Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? In his Gospel, Matthew (22:17) tells us that it was the Pharisees and the Herodians who tried to trap Jesus with this question. To understand the trap, it helps to understand the fact that the...
The last group one would expect to be helping advance Sharia (Islamic) law is feminists, and yet they are doing just that, albeit unintentionally. As is well known, Feminism opposes male domination and the political and social systems that...
Every three years we are presented with these verses (22:15-21) from the Gospel of Matthew, one that interests many of us because it deals with the question of separation between Church and State. The first thing we should note is that the question...
Several hundred years ago in England, there was a wealthy couple who owned a large castle and had many servants. Their only daughter was used to being the center of attention, and was in fact a bit spoiled. Just after she turned eighteen, her...
Recently, I saw a presentation of one of my favorite musicals, Man of La Mancha. At the end of the play, the appreciative audience gave the cast a standing ovation, and as I left the theater, I was aware that I had just experienced a fascinating...
There is an old saying, “Blessed are those who expect nothing, for they shall not be disappointed.” Whether it was first uttered as pithy wisdom or a tongue-in-cheek comment on the likelihood of disappointment is not known. But either way, the idea...
Before the invention of banks, many people hid money and other valuables by burying them. There were once two wealthy brothers who shared the same house; when war broke out, and their town was in danger of being plundered by the enemy, they gathered...
Weddings and clothes – they are important parts of every culture. Can you think of any culture that doesn’t have weddings? That is not concerned with clothes? I can’t. For instance Jesus spoke of how the flowers are clothed, clothing the naked, rich...
