“The new evangelization calls for followers of Christ who are unconditionally pro-life: who will proclaim, celebrate and serve the Gospel of life in every situation.”

“A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil…”

“I renew the appeal I made . . . for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary. —Pope John Paul II Papal Mass, St. Louis, Missouri, January 27, 1999

You can find the complete release here.

The Project on Lived Theology at the University of Virginia is a research initiative, whose mission is to study the social consequences of theological ideas for the sake of a more just and compassionate world.

Charles’ seminar on anxiety and religion met on the Wednesday after the tragic shootings at UVA. One of the things the class did was create a playlist of songs that carried them through the next few weeks.

Anxiety 3559 Playlist – University of Virginia

The Project on Lived Theology at the University of Virginia is a research initiative, whose mission is to study the social consequences of theological ideas for the sake of a more just and compassionate world.

The arc of justice… Campaigns focusing on gun reform achieved victory in several races across the country.

Read the article here.

The Project on Lived Theology at the University of Virginia is a research initiative, whose mission is to study the social consequences of theological ideas for the sake of a more just and compassionate world.

BrieAnna Frank is a reporter for USA Today who’s covered numerous mass shootings. She’s also a first-year grad student in our Religious Studies Department. Her editor asked her to write from the first person about the University of Virginia mass shootings in Charlottesville. She delivered this gem by mid-afternoon.

We know he told his friend Hans Hildebrandt that only the Catholic Center Party had half a chance of defeating Hitler. While there is no easy parallel to U.S. politics, the core convictions of the Zentrum do not seem to lend themselves to the GOP.

The Catholic Center Party adhered to a strict separation of church and state, to belief in strong government and the welfare state, and to the facilitation of nonpartisan policy.

The Catholic Center attracted aristocrats, priests, bourgeoisie, peasants, and workers. While its membership was majority Catholic, the party remained interconfessional and committed to the democratic ideals of the Weimar Constitution. When the Nazis came into power the Zentrum was forced to dissolve itself as one of the last bürgerliche parties, not, alas before signing the Enabling Act and thus proving Bonhoeffer’s argument against Hildebrandt to have been naïve.

The Project on Lived Theology at the University of Virginia is a research initiative, whose mission is to study the social consequences of theological ideas for the sake of a more just and compassionate world.

In his criticism of Tim Keller, Metaxas claims that Keller errs in the manner of the German Christians, by which he means that Keller, “preaching only the gospel” (sic!) refuses God’s “clear word” for the American church to act against the prevailing regime.

Metaxas says that Keller should instead preach in the manner of the Confessing Church, and in a bold venture of faith, denounce Biden with the clarity that Barmen denounced Hitler.

Two problems. First, the German Evangelical (Lutheran) Church did not “preach only the gospel”. It preached a Christianity antithetical to historic Christian orthodoxy. Spirit serves an ethno nationalism based on common blood who proceeds from the Father and the führer.

Second, the Confessing Church did not take a political stand, never denounced Hitler, never spoke & acted in defense of the Jewish people. Barmen affirmed the Lordship of Jesus Christ hard stop. The clear and persistent preaching of the Gospel would be sufficient. It was not.

Metaxas is so confused about the Kirchenkampf and where he stands in its repercussions that it’s best to let the great Fritz Stern have the last word. “In every way Metaxas betrays a quite amazing ignorance of the German language, German history, and German theology.”

For more on Metaxas, here’s one from the archives: Eric Metaxas’s Bonhoeffer Delusions

The Project on Lived Theology at the University of Virginia is a research initiative, whose mission is to study the social consequences of theological ideas for the sake of a more just and compassionate world.

The Sigmund Freud Collection at the Library of Congress has been digitized and is now available online. Thanks to a grant from the UK-based Polonsky Foundation, this collection is open to the public.

Home movies included: Home movies from Freud Archives, 1939

The Project on Lived Theology at the University of Virginia is a research initiative, whose mission is to study the social consequences of theological ideas for the sake of a more just and compassionate world.

Brace yourself for the coming debates on the national spike in violent crime. Here are four reasons grounded in empirical research and rational analysis. Thanks to the Brennen Center for Justice for this illuminating article.

1. 70% of the murders in 2020 were committed with a firearm — the highest share ever reported in FBI data going back to 1960.

2. Gun sales hit a record high in 2020.

3. Americans were more likely to open or conceal carry in 2020 than in any precious year.

4. “The time between a gun’s legal purchase and its appearance at a crime scene — a metric that law enforcement officials call a weapon’s “time-to-crime” — was much shorter in 2020 than in previous years.”

Conclusion: Increases in gun purchasing, expanded concealed and open carry laws, and SCOTUS overreach in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, are vexing trends for a country that is home to almost half of the world’s civilian-owned firearms.

The Project on Lived Theology at the University of Virginia is a research initiative, whose mission is to study the social consequences of theological ideas for the sake of a more just and compassionate world.