What’s Wrong with the World

The men signed of the cross of Christ go gaily in the dark.

About

What’s Wrong with the World is dedicated to the defense of what remains of Christendom, the civilization made by the men of the Cross of Christ. Athwart two hostile Powers we stand: the Jihad and Liberalism...read more

« January 2021 | Main | March 2021 »

February 2021 Archives

February 15, 2021

Ignatius and the Star of Bethlehem (Guest post by John C. Evans)

(The post below has been provided by my on-line friend, Roman Catholic theology student John C. Evans of Book and Spade. It was first published there. The ideas in it are John's. I provided only some light editing. In fact, I have given John pushback on some of the theories therein, but I am happy to provide him with a wider forum to share his interesting thoughts on the subject. LM)

The letter to the Ephesians attributed to early second-century martyr Ignatius of Antioch conspicuously stands out from the six other epistles generally believed by mainstream scholars to be authentic. This is largely due to a famous or infamous passage toward the end of the letter, comprising chapters 18 and 19, in which Ignatius, on his way to execution in Rome, seemingly diverges from the flow of his discourse to expound the events surrounding the passion and nativity of Christ.

The minimalist scholar will inevitably hold to the conviction that these references constitute merely one layer in a series of “ecclesiastical traditions” of dubious origin, with little to no foundation in the person of the historical Jesus. Such a conviction, however, is founded on the presupposition that either the apostolic memory died before Ignatius gave his life in Rome toward the very dawn of the second century or that the successors to the Apostles had little concern for historicity as we would conceive of it. However, such a presupposition ignores two steady streams of evidence branching from a wealth of patristic sources.

Continue reading "Ignatius and the Star of Bethlehem (Guest post by John C. Evans)" »

February 21, 2021

We must obey God rather than men

I don't know who has or has not heard about this already, but Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, is in jail for holding church meetings contrary to the current Covid regulations there. Here is just one MSM story about it. Here is a story about the shocking fact that the church met again this morning in defiance of the orders and in support of its jailed pastor. Good for them!

Pastor Coates will not be released pending trial because he isn't willing to agree to the extreme restrictions. More on just how extreme in a moment. Also, because he has been "caught" (by Mounties attending his suspicious church to check up on them several Sundays in a row), he himself wouldn't be allowed to go to the church at all until his trial, even if he were to grovel and submit, which he won't do. I'm going to link several Tweets here showing screen-capped statements by his wife, Erin Coates, about the nature of the restrictions and the conditions put upon him for release. Here, here, here, here, and here.

Continue reading "We must obey God rather than men" »