It will come as no shock to any of you to say that we are in a low moment in terms of public discourse. Everything seems to go from zero to furious in about two seconds. As discouraging as this is, it’s nothing new. There seems to be nothing more human than exaggerating the details … Continue reading Jesus and the Stories We Tell: A Reflection on Luke 13.1-9
Today’s post will be unique in this series, Theology from under the Rubble, for it is the only one that engages with a strictly personal, rather than national, calamity. But, our private tragedies are no less serious for the life of faith — and in some ways they can feel worse, since we are in … Continue reading Finding God in Suffering: John Donne’s Devotions upon Emergent Occasions
In 410 AD, Rome was sacked by an army of Visigoths, setting off a crisis — of identity no less than politics — within the Roman Empire. Everything its citizens had believed to be certain and secure now seemed up in the air. It raised big questions about the relationship between God, the Church, traditional … Continue reading This World is Not Our Home: St Augustine and the Sack of Rome
Imitation has a bumpy reputation in Western culture today. In the world of things, imitation is often equivalent to ‘false’ or even ‘substandard’, as in the case of imitation leather or imitation crab. In the world of art, literature, and education, it is at best understood as a lack of unique contribution, and at worst … Continue reading Imitated, Never Duplicated: A Reflection on Philippians 3.17-4.1
In 586 BCE, the Babylonian army laid siege to the city of Jerusalem. Three months later, with the citizens facing starvation, the walls were finally breached. The city was taken, the Temple razed to the ground, and Judah’s ruling classes removed from the Land. (See 2 Kings 25.1-12 for the story.) For the people of … Continue reading Wrestling with Grief and God: Lamentations
Matthew Root 