U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield made headlines recently when she testified at the National Action Network’s virtual conference that “the original sin of slavery weaved white supremacy into our founding documents.” Whether that claim is true or not—and/or to what extent—is not the point of this blog. Of present interest is why original sin as a theological term has entered the cultural lexicon. Without…
Christmas is six weeks behind us, yet a post on gratitude is probably appropriate for any season. In December, the “Gift Guide” of SF Chronicle published A Gift of Gratitude by Nancy Davis Kho. Kho is author of the “Thank-You Project,” whose objective is to inspire persons to compose one letter a week, expressing appreciation for those who’ve positively influenced their lives.…
In the early 1730’s, a young New England pastor named Jonathan Edwards (1703–57) witnessed a series of sudden and powerful religious awakenings among churches and communities in what is modern-day Massachusetts. These localized revivals, though noteworthy in their own right, were mere preludes to what would later become known as the First Great Awakening. Tens of thousands across the then-British Colonies were…