Idols and icons
Theophanes the Greek, icon of the Transfiguration (1408). When Jesus was transfigured, Peter wanted to take the moment and hold onto it by building dwellings on the mountaintop. But Jesus, who knew the difference between idols and icons, said no. Image source: Wikimedia Commons Paula Kirby used to be a Christian but now she’s not. [...]
Negative theology and the foolishness of progressive postmodern Christians
The Tetragrammaton in Paleo-Hebrew, which today is often written YHWH or Yahweh. Its origin is thought by many to be Exodus 3, in which Moses is instructed to tell the people that “I Am” sent him. In Christian scripture it is translated “The Lord,” written in small caps. Observant Jews write but do not speak [...]
Worldwide arks!
A full-scale replica of Giraffa camelopardalis peers out from the deck of a full-scale replica of Noah’s Ark. This particular replica (of the ark, not the giraffe) is being built by Johan Huibers of Dordrecht, the Netherlands. Photo: Michel de Groot/The New York Times Just yesterday, the New York Times posted an article about a [...]
Notes on my delusion
Not deluded, apparently: Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale, 1800. Jefferson is quoted by Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion thus: “Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.” I wonder if Jefferson knew that orthodox Christian [...]
Who’s afraid of the dark?
Hawking at the Perimeter Institute For Theoretical Physics in Ontario, June 2010. Image source: Reuters. Photo by Sheryl Nadler Great news! The Wheeled One is going on about God again! Last time it was about our God-free “creation.” This time it’s about the afterlife. There’s a short but entertaining piece at Real Clear Science that [...]
Two days and counting: What about Fluffy?
An image from this video from After the Rapture Pet Care. Image source: timesunion.com Lo, the day draws nigh! The folks over at Family Radio must be all in a tizz. Why? Well, because Jesus is coming back on Saturday and he’s taking all the good people — them — back to heaven with him. [...]
Percy’s conundrum
Walker Percy (1916-1990). Image source: Wikipedia. Here’s a wonderful excerpt on Percy from HiLoBrow (“middlebrow’s not the solution”): “So, if you want to be Walker Percy, here’s what you do: have a father (whose own father committed suicide) who shoots himself with a shotgun when you’re twelve. Have a mother who might or might not [...]
Behold the Kepler Collection
Kepler‘s planets, seen in silhouette, against their parent stars. The star colors — which are accurate — indicate temperature: the redder, the cooler; the bluer, the hotter. These are not images taken by Kepler, but are generated from Kepler data; measurements of the stars’ temperatures and distances help astronomers determine their luminosities, and once these [...]
XI. Thou shalt not speak before thinking
Fra Angelico, Peter Martyr Enjoins Silence, c.1441. Peter Martyr, known also as St. Peter of Verona, was an Italian Dominican friar whose preaching was responsible for returning many heretics, most notably Cathari, to orthodoxy. Catharism was a religious movement with dualist tendencies; that is, it held that there was a God of Good and a [...]
Art Sunday: Seven from Sister Wendy Beckett
Pia Stern, The Room of Longing (2008). “I saw the spirituality of her images right from the start,” said Sister Wendy of Ms. Stern’s work. Wendy’s enthusiasm for Ms. Stern made me curious, and today I’m a fan. See more of her work here. Used by permission of the artist. Click on image for a [...]
