The Templeton Committee met for the first time on October 21, 2015. Pastor Michael Tavella had received a $5000 grant from the John Templeton Foundation through the auspices of Earl Whipple, a staff member of the organization and a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. The grant will be used to develop a manual for churches and individual Christians on how we should conduct ourselves when in conversation with atheists and others who do not attend Church (the “nones”), either one on one or in a public forum. The biblical basis for the project is I Peter 3: 15b-16. The proposal includes field testing the manual in church adult classes and then holding at least one public forum in which Christians and non-Christians dialogue with one another. These conversations will constitute a Christian defense of the faith (ἀπολογία, apologia, English-apology) and a witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Nihilism is not only rampant among the intellectual class but also among the entire people. While most individuals do not or cannot give intellectual justification for their nihilism, they nonetheless function as nihilists. Despair reigns in many American homes. Father Seraphim in his book, Nihilism, addresses this everyday meaninglessness and its consequences. The bottom line…
The central spiritual problem of this modern age is nihilism. In a well-crafted book, entitled Nihilism, Father Seraphim (Eugene Rose), an Eastern Orthodox monk, describes what it is and what its egregious consequences are. Nihilism (nihil, meaning nothing), in short, asserts that there is no such thing as absolute truth and denies the existence of…
Especialy at times of crisis we are to be on our toes to articulate the Christian faith. Questions of theodicy (explaining suffering and injustice while believing in an omnipotent God) and even challenges to the faith arise both in the Christian community and in the general culture. As foundation for such dialogue certain things are…
Dear heavenly Father, You show compassion to Your wayward children and deliver us from all evil. Help us always to have confidence in Your loving care. In this time of pandemic, help us to think first of those around us, serving them in their needs, and spare us from fear of illness and death, always…
Our nation is troubled by a pandemic whose effects are magnified by the media. Prudence is advised to prevent contracting the disease. But, a partial closure of society requires critical examination. Have we gone too far? We are troubled by events that we have never before experienced. But, the trouble lies deeper than this. Our…
In 1918 the flu spread throughout the world. 500,000,000 individuals contracted the disease; an estimated 20,000,000 to 50,000,000 died of it. In the time during the Great Mortality (1347 and after) one-third of Europe’s population succumbed to bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic plague. So far 4 people have died in Pennsylvania of the coronavirus. Now, it…
Many miracles, called signs, are recorded in the Gospel of John. The second one involved the healing of an offical’s son at Cana, the same place where Jesus turned water into wine. While Jesus was critical of the official’s reliance on miracles to believe, He went to Cana to heal his son. The official also…
The coronavirus has created a furor. The store shelves are empty of hand cleanser and other such products; prices are steeply rising for supplies related to the pandemic; the media has rung alarm bells while calling people to calm; the restaurant where I ate breakfast this morning was empty but for the staff and myself; …
The fundamental difference between values and virtue is a matter of where they originate. God defines virtue, called fruits of the Spirit in Paul. People choose values that may be good or bad. Virtue is always good. Christians are always to choose what is good. They are always to choose virtue. Our values should always…
People change, but can they be transformed? Change in a human being may be for the better or worse. Transformation, or conversion, is always for the better, and it is radical. The most significant, if not the only transformation, has to do with conforming to Jesus Christ. Only by God’s grace is this possible. The…
