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The historical Judas
The release earlier this month of the content of the long-lost “Gospel of Judas” is exciting news indeed. How can the emergence of a text lost for at least 17 centuries not fascinate us? Read more…
Pope Benedict, a year on
Since that April evening a year ago when Joseph Ratzinger was presented to the world as Pope Benedict XVI, comparisons with his predecessor, John Paul II, have been inevitable. Indeed, often these comparisons have been useful in distinguishing the new pontificate from the extraordinarily long one that preceded it. Read more…
God rock
By Günther Simmermacher
Christian music — it’s a bit of a turn-off term for many music fans, even among some committed Catholics. The Hillsong type albums, the kind one finds in Christian bookshops, are pleasant enough and serve their purpose. But they are also predictable (they all do sound a bit the same) and communicate little new about how we understand our faith. It’s niche market music. Few non- Christians are ever likely to put on a Hillsong CD. Read more…
The incredible news
Picture the scene in the bustling Jerusalem newsroom one April day in 33AD, just after the feast of Passover. You are the editor, and have just received word that the executed leader from the countryside has risen from the dead—just a couple of days after you featured his crucifixion in the local news section (on page 4, bottom right). Read more…
Transubstantiation – what takes place?
In that magnificent book The Mysteries of Life and Death, published by Salamander some years ago, transubstantiation is defined as “a change in the substance. This refers to the Christian doctrine of the Eucharist, that after the consecration, the body and blood of Christ and the bread and wine exist together in union”. Does this satisfy the Church’s definition of what takes place at the consecration? Read more…
The 11th Commandment
Holy Week affords us an opportunity to observe the single most powerful expression of love yet: Jesus’ self-sacrifice for the sins of all humanity. Read more…
The youth of today, eh? All cooking and praying
The most recent research into the way South Africans think, behave, buy and react to one another is extremely positive and encouraging—most of all the statistics on this country’s youth, the 16-24 age group.
So astounding is this new research data in fact, that my immediate thought was that either this country’s youth is the most misunderstood generation in the history of mankind, or they have turned fibbing to market researchers into an art form. Read more…
Why I will not bury St Joseph
Selling a house, as my wife and I have been doing in preparation for our move from Sandton in Johannesburg to Simon’s Town in the Cape, is said to be one of life’s more traumatic experiences.
But I don’t believe the actual packing up and moving is the source of trauma. It stems rather from a phalanx of prospective purchasers, all complete strangers, trooping through the private preserve of one’s home and within earshot of a very houseproud wife, saying that they don’t like the kitchen. Read more…
