Steve Jobs, saint of the ’60s

Last updated on: October 17, 2011 at 9:15 am By tmatt

It was in 1994 that author Umberto Eco, drawing on his studies in symbols and philosophy, looked at the evolution of personal computers and saw theology, doctrine, spirituality and, yes, icons. The modern world, he argued in the Italian magazine Espresso, was divided between Macintosh believers and those using the Microsoft disk operating system. The DOS world was “Protestant, or even Calvinistic” since it demanded “difficult personal decisions” and forced users to master complicated codes and rules. “The Macintosh is... Read more

God, Tebow and the NFL

Last updated on: October 10, 2011 at 7:20 am By tmatt

Once upon a time, there was this controversial quarterback. Even his strongest defenders admitted that he was a fiery field general, not a conventional pinpoint passer. He made lots of big plays with his legs, dodging tacklers and creating havoc until he could unload the ball. His throwing motion wasn’t much to look at, either. Purists said he brought the ball way too low while winding up to fire it deep. On top of all that, he was devoutly religious... Read more

Golf as religion, spiritual discipline

Last updated on: October 3, 2011 at 7:33 am By tmatt

If golf is a religion, then the smell of freshly mown Bermuda grass is the incense that drifts through its rituals. For golfers this is the smell of “eternal hope” that they can start over, according to the stressed-out young pro whose story drives the novel “Golf’s Sacred Journey: Seven Days in Utopia,” by sports psychologist David Cook. “Each time a golfer steps to the first tee surrounded by this tantalizing fragrance he stands at even par,” muses Luke Chisholm.... Read more

Goodbye to old-time mountain faith

Last updated on: September 26, 2011 at 9:45 am By tmatt

Travelers who frequent the winding mountain roads of Southern Appalachia know that, every few miles, they’re going to pass yet another small Baptist church sitting close to some rushing water. It’s all about location, location, location. Why would a preacher want to baptize a new believer in a heated, indoor tank when he can dunk them in the powerful, living, frigid waters of the river that created the valley in which his flock has lived for generations? There’s no question... Read more

Evangelicals learn to (heart) New York

Last updated on: September 19, 2011 at 7:27 am By tmatt

Pastors have their own brand of insider humor, just like doctors, lawyers, accountants and other skilled professionals. The same is true for the missionaries, researchers and pastors who plant churches. Thus, Ed Stetzer once heard a veteran missions professor tell the following bittersweet joke at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. It went like this: How do you start a new Southern Baptist church in a big city up north? That’s easy. You go into local grocery stores... Read more

Bill Keller vs. the religious aliens

Last updated on: September 12, 2011 at 8:00 am By tmatt

Less than a year after 9/11, a New York Times columnist stunned the newspaper’s remaining conservative readers by suggesting that both the Vatican and Al Qaeda were on the wrong side in the global war against oppression. “The struggle within the church” in recent decades, he argued, is “interesting as part of a larger struggle within the human race, between the forces of tolerance and absolutism. That is a struggle that has given rise to great migrations (including the one... Read more

From Texas Baptist to Orthodox saint?

Last updated on: September 5, 2011 at 9:32 am By tmatt

Wherever bishops travel, churches plan lavish banquets and other solemn tributes to honor their hierarchs. Visitations by Archbishop Dmitri Royster of the Orthodox Church in America were different, since the faithful in the 14-state Diocese of the South knew that one memorable event would take care of itself. All they had to do was take their leader to a children’s Sunday school class and let him answer questions. During a 1999 visit to Knoxville, Tenn., the lanky Texan folded down... Read more

No Hooters apparel in Mass!

Last updated on: August 29, 2011 at 7:28 am By tmatt

Deacon Greg Kandra was well aware that modern Americans were getting more casual and that these laidback attitudes were filtering into Catholic pews. Still, was that woman who was approaching the altar to receive Holy Communion really wearing a Hooters shirt? Yes, she was. When did Catholics, he thought to himself, start coming to Mass dressed for a Britney Spears concert? Had he missed a memo or something? “Somewhere along the way, we went from neckties to tank tops, and... Read more

Orthodoxy in an American elevator

Last updated on: August 22, 2011 at 9:47 am By tmatt

There is nothing unusual about a priest who is dressed in clerical garb having a stranger ask him a religious question during a long airline flight. “You ask a guy where he’s from and what he does and then he asks you the same thing. Many people just want to talk,” explained Father John David Finley, a missionary priest in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. The man in the next seat recently asked the priest a question... Read more

Churches ignoring the digital playground

Last updated on: August 15, 2011 at 9:15 am By tmatt

GILFORD, N.H. — Everywhere computer professional Brian Heil looked at SoulFest 2011 he saw packs of young people trying to stay on schedule as they rushed from one rock concert, workshop or prayer meeting to another. But first, there was one more text to send, one more Twitter tweet to tweet, one more Facebook status to update, one more snapshot to share, one more YouTube video to upload, just one more connection to make in the digital world that now... Read more