Category Archives: Christianity

Why a Dose of Awe May Be All the Medicine You Need

Posted on September 15, 2018 by salooper57

There is a not-so-new but surprisingly effective aid for treating many social, personal, and spiritual problems: awe. If you’re stressed out, worried about money, or breathlessly short of time, you need to get your mind blown. Recent science suggests that … Continue reading →

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Everyone Loves a Winner

Posted on September 1, 2018 by salooper57

Everyone loves a winner. Or hates a winner. It depends how he or she won. Ashley Thomas, a researcher in cognitive development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, has found that even very young children have a predilection … Continue reading →

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Mea Culpa

Posted on August 5, 2018 by salooper57

A reader from Ohio called the office this week, wanting to talk about the Saturday, July 28th column in the Canton Repository, which was also posted to this blog. She had to hunt down my phone number, so it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Christianity, Faith, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Can Hope Be Found in Present-Day America?

Posted on July 28, 2018 by salooper57

I was once on a college campus for a conference that featured a prominent biologist as a keynote speaker. During his talk, he defended Darwinian evolutionary theory from attacks by other academics. Whether his defense was successful or not was … Continue reading →

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Give Your Kids a Clear Alternative

Posted on July 14, 2018 by salooper57

Your teen daughter’s favorite show is “Pretty Little Liars.” Week by week she learns the singular lesson that her value depends on being beautiful, rich, and sexy. Her younger brother hardly watches TV anymore, and you are relieved: their fights … Continue reading →

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It’s Time to Get Out of Line

Posted on June 9, 2018 by salooper57

By Martin Lewison from The Hague, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands – Cedar Point and Oberlin’s CommencementUploaded by Themeparkgc, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26787830 The church I attended as a teen had a gold-colored carpet, cream-colored walls, and a dark-stained wood trim. In … Continue reading →

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Tolkien, God, and Character Development

Posted on June 2, 2018 by salooper57

Joseph Pearce, in the book Tolkien: Man and Myth tells how, in a 1997 poll, English readers voted J.R.R. Tolkien’s, The Lord of the Rings, the book of the century. The literati were embarrassed by their fellow-countrymen. In a nation … Continue reading →

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Think You Know What the Bible Really Says?

Posted on May 26, 2018 by salooper57

The first line of the Nicene Creed is, “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.” This claim has, as I have previously argued, practical implications. For example, … Continue reading →

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What Do Those Lyrics Mean, Anyway?

Posted on April 22, 2018 by salooper57

I was a teenager when Don McLean’s classic song, “American Pie,” came out. In study hall, my friends and I would debate the meaning of the lyrics, when we were supposed to be doing our homework. We would wonder out … Continue reading →

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Preacher, Prophet, Martyr, Saint

Posted on March 24, 2018 by salooper57

Pope Francis has made the canonization of Archbishop Oscar Romero his own project. Though the lengthy process was begun during the papacy of John Paul II, opposition caused it to stall. But in 2015, Francis beatified Romero, which opened the … Continue reading →

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