Category Archives: Christianity

A series of essays on Christian human history, Christian philosophy and theology, and the search for God and Self.

Montaigne and Repentance

Posted on March 23, 2016 by theamericanplutarch

Michel de Montaigne, the French writer of Essays, was a thinker. Alone in a library, his library, pondering. Alone, as he was in conception, as he will be in death. Alone, facing his maker, facing the universe, facing himself. No … Continue reading →

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Montaigne and Human Folly

Posted on March 19, 2016 by theamericanplutarch

In the opening note to the reader in Montaigne’s Essays, the author suggests, since the Essays are only about the experiences and ruminations of Michel de Montaigne himself, that it is folly to read further. Montaigne was quite right, of … Continue reading →

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Richard Hooker’s Message from the Past

Posted on June 30, 2015 by theamericanplutarch

In light of the Supreme Court decision on marriage this past week, and the controversy from opposing sides that has ensued, it is worthwhile, in my opinion, to seek the wisdom of the past. Oftentimes the human perspective living in … Continue reading →

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Healing History

Posted on June 15, 2015 by theamericanplutarch

Two thousand years ago Titus Livius, in his History of Rome, declared that his book, indeed any narrative history of human events told with empathy and truth, is therapy for mental malaise, especially the malaise that is a product of … Continue reading →

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Time and the Church

Posted on June 7, 2015 by theamericanplutarch

The Church, that is, organized Christian religion, has always struggled to make sense of time. The date of Christian holy days, such as Easter and Christmas, has been under dispute for centuries. Some Christians in the past, and even today, … Continue reading →

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Jesus and Time

Posted on May 30, 2015 by theamericanplutarch

Time is a mystery. Is time a physical phenomenon? Is it a geologic phenomena? Does time exist outside of human consciousness? Is time absolute or relative? Why do humans put so much emphasis on time, so that we gauge our … Continue reading →

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Time, the Healer

Posted on May 28, 2015 by theamericanplutarch

There is an expression often used by the wise that time is the great healer, which of course means that as time passes people forgive wrongs done to them, scars slowly fade, and the memory of what was once so … Continue reading →

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History and Miracle

Posted on May 18, 2015 by theamericanplutarch

What is a historian to do about miracles, events in time that break the rules of natural law and sensory evidence, products of a supernatural force, that is, God? The easiest approach is, of course, to reject all theism, to … Continue reading →

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The Great Commission, Love, and Science

Posted on May 12, 2015 by theamericanplutarch

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.” I have written a previous post about the Great Commission, as recorded in the Gospel of Mark, which is the basis for Christian missionary activity for the … Continue reading →

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Rescuing the Dead

Posted on April 30, 2015 by theamericanplutarch

One of my favorite authors is Captain John Smith. Smith, the founder of Jamestown, of Pocahontas fame, was a contemporary of John Donne, William Shakespeare, and Francis Bacon. Smith did not write poetry like Donne, sonnets and plays like Shakespeare, … Continue reading →

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