Book of Ruth: Historical-Critical Commentaries. Was Ruth an Old Testament Illegal Alien?
Bible Stories and Parables

Book of Ruth: Historical-Critical, Patristic, and Rabbinical Commentaries. Was Ruth an Old Testament Illegal Alien?

Was Ruth an Old Testament version of an illegal alien? Marriages between Jews and Moabites were definitely illegal under Jewish law, and Ruth was seen as a sojourner, which is the Biblical term for immigrant, or alien. Ancient Jews were just as suspicious of Moabites just as many Americans are suspicious of Mexicans. Ruth emigrates to Judah because of economic hardship, just as hardship drives many Mexicans to seek to enter the United States.
Is the term illegal alien a misnomer? Are illegal aliens criminals because they are doing illegal things? We can all agree that someone who robs a bank or steals a car or shoots or beats his neighbor is a criminal, but is someone who is fleeing gangs who threaten their lives a criminal? Is someone who flees grinding poverty to take his chances swimming the Rio Grande truly a criminal? […]

CS Lewis’ Mere Christianity: Reflections on Intimacy, Romance, Marriage, and Divorce
CS Lewis

CS Lewis’ Mere Christianity: Intimacy, Romance, Marriage, and Divorce

CS Lewis continues: “Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing.” “You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling.” But CS Lewis warns us that the initial excitement will not last, that “love in the second sense is not merely a feeling, but is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit, reinforced in Christian marriages by the grace which both partners ask, and receive, from God.” […]

Q & A on Topic: Why Did You Leave Your Religion?
Biblical Interpretation

Q & A on Topic: Why Did You Leave Your Religion?

To the ancients who lived in a warrior culture, Stoic philosophy is very appealing. The Stoics don’t ask the question: Why do bad things happen to good people? Instead, they admit that good and bad things happen to everyone, that the rain falls on both the bad and the good. Bad things happen to good people, that is part of life. The real question is: How can God help us endure and prevail over our suffering? […]

Catholic Middle Ages and Beyond

St John of the Cross, Dark Night of the Soul, Seven Capital Sins and Best Type of Close Friend

Before you can truly deepen your interior life of prayer and communion with God, you must first purify your soul by combating your spiritual capital vices, strengthening your inner virtues, which are revealed by how you think of your neighbor, what you say about your neighbor, how you act towards your neighbor, and how eagerly you seek to forgive and overlook the shortcomings of your neighbor. […]