Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4648 )

• Water Flowing Underground

  

  One of the most compelling characters of the Bible is John the Baptist. Unconventional and non-conformist, he speaks with unquestioned authority based on pure... Read more

  Posted on 31 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Retro Progress

  

  In these days of high technology, remembering childhood might be seen as cowardly nostalgia. When driving my daughter back to college, however, sometimes I... Read more

  Posted on 30 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Stamp Act

  

  Reality seems more and more intangible all the time. Perhaps this is because I can remember a time, not so long ago, when sitting in front of a computer all... Read more

  Posted on 29 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Esau and Jacob

  

  “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated,” at least according to the recollection of Paul in Romans. One of the most poignant scenes in the Hebrew Bible is th... Read more

  Posted on 28 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Watchers and (Un)holy Ones

  

  Angels, demons, djinn, watchers, giants, and a healthy dose of fantasy pervade Nancy Madore’s novel, The Hidden Ones. In this present world where, I’m told,... Read more

  Posted on 27 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Founding Principles

  

  That feeling is in the air. Autumn began to stretch its melancholy fingers into August this year. Even before the month was half over the mornings had that chil... Read more

  Posted on 26 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Future of an Illusion

  

  If anyone’s premature death has been announced more than Mark Twain’s, it is that of higher education. September’s The Atlantic arrived in my mailbox proclaimin... Read more

  Posted on 25 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Whether the Psalms

  

  How about that weather? Changeable, isn’t it? I have spent a large part of the last few days going over the proofs for Weathering the Psalms, the book I wrote... Read more

  Posted on 24 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Who Do You Say?

  

  DMZ. What acronym inspires more terror? Or did I mean DMV? I can’t keep my acronyms straight. Nothing reveals the layers of bureaucracy in clearer... Read more

  Posted on 23 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Secret Religion

  

  Recently I read an article about a religion called Sabbateanism. I’d never heard of it before, so I turned to the collective wisdom of the human race—the... Read more

  Posted on 22 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Beyond Redemption?

  

  The Roman emperor Gaius, it is said, was insane. He perpetrated such antics as declaring war on the North Sea, making his horse a senator, and appearing in... Read more

  Posted on 21 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• True Literalism

  

  Biblical literalists make strong claims for selectively obeying the Bible. It isn’t so hard to do in the short term, as numerous books on people “living... Read more

  Posted on 20 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• A Run-By Fruiting

  

  Photo credit: Eva Rinaldi, Wikimedia CommonReader’s DigestFor this past week I’ve been pondering how one man’s tragic death has jolted a nation into a reflectiv... Read more

  Posted on 19 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Clockwork Heavens

  

  In a museum in Athens sits a device chock-full of gears and cogs and dials. Indeed, it looks quite a bit like the movement of a pre-digital clock. Read more

  Posted on 18 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Historic Crossing

  

  If Washington crossed the Delaware, I figured, so could I. Of course, I have a car and I was going from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, but history doesn’t always... Read more

  Posted on 17 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Diminishing Returns

  

  You know that phenomenon where in movies or on television spinning wheels reach a point where they suddenly shift to spin the opposite direction? Read more

  Posted on 16 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Nazis with Bibles

  

  Some years back, when the Internet was young, I had just learned about email. Even today it seems incredible that only twenty years ago we still sent physical... Read more

  Posted on 15 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Men Without Hats

  

  Do you want to start an argument? Mention hijab in a Christian environment. Some tempers will likely flair. The idea that a patriarchal religion would tell wome... Read more

  Posted on 14 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Daydream Believer

  

  I have finally found a book that will sit next to my copy of Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations. In this disjointed age of angry Fundamentalists and even angrier... Read more

  Posted on 13 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Religion Fiction

  

  Children brought up in a religious environment, according to a recent BBC story, are more prone to believe in fictional characters. Read more

  Posted on 12 August 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY