Next month Americans return to the polls to elect a president and vice-president, members of Congress, and host of state- and county-level officials. They do so at a time of unprecedented crisis for the country. What happens on 3 November will have an impact on its future as we enter the third decade of this…
It is never easy to lose a loved one. It is especially difficult when the loved one is such an extraordinarily loving and gifted man as was my father. Theodoros Antoniou – his given name – was born in the village of Koma tou Yialou, in a part of Cyprus now under Turkish occupation, to Antonios Georgiou and Pezouna Theodorou.
Last month it was reported that a Turkish court has cleared the way for the historic Hagia Sophia, an ancient Roman church built by the Emperor Justinian in the 6th century, to return to its former use as a mosque. Known as Ayasofya to the Turks, it functioned as a Muslim place of worship between 1453…
During a visit to Jerusalem 25 years ago, I had an interesting experience that highlighted the importance of Sabbath for observant Jews. Our group was visiting the Western Wall, the sole remaining portion of Herod’s Temple following its destruction by the Romans in AD 70. As a long-time personal journal keeper, I sat down near the wall and began to record the experience.
More than two months into the COVID-19 lockdown, we are all showing signs of strain. Nevertheless, I can attest to having learnt several lessons out of this unprecedented emergency. First, we can be thankful that the pandemic occurred when it did rather than 20 or so years ago. Because we are all increasingly linked together via the world wide web and various social media, many of us are able to carry on with our lives and work
Last year we observed the 400th anniversary of the establishment of the first parliamentary assembly in the Americas. In 1619 the Virginia General Assembly was convened, thereby setting a precedent for the development of representative constitutional government in the English-speaking colonies. This year we celebrate another anniversary that contributed especially to our Westminster form of government.
Over the past two centuries, the pace at which we have succeeded in taming our environment has accelerated, tempting us to assume that we are in nearly absolute control over our own lives and futures. Although my grandparents lived through the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, many millions did not. The last flu pandemic took place when I was 13, killing one million people worldwide and 100,000 in the United States. As a boy I was afflicted, like virtually all of my peers, with the “normal” childhood diseases such as measles, rubella and the mumps.
The ancient kingdom of Persia plays a prominent role in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament. It was Persia that put an end to the Babylonian empire and allowed the Judeans to return to their homeland after three generations in exile. Moreover, the Persian king Cyrus permitted the Jews to rebuild their temple, decades after Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed Solomon’s fabled predecessor. The Persians themselves were once Zoroastrians, followers of an ancient dualistic religion largely replaced by Islam in the 7th century AD. Persian culture retained a certain prestige status in the Near East, and the Ottoman Turks took on elements of both Persian and Byzantine cultures as they built their own imperial legacy.
Easily the best book I read during the recently departed year was James W. Skillen, God’s Sabbath with Creation: Vocations Fulfiled, the Glory Unveiled. Although Skillen is well-known as a political scientist and retired leader of the Center for Public Justice in the United States, in his latest book he turns his attention to that branch of theology known as eschatology, or the study of the last things. In so doing, he has come up with an intriguing approach that feels fresh but is in reality utterly faithful to Scripture and to the historic creeds.
During Advent, we look forward liturgically, not only to the initial coming of Jesus Christ in a stable in Bethlehem, but to his second coming to judge the world. In so far as this is true, there is a profound sense in which our whole lives between the times are lived in a protracted Advent season as we await the inauguration of God’s kingdom in all its fulness. That this accompanies a divine judgement of the living and the dead and a final separation of sheep and goats (Matt. 25:31-46) is something we may prefer not to consider.
In August there were at least three mass shootings in the United States, including two in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, occurring on the same day. For more than two decades we have witnessed an increasing number of such tragedies, leaving Christians to try to grapple with them in a spiritually discerning fashion. Five days after the double shootings, the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) released a Statement on Mass Shootings attempting to bring the gospel to bear on them.
As I write, Canadians are once again in election mode. I could devote this space to evaluating the record of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government and the promises of the other party leaders. Instead I want to call attention to a significant anniversary that has been all but ignored by our political leaders and the media alike. Four hundred years ago, on 30 July 1619, Virginia’s colonial legislature, the General Assembly, first met. This marked the beginning of parliamentary government in the New World and would have a huge influence on the subsequent development of both the United States and Canada.
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