‘The Secrets of Hillsong,’ ‘Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming With Dave Letterman,’ ‘Bama Rush,’ ‘Platonic,’ ‘Kathleen Madigan: Hunting Bigfoot,’ ‘Shutter Island,’ and one very sad robin.
Christianity
Another Week: Number 10
911 calls to report the Jupiter-Venus conjunction, A new bathroom scale, ‘To Leslie,’ Alex Murdaugh trial coverage, ‘The Naked Archaeologist.’
‘The Way’ (2010 movie, Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez)
Regular readers may remember the recent review of The Alchemist here, which also touched upon the unique biography of author Paulo Coelho. The book Coelho wrote before The Alchemist was The Pilgrimage, a story about his walking the Camino de Santiago which led him to...
Messages through the wall, heard on radio
You have probably heard the story of how, as a POW during the Vietnam War, Sen. John McCain tapped messages through his prison wall to his fellow American prisoner, Ernest Brace. The conversation started with McCain tapping out "Shave and a haircut," and Brace...
Christmas with the Pilgrims, America’s earliest Christians
Pilgrims Going to Church (1867), by George Henry Boughton The Pilgrims considered Christmas an abomination The Pilgrims — the people we celebrate each Thanksgiving, who came to America on the Mayflower, signed the Mayflower Compact and founded Plymouth Colony —...
Historical Jesus: ‘A Marginal Jew’: Volumes III & IV
As someone who's made a regular hobby of studying the Bible for about 30 years and counting, I find it hard to express how enjoyable the John P. Meier book series A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus has been to read. Chapter by chapter, Meier peels away...
Holy Hill Scenic Tower: Fall colors, Hubertus, Wisconsin
Hubertus, Wisconsin — A view of Wisconsin's fall colors from the scenic tower at the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians at Holy Hill.Footage of our visit is included in the video above, shot for Amy's...
Jesus of Nazareth, the ‘Marginal Jew’ behind Jesus Christ
Who was Jesus of Nazareth, according to historical evidence? An ample crop of recent books on the "historical Jesus" has offered yet more answers to this perennial puzzle. Reza Aslan's Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth sounds very intriguing. Misquoting...
Hawaii missionaries: Sarah Vowell’s ‘Unfamiliar Fishes’
Unfamiliar Fishes is the product a very fortunate convergence. Author Sarah Vowell has a delicious appreciation for the peculiar coincidences and ironies produced when cultures clash and combine into the slaw of American history — and Hawaii, our 50th state, is a...
C. Peter Wagner’s New Apostolic Reformation
It was on The Rachel Maddow Show back on August 10 that I first heard of the New Apostolic Reformation. That segment aired just before Rick Perry entered the 2012 presidential race, and just after his August 6th prayer rally — "The Response" — at Houston's Reliant...
Election 2008: It’s God time
Reading Andrew Sullivan's acclaimed piece pn Election 2008 in last December's Atlantic magazine, I noted the emphasis on Barack Obama's religious conviction and how one Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright introduced Obama to Jesus Christ. Sullivan was wowed: To deploy the...
‘Jesus Camp’ (2006 documentary film)
Jesus Camp is an Oscar-nominated documentary about an evangelical Christian camp for kids in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, and, more broadly, about the political militancy of America's religious right. It was directed by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing. [includeme...
Bart D. Ehrman: ‘Misquoting Jesus: Who changed the Bible and why’
I first saw Bart D. Ehrman last March 14 when he was interviewed on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Prior to that, he guested on Fresh Air with Terry Gross. The cover of Ehrman's book proclaims it a "New York Times Bestseller." There's even another book refuting his...
Keawalaʻi Congregational Church on Maui
Mākena, Maui, Hawaii — Socializing at Keawalaʻi Congregational Church after Sunday worship service.
‘Jesus Coming Soon’ neon sign, Lahaina, Hawaii
Lahaina, Hawaii — The Apostolic Faith Church, with its "Jesus Coming Soon" neon sign, at 1211 Front Street. This location is a branch of the mother church — the Apostolic Faith Church at 1043 Middle St. in Honolulu, on the...