Category Archives: Christianity

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

The Sanctity of Life

Posted on April 30, 2016 by theamericanplutarch

In my last post, I discussed Just War. To continue… The key to solving the issue, the plague, of war, just or unjust, is for humans to adapt a culture of life. We are raised from infancy in a culture … Continue reading →

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The Seduction of Time

Posted on April 11, 2016 by theamericanplutarch

In Mark 8:33 of the New Testament, Jesus tells his disciple Peter, “Go behind me, Satan,” because Peter has suggested that Jesus was not going to suffer as the Son of Man. What does this verse tell us about Satan, about Jesus, … 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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Captain John Smith: Conqueror, Colonizer, Commissioner

Posted on April 22, 2015 by theamericanplutarch

The Sea Mark: Captain John Smith’s Voyage to New England, published by University Press of New England (http://www.upne.com/1611685169.html), juxtaposes three different mentalities and activities: the conqueror, colonizer, and commissioner. Smith the conqueror was a soldier who believed that whoever was … Continue reading →

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