The Only Orthodoxy is Reason

I was at a Baptist convention a couple of weeks ago. The focus of the convention was unity within the Baptist denomination and a concerted effort toward improving social justice. There were lots of seminars on interesting issues such as combating poverty and confronting the criminal justice system. Each day, they had a general gathering […]

Lent is a liturgical “season” on the Christian calendar which, in most denominations, begins with Ash Wednesday continuing through Holy Saturday and culminating the following day, Easter Sunday. This occurs around mid-February through March on our calendars. The Lenten season is forty days, at least in Western […]

Part two of Mr. Cook’s excellent series of essays authored for this site.
SATAN AND THE SECOND ‘MAN’
It is no secret that Jesus’s favorite term for Himself was Son of Man. But what He meant by that term is mysterious indeed. I read my Bible for years without understanding this subtle, almost literary term. […]

They shouted again, “Crucify him” [Jesus].  Pilate said to them, “Why?  What evil has he done?”  They only shouted the louder, “Crucify him.”  So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd …handed him over to be crucified. — Mark 15 
This week, the US Congress along with President Bush passed what is hoped to be an economic […]

I often think that we don’t pay enough attention to the language we use. By that, I don’t mean that we curse or swear too much. I mean that we often use words, or use words in ways, that say things about the world that we may not mean or even believe.  This is a […]

In my last essay, I promised to work through the “Boiling Baby” dilemma to reach a morally justifiable course of action for the actor in the hypothetical. It’s been awhile since the original post, so I’ll start by restating the dilemma:
Imagine that you are a federal law enforcement agent in New York. In […]

This is the first of a series of four guest essays by Tom Cook concerning the metaphysical implications of gender roles in the scriptural narrative. Mr. Cook is a medical student at Northwestern University, and a Catholic lay theologian. The essays are of interest both for the conclusions they reach, and the ’speculative’ […]