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Issue 23, Summer 2022
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Christians

Essay

Persian Tales: The Role of Church During Refugee Crisis

Is there a proper way to differentiate between true refugees and opportunists? It is a hard question to answer. But one thing is sure: it is never a loss when the Church gets actively involved in a refugee’s life. While the system can be cheated, God cannot.

Galyna Peregrin —

Essay

The Tears of Lebanon

For those who love Lebanon and its people, the apparent indifference of the West to this unique nation and its struggles is incomprehensible.

Fr. Benedict Kiely —

Essay

The Latent Christian Gnosticism

All sport originates in acts of violence. This, which might seem to condemn it from the start, is actually its redeeming characteristic: sport was, and remains, the best means for ordering that particular human impulse.

Karl-Gustel Wärnberg —

Commentary

The EU’s Crisis of Faith is Failing Victims of Persecution

This was an opportune moment for the EU to recommit to the protection of freedom of religion or belief by reinforcing the existing EU instruments aimed at doing so and highlighting cases concerning minorities where this right has been violated. Yet, it did the exact opposite.

Georgia du Plessis —

Review

Fevered Pitch

Nieuwe Kruisvaarders: De heilige alliantie tussen orthodoxe christenen en radicaal-rechtse populisten

by Sander Rietveld

Amsterdam: Prometheus, 2021

Christiaan DeKiefte —

News

Egypt Appoints First-Ever Christian Head of Supreme Constitutional Court

Head of Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights, hailed the decision as “historic” and “a giant move” in the field of political and civil rights. Ishak Ibrahim, an expert on Christian affairs in Egypt, was more skeptical: it “will not have a significant impact on eliminating discrimination and ensuring the opportunity for all citizens.”

Tristan Vanheuckelom —

News

Christian Leaders Call for Release of Pro-Democracy Activist Jimmy Lai

Christian leaders asked authorities to drop the charges against Jimmy Lai. “We plead with you to have compassion on his life and well-being and to correct this injustice. We will continue to hope and pray for his eventual release as well as for the well-being and prosperity of Hong Kong and all the peoples of the whole Chinese nation,” the letter said.

Tristan Vanheuckelom —

Essay

Christian Persecution in Nigeria

The numbers of Nigeria’s dead and displaced on account of recent violence vary widely, but in October of last year, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN International) was reporting anywhere between 3,000 and 36,000 people had been murdered.

Carlos Perona Calvete —

News

Spain Secularizes the Nativity Scene

Are Nativity scenes deprived of their spiritual essence even worth preserving or is a cultural Nativity scene not apt to just become another aspect of a commercialized Christmas, preserved primarily for atmosphere, nostalgia, and economic value?

Bridget Ryder —

Essay

Individual Integrity and Social Solidarity: A Christian Response to Polarization

This is true individuality and true solidarity: We are all free lords subject to no one, yet also dutiful servants subject to everyone. Why? Because of the equal status of all human beings before God. We are all unworthy sinners, yet we are all worthy of salvation through trust in God. Thus, regardless of our earthly status, we all possess equal and inviolable dignity as individuals. And we are all called to solidarity in service to others.

Todd Huizinga —

Essay

Silent Night: The Christmas Truce of 1914

On a single silent night when all was still and all was bright, Christian Germans and Christian Brits sang together and then climbed out of their trenches to greet each other—and celebrate the birth of Christ.

Jonathon Van Maren —

Review

The End of Outremer

The Lebanese Forces: Emergence and Transformation of the Christian Resistance

Nader Moumneh

Lanham, MD: Hamilton Books, 2018

Alberto M. Fernandez —

Review

Catholicism: The Heavyweight in the Ring

At a time when religion is routinely mocked as “anti-intellectual,” dismissed as prejudice or superstition or baseless opinion, the author of this book shows that, on the contrary, the true religion has the power of reason as well as the best minds of Western philosophy on its side.

Peter Kwasniewski —

Essay

The Slow-Motion Genocide of Nigeria’s Christians

Christians are being driven out of their communities, particularly in Nigeria’s north and middle belt, bit by bit, and many of the villages are being abandoned. This is what has been called a “slow-motion genocide.”

Jonathon Van Maren —