think: Finding Freedom beyond Beliefs by Steve Hagen. There is a double meaning in the title because the book is about not-thinking and really seeing. In it Hagen writes of Foyan, an ancient Chinese [...]
