Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Religious Music and Entertainment

Theology

Select a Category Academia Culture Politics Reviews Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 December 2020 November 2020 July 2020 May 2020 April 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 August 2019 July 2019 April 2019 March 2019 December 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

August 2026

August 07, 2026

American Movie: The Beauty of the Chuds

American Movie (1999) makes me wistful. There are multiple sad ways to view and discuss...

October 2022

October 20, 2022

Which is the Original Bible? Is it the Catholic One?

Anyone who has spent time on the Christian part of the internet knows that the...

June 2022

June 29, 2022

Who Founded the Catholic Church?

Essentially every self-described Christian group sees Jesus as its founder, either literally and historically or...

November 2020

November 23, 2020

Prayer is Left

I find myself in an uneasy situation. I don't love either Donald Trump or Joe...

February 2020

February 14, 2020

Nietzsche and Me

A student followed me out of class the other day; he couldn’t believe that I,...

February 03, 2020

Living Saints: Leszek

This is the second post in a series I am writing called “Living Saints.” It...

January 2020

January 23, 2020

Thanks Be to God—Another Winter

It’s winter again and I should have far more of my dissertation submitted than I...

November 2019

November 12, 2019

The Temptation of Schism

For it is the Church that gives birth to all, either within her pale, of her own...

July 2019

July 23, 2019

How I Came to be Christian (Full Essay)

This is a consolidation of three posts I wrote a few years ago, re-posted in...

April 2019

April 21, 2019

Christ is Risen!

It is tradition in many Byzantine Churches to read from the Paschal Homily of St....

April 15, 2019

Notre Dame de Paris is Burning

Notre Dame is perhaps the most famous cathedral in the work. And now, it’s on...

December 2018

December 23, 2018

Jubilees

This semester I taught “The Bible as Literature” (or, I should really say, I had...

August 2018

August 07, 2018

Being Byzantine (Catholic)

This is a tough piece to write. Not because I am ashamed of being Byzantine...

July 2018

July 25, 2018

God of Gods

“No human being escapes the necessity of conceiving some good outside himself towards which his thought turns in a...

July 08, 2018

The Face of God

The following is a reflection by a dear friend of mine, Nathan Smolin, who...

June 2018

June 18, 2018

On Judgment

“A dog is better than I am, for he has love and he does not...

June 14, 2018

Why Dorothy Day Matters

In a piece entitled “Dorothy Day: The Model You Want,” a friend once wrote: I...

May 2018

May 15, 2018

Loving Oneself

I have spent some time lately reflecting on particular words—a short phrase really. Brevity brings...

May 14, 2018

Rigid Christianity?

Pope Francis has become notorious for (among other things) his comments on “rigid” Catholics. Unsurprisingly,...

May 02, 2018

Merciful God, Wrathful God

I recently saw someone break American Catholics down into two categories: liberal and conservative. The...

May 02, 2018

Christian Anti-Gnosticism

At this point, “Gnosticism” is as much an accusation as a philosophy, a way anyone...

April 2018

April 17, 2018

The Narcissism of Expectations

How short our span! If you once realized how brief, you would refrain from causing...

January 2018

January 08, 2018

Desire and Its Discontents

Forgive me what might seem a non-sequitur. As a kid, I’d always greet the new...

December 2017

December 27, 2017

Japan’s Martyrs and Confessors

Christmas time is when we cry out in joy at the announcement of a birth...

December 26, 2017

St. Stephen’s Universalism

In the West, today marks the Feast of St. Stephen, deacon and first-recorded martyr. Tomorrow,...

December 25, 2017

Christos Razdajetsja!

These are the words with which my Church greets the birth of Christ: Christ is...

December 12, 2017

Is Love Nice?

These sorts of pieces often begin by letting the reader know where the word “nice”...

December 06, 2017

Byzantine “Advent”

Twitter and Facebook have made it more than clear that Latin Advent has begun. Devotionals...

November 2017

November 13, 2017

Finding Yourself and Other Half-Truths

If I may begin abruptly: an ex-girlfriend once told me we couldn’t be together because...

November 11, 2017

1054: History, Myth, and the Making of a Schism (Full Essay)

This post is a consolidation of an essay written by Nathan Smolin, a PhD...