Senator Ted Cruz praised Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for promising to restore a historic painting of Jesus comforting sailors adrift at sea back to a place of prominence in the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy after the Biden administration moved it to a basement.
Cruz thanked Duffy on Friday for his commitment to moving the 81-year-old painting, “Christ On The Water,” back to its original location at the academy. In a letter to Duffy obtained by The Daily Wire, Cruz said that restoring the painting, which depicts Jesus appearing to sailors lost at sea during World War II, was an imperative step to protect America’s religious heritage. 
“Your public acknowledgment of the painting’s spiritual and historical significance was a powerful moment of moral clarity and leadership—one that resonated not only with the midshipmen in attendance, but with countless Americans who care deeply about preserving our nation’s religious and military heritage,” Cruz wrote. 
Last month, Duffy was met with a round of applause at the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York, after he called for the painting to be moved out of the basement. The Transportation Department&#8217;s Maritime Administration operates the academy, and gives direction over its policies and management. 
&#8220;Can we bring Jesus up from the basement?&#8221; Duffy said. &#8220;Let&#8217;s not put Jesus in the basement! Let&#8217;s get Him out! Let&#8217;s bring Him up!&#8221;
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Midshipmen at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy erupted in applause when <a href="https://twitter.com/SecDuffy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecDuffy</a> demanded a painting of Jesus saving merchant mariners be restored.
The Biden admin put a curtain over the painting before putting it in a flood-prone basement.
&#8220;Let&#8217;s bring Him up!&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/qQvLKXKE5r">pic.twitter.com/qQvLKXKE5r</a>
— Jon Brown (@JonBrownDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/JonBrownDC/status/1909780255633506322?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Christ On the Water&#8221; was completed in 1944 by artist Hunter Wood, who trained at the Merchant Marine Academy and was in the Coast Guard. In 1947 the painting was installed at the Merchant Marine Academy’s Wiley Hall Elliot See Room where it was displayed until 2023 when the Biden administration moved it because of a complaint from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.  
<div id="attachment_918985" style="width: 797px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-918985" class="size-full wp-image-918985" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-12-at-10.18.22-AM.png" alt="" width="787" height="605" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-12-at-10.18.22-AM.png 787w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-12-at-10.18.22-AM-300x231.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-12-at-10.18.22-AM-749x576.png 749w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/Screen-Shot-2025-05-12-at-10.18.22-AM-768x590.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 787px) 100vw, 787px" />&#8220;Christ on the Water&#8221;/ US Merchant Marine Academy.</div>
“Your statement—&#8217;Can we bring Jesus up from the basement?’—was more than rhetorical. I trust it will be seen as an imperative,” Cruz wrote. “Thank you for your principled leadership, for defending our nation’s religious heritage, and for working to ensure that this government-commissioned memorial is returned to its rightful place.”
Cruz said the removal of the painting had no legal basis and was an example of the academy being &#8220;hostile to religion.&#8221;
“Its sudden concealment in 2023—done hastily in response to a single baseless complaint—did a great disservice to the Academy’s heritage and to the memory of those the painting was meant to honor. To this day, no legal rationale has been provided, and the painting is reportedly out of public view in a flood-prone basement,” Cruz said. 
In January 2023, the academy covered the painting with a sheet to avoid the perception that it was &#8220;endorsing&#8221; Christianity, following complaints about the painting.
&#8220;Our priority is to ensure the Academy is a welcoming environment for all and that it respects all religions without endorsing one over any others,&#8221; the academy said at the time. &#8220;In light of this, the Academy has chosen to cover the painting with curtains and will also install a plaque describing its history. The curtains will remain closed when official Academy meetings and events are conducted.&#8221;
Later, the academy decided to discontinue the use of the Elliot See Room for official business and moved the painting to a downstairs chapel area.
Cruz previously wrote to Academy Superintendent Joanna Nunan to argue that displaying the painting did not violate the Constitution, as Military Religious Freedom Foundation President Mikey Weinstein has argued. 
Weinstein has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKmyF-KUpTY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promised</a> to start “World War Eight” if the painting is moved back to its previous location, warning the Trump administration to “Eff around and find out.” Weinstein called Duffy a “piece of s***” and said the midshipmen who cheered Duffy were “cowards” who “made a mockery” of their oath to the Constitution.
Last week, Duffy <a href="https://x.com/SecDuffy/status/1919917774681317457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1919917774681317457%7Ctwgr%5E20725f8371ab5afe20016015fa273d316e88f5ea%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faithwire.com%2F2025%2F05%2F08%2Fbring-jesus-up-sean-duffy-hangs-portrait-of-jesus-in-office-calls-for-original-to-be-rehung-after-being-sidelined-during-biden-admin%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">placed</a> a replica of the painting behind his desk at the Department of Transportation. 
“While we work on getting the piece out of the academy’s basement and back in a place of prominence, I figured there was no better place to hang a copy than right here @USDOT,” he wrote.

MixCollage-12-May-2025-10-35-AM-7052

Ted Cruz Backs Trump Official’s Attempt To ‘Bring Jesus Up From The Basement’ — Literally

Biden Administration

Christianity

Jesus Christ

Sean Duffy

Ted Cruz

On Friday, the day after he was elected as the first pope from the United States, Pope Leo XIV told cardinals that he intended to correct the notion that Jesus Christ was simply a “charismatic leader or superman.”
As he celebrated his first Mass in the Sistine Chapel, Leo also opined that many people across the world consider the Christian faith “absurd,” the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/vatican-pope-prevost-leo-cardinals-1c1752bacc935c02af5f839a05de9a39" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“This is true not only among non-believers but also among many baptized Christians, who thus end up living, at this level, in a state of practical atheism,” he stated. “Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where our missionary outreach is desperately needed. A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society.”
Leo, who helped Pope Francis implement a change whereby women were added to the voting committee that decided which nominations for bishops should be sent to the pope, also saw that two women delivered the Scripture readings at the start of the Mass on Friday.
Leo is scheduled to deliver a noon blessing from the loggia of St. Peter’s on Sunday and speak with the media on Monday, according to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.
His first foreign trip could be at the end of the month as Pope Francis had been invited to travel to Turkey to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, the Associated Press reported. That Council largely revolved around the debate over Arianism, the Christological position that Jesus was created by God. At the time, Arianism was popular in much of the Roman Empire. The Council, convened by the Roman emperor Constantine, declared Arianism as heresy.
“Arius’s basic premise was the uniqueness of God, who is alone self-existent (not dependent for its existence on anything else) and immutable; the Son, who is not self-existent, cannot therefore be the self-existent and immutable God. Because the Godhead is unique, it cannot be shared or communicated. Because the Godhead is immutable, the Son, who is mutable, must, therefore, be deemed a creature who has been called into existence out of nothing and has had a beginning,” Britannica <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Arianism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explains</a>.

First Day Of Pope Leo XIV

New Pope Leo Celebrates First Mass: Jesus Was Not Just A ‘Charismatic Leader Or Superman’

Pope Leo

Superman

The following excerpt is from Andrew Klavan’s Amazon best-selling book, The Kingdom of Cain: Finding God in the Literature of Darkness, (Zondervan/HarperCollins, May 6, 2025) which you can <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Cain-Finding-Literature-Darkness/dp/0310368340/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1ODLLWRUYFQLX&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.-asrk-u7s-sDyhCZt2HswSh97P9UrU8fIOFQ6ixtmpKTB1DBbhizDhTlIu-UqaLkK7N0nbUSyzC-7AF7vHD1eKuT-zxV0AKvUdyGQtz3PVdxbQPtExJGPweEKI5A7u8oRKT8qGQ_emtFCVDLrzEIdR6Q4n645BIOoF3oQHLkrRF52UD0dBOnHAasIM3LWhrGXj8CZhnLqvGlRuqStS9pQrKn7rhqrcGVNFJZaH1Spuw.fvQZ5IniKW9xjinwdGzONrUwsBlcMLwjXhbqgG1ldB4&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=kingdom+of+cain&amp;qid=1746467024&amp;sprefix=kingdom+of+cain%2Caps%2C174&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">order now</a>.
REJOICE EVERMORE!
So Scripture commands us. But how can you rejoice in a world of so much darkness? At a time like twilight when darkness gathers, ready to fall? The comforting bromides of belief can seem pat and complacent in the shadow of very present wickedness. Everything happens for a reason. There must be evil so there can be free will. God is in charge and will make things right in the end. No doubt. And it is some comfort too. But here we are today, and faith in the things unseen, and hope in the far-off country of our salvation don’t have the tangible immediacy of our suffering and distress.
More than this, and deeper. From our first cry to our last one, life is little more than letting go, a long goodbye. The pain, the grief, the traumas physical and emotional that scar our minds: sorrow is so woven into the very fabric of material existence that to turn our faces from it is to turn away from life itself. In the face of our mourning mortality, even Jesus wept.
In part 1, I write about the three murders and the works of art that reveal the nature of their evil. In part 2, I reflect on creative practices of truth and beauty that allow one to confront this evil with love and, through love, with joy. By joy, of course, I don’t mean smiley-faced complacency or quietism. I’m talking about preserving the gusto of living, even when you are living honestly, which means acknowledging grief and pain.
The first murder is the 1834 killing of the French con man Jean-François Chardon and his mother by the violent but elegant and eloquent thief Pierre François Lacenaire. This murder was the beginning of a startling century-long dance between art and reality. Lacenaire’s philosophical musings inspired the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky to create the classic novel Crime and Punishment. Dostoevsky’s work predicted and inspired the atheistic philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche, in turn, inspired the famous American murderers of the 1920s, Leopold and Loeb. They then became the subjects of any number of books and movies, including Alfred Hitchcock’s innovative film, Rope. Throughout this bizarre and deadly story cycle, the theme in play is the death of Christian faith and the attempt to rewrite and rise above the Christian moral order—an attempt still being made today.
Next, I deal—as delicately as I can—with the monstrous crimes committed in the American Midwest of the 1950s by the psychopath Ed Gein. Gein murdered women and wore their bodies as costumes. These grotesque horrors inspired the novel Psycho by Robert Bloch, which was the basis of the Alfred Hitchcock movie of the same name, now regarded as one of the greatest works of American cinema. Psycho gave birth to an entire genre, the slasher film, which includes everything from disastrous trash and reprehensible torture porn to serious-minded horror like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and ultimately the insightful novel and Oscar-winning film The Silence of the Lambs, also based on the Gein murders. The theme of this cycle is, of course, the confusion of sexual identity, but it is also the role of psychiatric theory in creating and confronting that confusion.
The last murder I write about is the first: the killing of Abel by Cain. The theme here is the failure of theodicy, the inability to accept the goodness of a God who presides over a world full of so much cruelty and injustice. I can’t write about the works of art inspired by Cain’s actions, because in some sense all art is inspired by his actions. He is the first man born after the fall, and all history flows out of him. This is Cain’s kingdom; we’re just living in it. Instead, I trace Cain’s continued presence throughout the Old and New Testaments because I believe the Bible contains, in microcosm, all history and all art.
The second part of the book is more personal. I don’t hold myself up as a role model of anything. I am not a pastor or a theologian. You should get your religious rule book from a better source. But because each inner life is different, each act of spiritual creation is unique. Whether a rainbow looks the same to me as it does to you, it is always only our own.
In light of this, I’ve chosen to write three brief reflections on practices that have deepened my relationship with Jesus Christ. My reason for this is that in Christ, I find I experience both the cross and the resurrection—that is, a heightened awareness of evil, injustice, and suffering accompanied by a seemingly absurd increase in serenity and joy.
The first of these reflections is on the ritual of communion—my answer to Lacenaire and to the intellectual collapse of the Christian moral order.
The second is a reflection on the atheistic psychotherapy that miraculously restored me to sanity in my youth and freed me to accept the grace of God. This is my answer to Ed Gein and, through him, the misbegotten nature of today’s therapeutic culture and the gender confusion that has arisen along with it.
The closing chapter is on art and beauty, and how it suggests to me a theodicy no mere philosophy can provide, a faithful response to suffering. This is my answer to Cain.
INTRODUCTION
To sum it up then:
My subject is murder and the imagination. My premise is that murder is evil. My belief is that God is love, and love is the source of joy.
If, then, I enter the literature of darkness, I do it with a sure and certain faith in the reality of light, not light in a future heaven but light in this world of sin and suffering, not light in the world to come but light in this world of present darkness, including the darkness of murder.
Light. Love. Joy. Beauty. 
 Here. Now. In the kingdom of Cain.
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Cain-Finding-Literature-Darkness/dp/0310368340/ref=sr_1_1?crid=22ZEPHR0XQANA&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.-asrk-u7s-sDyhCZt2HswSh97P9UrU8fIOFQ6ixtmpKTB1DBbhizDhTlIu-UqaLkK7N0nbUSyzC-7AF7vHD1eKuT-zxV0AKvUdyGQtz3PVdxbQPtExJGPweEKI5A7u8oRKT8qGQ_emtFCVDLrzEIdR6Q4n645BIOoF3oQHLkrRF52UD0dBOnHAasIM3LWhrGXj8CZhnLqvGlRuqStS9pQrKn7rhqrcGVNFJZaH1Spuw.fvQZ5IniKW9xjinwdGzONrUwsBlcMLwjXhbqgG1ldB4&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=Kingdom+of+Cain&amp;qid=1746466335&amp;sprefix=kingdom+of+cain%2Caps%2C139&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ORDER ON AMAZON TODAY</a>
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Murder

Murder, Madness, Meaning: How Can We ‘Rejoice Always’ When The World Often Seems So Broken?

Andrew Klavan

Books

The 24-year-old daughter of Minnesota Democrat governor and failed vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz released a TikTok video in which she claimed that if Jesus Christ lived in the United States, the Trump administration would deport him and claim he was part of a deadly gang.
Walz appeared to be making a reference to 29-year-old Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal alien who was deported to El Salvador and is suspected of being a member of the violent MS-13 gang. Democrats have sought for Garcia to be sent back to the United States, claiming that he has been denied due process.
“If Jesus were alive today and in the United States, this administration would already have taken him and removed him from this country without due process, claimed he was a member of the MS-13 gang as a way to try to justify not giving him due process, as if there is any justifiable reason to not giving somebody due process,” Walz declared.
“Some people don’t want to talk about that,” she continued. “It truly is baffling how clear and laid out everything is and there is [sic] still people standing by it. I believe in the good of people, and like, humanity, humans, you know, deep down at our core, like, we care about each other. But that’s really being tested, because how anyone is OK with this is terrifying to me. But yeah, if you look like me, speak up, speak out, because we might be the only ones safe from what’s coming and some of the only people that are able to stop it.”
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Tim Walz’s daughter appears to compare alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Jesus, says Trump would have deported Jesus for being a gang member.
I see the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
“I believe in the good of people and like humanity, humans you know deep… <a href="https://t.co/zxjXJmlwFb">pic.twitter.com/zxjXJmlwFb</a>
&mdash; Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) <a href="https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1913599911918211264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The Department of Homeland Security has said it has evidence that Garcia was involved in MS-13.
“Two judges found that he was a member of MS-13. That finding has not been disturbed. Intelligence reports found that he was involved in human trafficking,&#8221; Homeland Security <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/04/16/kilmar-abrego-garcia-ms-13-gang-member-history-violence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;He is an illegal alien from El Salvador. He claimed fear of being returned to El Salvador because he would be persecuted by MS-13&#8217;s rival gang, Barrio-18. Jennifer Vasquez, Garcia’s wife, petitioned for an order of protection against him. She claimed he punched her, scratched her, and ripped off her shirt, and bruised her.”
According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, MS-13 is well known for its extreme violence and brutality.
“One of the largest and most violent criminal organizations in the United States is MS-13, which has over 10,000 members in as many as 40 states,” ICE <a href="https://www.ice.gov/about-ice/hsi/investigate/transnational-gangs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">states</a>. “The gang is known for its extreme violence, including its brutal initiation rituals and acts of intimidation and retaliation against rival gangs, law enforcement officials and community members.”

US-VOTE-POLITICS-DEMOCRATIC-CONVENTION

Tim Walz’s Daughter Says Trump Would Have Deported Jesus And Claimed He Was Part Of MS-13

Deportations

Kilmar Abrego Garcia

MS-13 Gang

Tim Walz

Trump Administration

Three key Ohio State football players in the team’s 34-23 national championship victory over Notre Dame publicly thanked God after the game Monday night.
Ohio State quarterback Will Howard, who was named offensive MVP of the game after passing for 231 yards and 2 TDs while rushing for 57 yards, stated, “First and foremost, I gotta give the glory and the praise to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, man. I wouldn’t be here without him. I wouldn’t be here without my teammates, without my family, without everyone that bet on me back in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, man, I’m at a loss for words right now.”
While receiving the Offensive MVP Award, he added, “Before I say anything, I gotta give my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ all the glory, all the praise. Amen,” adding he was “so glad God gave me a chance to be a Buckeye.’
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Ohio State QB Will Howard following an MVP performance: “First and foremost, I gotta give the glory and the praise to my lord and savior Jesus Christ.” <a href="https://t.co/X9brwU8Hzw">pic.twitter.com/X9brwU8Hzw</a>
— OutKick (@Outkick) <a href="https://twitter.com/Outkick/status/1881568227341619534?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Linebacker Cody Simon, named Defensive MVP, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/ohio-state-stars-praise-god-after-winning-college-football-national-title?intcmp=tw_fnc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">echoed</a>, &#8220;The Lord did something special on this team and we’re just so thankful. Everyone on this team, we all bought in. I love every guy out here – put the work in this whole year.&#8221;
Defensive end Jack Sawyer, who made three tackles, added, “This is the best feeling I’ve ever felt in my life. This is exactly what we had envisioned when we all decided to come back – to go out and do it this way and end on this note. We just thank God for giving us the ability to go out and here and do it, through the ups and the downs. He was with us on our side and we knew that. Overcame the adversity and, man, this just feels so good.”
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It wasn’t just Ohio State players who publicly acknowledged God on Monday night; after he scored the first touchdown of the game, Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard pointed to his armband that had &#8220;Matthew 23:12&#8221; written on it: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
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Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
– Matthew 23:12 <a href="https://t.co/gSTkG4isSp">pic.twitter.com/gSTkG4isSp</a>
— David Pollack (@davidpollack47) <a href="https://twitter.com/davidpollack47/status/1881508147321606493?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Even before the game, Leonard told Sports Michiana, “I truly think things happen for a reason. Not only us, but Ohio State as well. I think we’re the two main teams to just publicly display our faith the most. I don’t know if this is some divine teaching, you know, who put us here. I truly believe that Jesus was looking over both our shoulders throughout the whole season and put these two teams on a pedestal for a reason.”
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Riley Leonard feels Notre Dame &amp; Ohio St are the 2 teams to publicly display their faith the most.
“I don’t know if this is some divine teaching that put us here but I truly believe Jesus was looking over both of our shoulders… and put these 2 teams on a pedestal for a reason.” <a href="https://t.co/gxcKMByPb0">pic.twitter.com/gxcKMByPb0</a>
— Angelo Di Carlo (@angdicarlo) <a href="https://twitter.com/angdicarlo/status/1879675689437393386?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
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2025 CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T- Ohio State v Notre Dame

Ohio State Players Publicly Thank God After National Championship Win

NCAA football

Notre Dame University

Ohio State University

Religion

Sports

U.S.

Mary, did you know one day you’d be reimagined?
Before you hit play, you have to read what those behind the new Netflix film “Mary” — billed as a “survival thriller” — are saying to understand the direction Hollywood is going with the movie.
Released earlier this month, screenwriter Timothy Michael Hayes <a href="https://whitmanhansonexpress.com/whitmans-timothy-michael-hayes-pens-netflix-film-script/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, “One challenge was that they wanted (the) film to appeal to all denominations and all dogmas.”
The first hint at a modern-day inclusive Mary.
After all, they consulted Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders when writing the screenplay. Yes, Muslim leaders. Show of hands if you think Hollywood would consult Christians on a film about Mohammed. Me neither.
Bible-believing Christians are naturally upset about the liberties taken to recreate Mary. Director of &#8220;Mary,&#8221; D.J. Caruso, said he wanted to give the world a portrayal of the real, human Mary even though the Bible doesn&#8217;t have much to say about her.
And the anti-Israel crowd is coming in hot because an Israeli Jewish woman, Noa Cohen, was cast as Mary, the Jewish mother of Jesus. The calls for boycotts quickly went out on social media.
Let’s just be real: If you are in the habit of spewing anti-Semitism online, then you are probably never going to watch a movie about the mother of Jesus.
Cohen, clearly has no idea who Mary was, <a href="https://thedirect.com/article/mother-mary-netflix-noa-cohen-bible-story-movie" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a>, 
<blockquote>Mary’s being portrayed in a whole new light in my opinion. It&#8217;s giving her her voice back. She&#8217;s not just a vessel for something greater than herself.</blockquote>
Actually, that’s exactly who the mother of Jesus was. Saying she’s “not just a vessel” is an ignorant statement — as if it’s not enough to be chosen by God as a key instrument in His perfect plan to bring His son to earth so that He may be the ultimate sacrifice for our salvation, as Christians believe. This production brings an obvious feminist twist and an attempt to modernize Mary with an actress who doesn’t understand her story or purpose.
<div id="attachment_848557" style="width: 471px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-848557" class="wp-image-848557 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/MixCollage-23-Dec-2024-10-50-AM-4074-461x576.jpg" alt="&quot;Mary.&quot; Netflix. Aloe Entertainment. Creativity Media. IMDB." width="461" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/MixCollage-23-Dec-2024-10-50-AM-4074-461x576.jpg 461w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/MixCollage-23-Dec-2024-10-50-AM-4074-240x300.jpg 240w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/MixCollage-23-Dec-2024-10-50-AM-4074-768x960.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/MixCollage-23-Dec-2024-10-50-AM-4074-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/MixCollage-23-Dec-2024-10-50-AM-4074.jpg 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px" />&#8220;Mary.&#8221; Netflix. Aloe Entertainment. Creativity Media. IMDB.</div>
With some exceptions, faith-based movies often ping-pong between being cringe-worthy or missing the biblical mark. A mark they likely never intended to hit.
When I heard that prosperity gospel megachurch pastor Joel Osteen was an executive producer of Mary, I was fairly confident this movie would plant itself in the second camp, landing short of the biblical target. Gaining health and wealth is at the center of the prosperity gospel, and generally absent of sound biblical theology.
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On X, Osteen <a href="https://x.com/JoelOsteen/status/1865074051921641658" target="_blank" rel="noopener">teased</a> the movie, saying, “See Mary like you’ve never seen her before.” Tell me you’re not going to stick to the Bible without telling me.
If you hit play, right out of the gate, Mary opens the film with, “You may think you know my story. Trust me, you don’t.”
Trust me, Netflix, we do — for the Bible tells us so.
Friendly PSA: If you’re letting Hollywood teach you theology, you’re doing it wrong.
It’s bad enough Disney is tragically “reimagining” their classics — one painful reboot at a time. Their <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/soniathompson/2024/08/22/did-disney-make-the-right-decision-about-the-dwarfs-for-snow-white-movie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">second attempt</a> at reimagining “Snow White” comes out next year, and includes seven computer-generated “magical creatures” instead of dwarfs and a Latina Snow White who publicly trashed the original “Snow White.” In spite of the politically correct ring kissing having no floor or ceiling — you can never bend the woke knee enough, even for magical creatures — everyone understands animated fairytales are fiction. That doesn’t change the fact that liberties taken with Dopey and Sneezy are still dumb. For a majority of Americans, however, the Bible is not fiction. Adherence to its original context without ad libbing an agenda is something many of us take very seriously. 
Director of “Mary,” D.J. Caruso, <a href="https://religionnews.com/2024/12/06/new-netflix-film-wants-to-make-mary-accessible-to-all/">said</a>, 
<blockquote>The world needs to see Mary, and they need to see her in a new light. My goal was to see if I could present Mary in a beautiful way, in a way that a younger audience could see her and relate to her as not just this beautiful, iconic holy mother, but as a young girl who had to make sacrifices and struggle and deal with things that a lot of the contemporary youth are dealing with today.</blockquote>
While, no doubt, young girls today have serious struggles and make sacrifices, none will ever be able to relate to being chosen to carry the Savior of the world through an immaculate conception and the potential earthly consequences she may have faced. The most they can do is respect her faithfulness.
A bright light has been shining on Mary for more than 2,000 years. Her story and her obedience to God are just as beautiful and relevant today as it was back then.
If God wanted us to have a different take on Mary, He would have provided one and not waited more than 2,000 years for Netflix to offer its take.
In “Mary,” her cousin Elizabeth <a href="https://stmarkministries.com/2024/12/should-you-watch-the-mary-movie-on-netflix/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tells her</a>, “Trust the strength inside of you.” It sounds eerily like the gospel of self-actualization trending in today’s “me” centered culture. It also sounds like something you’d hear straight from Joel Osteen.
Hollywood doesn’t need to give the mother of Jesus a reboot in order to reach large audiences and reap the financial rewards. On the rare occasion it does produce a film that&#8217;s faithful to Scripture, such as “The Passion of the Christ,” audiences turn out in droves — to the tune of over $600 million at the box office.
Hollywood is great at making Hallmark movies, but not so much with theologically accurate narratives.
Caruso <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mary-noa-cohen-comments-bible-113606680.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wants us to believe</a> that Mary is &#8220;sort of a superhero without powers.” The film wraps with Mary — the superhero — announcing that “Love will save the world.”
Nice bumper sticker, but if you’re a Christian, you know that it’s God’s Son who came to save the world, and He’s the only superhero in this story.
* * *
Lauren DeBellis Appell, a former lobbyist and communications aide on Capitol Hill, is a writer based in Fairfax, Virginia. Follow her on X <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_ldappell-3Flang-3Den&amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;c=cnx1hdOQtepEQkpermZGwQ&amp;r=kaAUPcZhpO1MvBc6jwa0VBiGZWXka6ART1tFuyQjLfc&amp;m=vTKo4FePDMyKVWSuxLCuaaDL3sLK4GEfxQYz1yppw20&amp;s=SGybKxJyqU1J2FWxExk5C2vqBiQeF6THIyErZ--DZHc&amp;e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@LDAppell</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

MixCollage-23-Dec-2024-11-00-AM-8948

Netflix’s ‘Mary’ Is Quite Contrary To Reality

Netflix’s 'Mary' Is Quite Contrary To Reality

Bible

Entertainment

Film Reviews

Movies

Netflix

Opinion

Woke Culture

Born into lowly circumstances, he came without fanfare, without flair, without majesty of royalty. Yet his coming fulfilled Old Testament prophecies that pronounced God would send a savior for the world — for every individual in every subsequent time period in every society. The birth story of Jesus has transcended time, and Dr. Jordan B. Peterson’s series, “The Gospels,” is evidence of that transcendence. 
To examine the birth of Jesus Christ is to assess the nativity story itself. Peterson and the scholars who join him at the table to read the words of the narrative that begins Jesus’ life and mission take up the task of expository discussion: They analyze the story’s personal and cultural implications, evaluate its historical and political context, and address how it applies to us today. The nativity story continues to draw us in, sometimes in ways we simply cannot explain — try as we might. 
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<h4>Mary and Joseph: Personal and Cultural Significance </h4>
“And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Luke 1:31-33
The birth story of Jesus involves several visits from angels: to Mary, with news of her pregnancy; to Joseph, in a dream with instructions to marry Mary; to shepherds, in a field with directives to find the baby. The greatest of stories, Jordan has said before, omit everyday, common material, but they include excitement — just as the Gospels exclude extraneous details around these angel visits. But the day-to-day happenings were still going right on in these people’s lives. By the time the angel visits Joseph, Mary has somehow already told him, even though they would have been supervised at all times. How? When? Afterward, Joseph had “considered these things,” but what, exactly, was he thinking? What overwhelming news this would have been for them both. 
Yet even in the midst of immensely life-changing, supernatural news, Mary “says ‘yes’ to the fact of the child,” Jordan notes. “There isn’t a deeper reflection of fundamental faith in the goodness of being and becoming than the decision a woman takes to throw herself wholeheartedly and without reservation into the relationship with her infant.” On a personal level, Mary embodies great faith in motherhood. More broadly, Mary’s attitude reflects that of a healthy culture: one that holds the image of mother and infant sacred. Without the values of maternal love, life, continuity, and sacrifice, a culture has no future. 
So, too, does Joseph accept the angel’s directions without question. This is not because the Gospels shy away from addressing doubt and disbelief, as Gregg Hurwitz points out. After all, “How much can you spring on one person at once?” Jordan posits. Joseph had resolved to send Mary away quietly, but he, instead, pushes any doubt or disbelief aside. Like Mary’s, Joseph’s faith as an individual is evident. But on a cultural level, his willingness to act in good faith creates a solid foundation for the family. 
<h4>The Birth of Jesus: Historical and Political Significance </h4>
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
Context always matters — always. The time of Jesus’ birth is unmistakably significant to his life’s mission, which the group discusses at length. At his birth, the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus had come to be known as Divi Filius, a Latin phrase meaning “son of a god.” This is an undeniable mark of a hero story: the genuine God is born during a false god’s tyrannical rule. At the same time, many historians consider Augustus one of the greatest leaders in history. He is responsible for establishing the Pax Romana, a 200-year period of peace. During his reign and the years following, the Romans did not rebel and no outside forces attacked Rome. Considering this period of stability, Jesus is auspiciously born into a time his mission can be most fruitful. Undoubtedly, the Christian message was able to spread with astonishing speed. 
The true emperor where true peace will be found is born into a hidden location, and his coming is not announced to the masses. It is announced to those who shared a specific relationship with the prophets of the Old Testament: shepherds. But the choice of shepherds is significant beyond even the prophetic; it is significant in regards to the universal. The shepherds to whom the angel delivers the birth announcement would have been considered lowly because of their socioeconomic status. Christ’s birth, his mission, his salvific nature is universally salvific, intended for everyone.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/jordan-b-peterson/gospels-christmas/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH JORDAN B. PETERSON&#8217;S SERIES, &#8220;THE GOSPELS,&#8221; ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
Accompanying the angel who delivers the birth announcement to the shepherds comes “a company of the heavenly host” (Luke 2:13). The Hebrew defines this heavenly host as an “army.” Bishop Barron reminds the group that though emperors dominate the world with human armies, Christ will have ultimate dominion with a fierce, angelic, supernatural army. 
<h4>The Heavenly Host: Spiritual and Universal Significance</h4>
“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11
What does this nativity story tell us about today? About ourselves? About this life — and the next? It tells us that Jesus — the giver of personal peace and worldly peace to come — brings hope, and he intended us to carry that eternal hope with us. 
The host of angels and shepherds signify the fullness of universal reconciliation: two extremes, above and below, connected together through Christ’s birth. Their angelic message proclaims, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Jesus’ mission was to bring true peace, reconciling man to God through his eventual sacrifice. When glory is given to God, as Bishop Barron explains, peace suffuses personally, culturally, and universally. 
It is a story for us, one with the hope of peace and the promise of life.

Jordan Peterson, The Gospels

Critically Examining The Nativity Story: Contextual Study In ‘The Gospels’

Critically Examining The Nativity Story: Contextual Study In 'The Gospels'

DailyWire+

Gospel

Jordan Peterson

Well, my friends, this is my final post before Christmas break. So as we approach this holiest of holy days, I would like to set all the political animosity aside, and reach out in love and charity to all people made in the image of God, and also to Democrats, and deliver a seasonal message full of lofty-sounding sentiments that seem uplifting on first hearing only because, when studied carefully, they reveal themselves to be empty of anything resembling wisdom or even meaning. And I want to speak these empty phrases in a pious-sounding voice like this one so that they sound like they either come from the heart or from one of those excruciatingly worthy NPR reports about the art of flute-making among Amazonian Kumonga-Bonga tribesmen or some other bull-pucky you couldn’t care less about, but you can’t turn it off because then people will think you don’t like primitive indigenous people which, of course, you don’t but if you wanted anyone to know that, you wouldn’t be listening to NPR in the first place.
And when I deliver these pseudo-deep yuletide meditations, I want to rely on a lot of cutesy, unnecessarily allusive phrases like “this festive season of the year,” or “the babe laid in a manger,” instead of just saying Christmas or Jesus like any normal person. Do you think Jesus’s mother called him “the babe laid in a manger?” Like, “Hey, babe laid in a manger, make sure you’re back by dinnertime and don’t forget to wear your helmet when you’re riding your bike.” Of course not. They probably didn’t even have helmets then since it was back in olden times.
So without further ado — and before I get sick of talking like some shmuck on the classical music station — let me get to this year’s Christmas message.
You know, at this festive season of the year, when our thoughts turn once again to that babe laid in a manger so very long ago when there were still mangers, but you couldn’t get a bike helmet for love or money, it’s customary for us to go shopping for gifts. Uncle Harry wants a new tie because he got so smashed last Christmas he spilled gravy on his old tie and had to spend the entire year telling people it was handmade by South American craftsmen and what looked like a gravy stain was actually an outline of Argentina. Little Tommy wants a telescope because little Julie across the street keeps forgetting to draw the curtains before she gets ready for bed. And Mom, who’s always so sweetly selfless, just wants a modest little ticket to Pittsburgh and a new social security number along with a driver’s license with her picture on it but an entirely different name.
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But is buying presents really what this festive season of the year is all about? Or is it about that child laid in a manger back in olden times and the shepherds who were watching their flocks by night when an angel of the Lord appeared before them and said, “Don’t be afraid. Because lo, a savior has been born to you who will return to judge you for your sins. So wait, I take back what I said about not being afraid. You should probably be scared out of your wits. But never mind that. Go to Bethlehem and see where this child is laid in a manger, and if you find out what a manger is, send word. And bring him gifts like, I don’t know, maybe a lamb chop or something. You’re shepherds. You figure it out. Only leave the little drummer boy home this year because if he wakes that kid up after Mary finally gets him to sleep, she’s gonna slap his face off.” Then the angel vanished and a heavenly host appeared singing “Peace on earth to men of good will. But the rest of you are screwed.”
So in conclusion, let me just remind you that, when you get your religion from chintzy sentiment like this, you get what you deserve.
And believe me, you do not want that.
* * *
This excerpt is taken from the opening satirical monologue of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Andrew Klavan Show</a>.”
Andrew Klavan is the host of “The Andrew Klavan Show” at The Daily Wire. He is the bestselling author of the Cameron Winter Mystery series. The fourth installment, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1613165536?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_thcv_3&amp;storeType=ebooks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A WOMAN UNDERGROUND</a>,” is now available. Follow him on X: @andrewklavan
The views expressed in this satirical article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

I wish you a warm welcome to Christmas dinner!

My Seasonal Message Full Of Lofty-Sounding Sentiments

Christians

Christmas

Humor

Satire

Last Saturday, Pope Francis attended a nativity exhibit in the Vatican that depicted the baby Jesus as a Palestinian.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Pope Francis inaugurates the new nativity scene called ”Betlehem 2024” in the Vatican
Looks like the Pope has also fallen for the absurd claim that Jesus was a Palestinian. <a href="https://t.co/nVhsOW8vuL">pic.twitter.com/nVhsOW8vuL</a>
&mdash; Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) <a href="https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1865501290031165766?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The exhibit in Paul VI Hall was <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/pope-francis-inaugurates-nativity-scene-in-vatican-showing-baby-jesus-on-keffiyeh/#:~:text=The%20keffiyeh%2Ddraped%20cradle%2C%20which,Bethlehem%2C%20according%20to%20Vatican%20News." target="_blank" rel="noopener">created by Palestinian artists</a>. The baby Jesus was swathed in a Palestinian Keffiyeh. Palestine Liberation Organization spokesperson Ramzi Khouri brought “warm greetings” from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and lauded Francis, telling of his “deep gratitude for the pope’s unwavering support for the Palestinian cause and his tireless efforts to end the war on Gaza and promote justice.”
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Francis has expressed anti-Israel beliefs before, apparently labeling Israel’s response to the October 7 Hamas massacre of more than 1200 people in Israel as immoral, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-israel-lebanon-hezbollah-72b592696627d1a671e7419e98e354b6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a>, “A country that does these things — and I’m talking about any country — in a superlative way, these are immoral actions.”
Francis has <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/pope-francis-calls-for-probe-to-determine-if-israels-actions-in-gaza-constitute-genocide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> for an investigation into Israel’s actions in Gaza to see if they should be labeled “genocide.” On the first anniversary of the October 7 massacre, Francis issued a Letter to Catholics of the Middle East. In the letter, he cited John 8:44. “The verse chosen by the pontiff, a vitriolic accusation that the Jews ‘are from [their] father, the devil,’ has for centuries provoked and been used to justify Church hostility to Jews,” Tablet Magazine <a href="https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/unfulfilled-promise-pope-francis-israel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted.</a>
The consistent attempts by Palestinians and their supporters to rewrite the history of the land of Israel have included trying to claim Jesus was a Palestinian, a claim easily refuted since there was never a state of Palestine. Yet in 2013, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/2013-12-23/ty-article/abbas-jesus-was-palestinian/0000017f-e55e-d9aa-afff-fd5e01410000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> Jesus “a Palestinian messenger,” and in 2019, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) shared a tweet that stated, “I was once asked by a relative who is a Palestinian Christian why the Christian right in America largely supports their oppression. ‘Don’t they know we’re Christian too? Do they even consider us human? Don’t they know Jesus was a Palestinian?’”
As Peter Wehner has <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/jewish-history-jesus-settler-colonialism-claims/677149/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">written</a>, “In fact, although many Palestinians today are Christians, Jesus himself was not one. He was born to Jewish parents in Judea, he lived as a Jew, and he died as a Jew. In the time of Jesus, Palestine didn’t exist—as a place, an entity, a word, or a concept. In the second century, Judea, which was the epicenter of large-scale Jewish rebellions against Roman rule, was renamed Syria Palaestina—later simply Palaestina—by the Romans.”

VATICAN-RELIGION-POPE

Pope Francis Attends Vatican Nativity Exhibit Showing Jesus As A Palestinian

Palestinians

Pope Francis

Vatican

World

It is a truth universally acknowledged (by all right-thinking people, anyway) that Christmas comes too early. First you have the people who hoist up their wreaths and garlands at the first sign of falling leaves—a practice which should, in my opinion, be punishable by immediate deportation. I don’t care if you’re a legal citizen. The spirit of Project 2025 surely demands that we send October hall-deckers back to whichever country their ancestors most recently arrived from. Boughs of holly, gay apparel, and so forth become permissible at exactly the moment when Santa Claus reaches Herald Square in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. This was decided at the Council of Chalcedon.
But even then, December 25 is surely a demoralizing choice of dates for the pinnacle of all jollities. The excitement ramps up to a maximum just as the days are starting to droop into their coldest and darkest. This is a bright consolation for the feeling that you are looking at the sun from an increasingly unflattering angle. But then Boxing Day hits like a hangover on December 26 when, in the words of an extraordinarily depressing and mawkish poem by civil rights leader Howard Thurman, “the star in the sky is gone” and “the kings and princes are home.”
Thurman somehow meant this to be inspiring, but it’s obviously a galactic let-down. Here you are, your yearly allotment of cheer utterly spent, and there now stretch before you two months of slush and darkness with nothing to punctuate the tedium but New Year’s resolutions and Valentine’s Day. So the only activities scheduled to leaven the winter doldrums in our modern system are setting homework assignments for yourself and grappling with the crushing fear that you might die alone. Nice going, everyone.
Our ancestors knew better. What if I told you December 25 could be not the punishing end, but the gleeful start of the festivities? “The Twelve Days of Christmas” isn’t just the wish-list of an eccentric and high-maintenance wifejak. It’s a picture of how the season ought to be. Instead of dutifully pledging to obsess over hydration come January, you could be cavorting merrily among a retinue of milkmaids and an assortment of waterfowl. Or at least you could leave your Christmas lights up without remorse.
All this and more can be ours if we simply ditch the secular falderal and refer back to the liturgical calendar. Christmas would then last until January 6—which is not the Solemnity of the Insurrection but the Feast of the Epiphany, commemorating the wise men’s visit to the manger. The kings and princes are not home come New Year’s, thanks very much, they are just getting started—as we should be. By some accounts the Christmas season extends all the way to “Candlemas” on February 2, which commemorates the presentation of the baby Jesus in the temple according to Jewish rite. That would make Christmas 40 days long, rivaling the 50 days of “Eastertide” to celebrate the resurrection.
But just as the exuberance of Easter is preceded by the 40 somber days of Lent, the 40 days of Christmas are preceded by days of preparation known as Advent. This is the key to understanding the rhythm of the whole liturgical calendar: it goes through successive periods of grief and joy, silence and music, death and resurrection. It takes the natural ebb and flow of the light throughout the year as raw material in a grand work of art, using the solar system itself to construct a symbolic picture of Jesus’ life. In Genesis, when God sets up the stars as “signs to mark the seasons,” the rhythm of the year becomes a language for conveying the order of creation. The Jewish calendar, pinned to the cycles of the moon, established the pattern. The Christian calendar, founded on the schedule of Jewish feasts that Christ observed, grows out of it.
The winter solstice, when the daylight becomes shortest, makes for a natural beginning to this yearly sequence. Unlike Easter, which took place firmly during the festival of Passover, Christmas isn’t identified with a specific date in the Bible. Many people now think Jesus was born sometime in the Spring. But the winter date was fixed already by the <a href="https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EMCO/SIM-00726.xml?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">4th century A.D</a>. St. Augustine of Hippo loved to <a href="http://dec25th.info/Augustine's%20Sermon%20192.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">preach</a> about the symbolic appropriateness of December 25th as an entry point for God into the world, precisely because of the dark and the cold: “He, therefore, who bent low and lifted us up chose the shortest day, yet the one whence light begins to increase.” As the day wanes to its lowest ebb and the year rolls into its most brooding silence, the light of the world slips in and begins to grow.
This is deep and ancient magic. Every people and tribe has long since recognized that the earth wheels through a cycle of death and rebirth. Christians saw in their lord and savior the answer to a promise whispered through the very structure of creation, written in the very bones of the year. This is why it remains hilarious when detractors, as they have done since antiquity, accuse Christians of “appropriating” or imitating pagan rituals. The obvious answer to this is that yes, of course—in Christ we behold the fullness of a reality only dimly glimpsed in the nature worship of old. All the pageantry of myth and legend points at last to the greatest story ever told, and told again each year.
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Hence the season of Advent, a period of waiting and watching as the world grows dark. It covers the four weeks before Christmas, each one of which is dedicated to a different element of the story—the hope of the prophets, the peace of Bethlehem, the joy of the shepherds, the love of the angels. Shortly after <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3501.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">St. Martin of Tours</a> ripped his cloak and gave half to a beggar on a cold winter day, the season became associated in France with alms and fasting. Now most churches keep some form of the ritual. Creation itself holds its breath, and mankind awaits the adventus, the arrival, of a transforming light.
Not that you can’t play Christmas music in December. But you’ll get more out of the season if you spend part of it in contemplation, reading, and prayer. The world winds down this month in anticipation of a rebirth that comes just when creation feels most exhausted, its natural powers and energies spent. At that moment an all but invisible gap opens in the machinery of things, and there enters—unseen by the government sentries prowling the city streets, undreamt of in the palaces of emperors—the light and the lord of the world. At which point, the party’s on.
* * *
Spencer A. Klavan is host of the Young Heretics podcast and author, most recently, of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Light-Mind-World-Science-Illuminating/dp/1684515335" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Light of the Mind, Light of the World: Illuminating Science Through Faith</a>. The associate editor of the <a href="https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Claremont Review of Books</a>, he has written for many outlets, including The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, City Journal, Newsweek, The Federalist, The American Mind, and The Daily Wire. Follow him on X: <a href="https://x.com/SpencerKlavan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@SpencerKlavan</a>. You find his daily Advent posts on Substack at and read further theological reflections at <a href="https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New Jerusalem</a>, where he writes alongside his father, novelist Andrew Klavan.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.

Four lit candles for Advent

The Case For Advent-Maxxing

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As Jesus embarked on his ministerial journey, word of his miracles spread throughout the Holy Land. The accounts of his miracles have since filtered through time and across the world to the point we are still discussing them today. To what degree does spiritual healing change and positively impact an individual’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-eternal-question-of-human-beings-how-do-you-live-in-the-world">day-to-day life</a>? How do the stories of Jesus physically healing the sick relate to our society&#8217;s need for its own type of healing today? How would witnessing these events, on a micro and macro level, affect a soul in search for rescue? Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, surrounded by nine other scholars, leads a conversation about these questions in the third episode of “The Gospels.” And <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-modern-day-socrates-jordan-b-peterson-conducts-socratic-seminar-in-new-gospels-series">the tabletalk</a> is real. Each member of this group takes up their knowledge, devoid of pretentious facade, as they vulnerably talk of Jesus’ miracles applicability to life in the present day and age.
To imaginatively place yourself in the Holy Land during the early stage of Jesus’ ministry is a curious notion. Imagine hearing by word of mouth that a man in the town where you live is performing outright miracles. This is a tiny town of maybe 1,500 people — where people move to get away from social media, television, email, and phones in general. It is a place devoid of electronic communication, yet the rumor slowly spreads, ever so gradually. You hear it from a neighbor, from a friend, from conversations spoken in whispers on the dirt road you walk. A man’s son is sick to the point of death, but he recovers his health. A crazed man becomes instantly sane. A man with a deadly skin, nerve, and respiratory disease is healed in an instant.
Then, you find yourself in the right place at the right time to see the rumor turn to reality before your very eyes. From a short distance, you see a crowd clambering around this man, pressing in on him. Some hope to be healed; some hope to see healings. A window through the horde of hopefuls forms, and you catch a glimpse of him. Surrounded by this small mob, the man simply touches the sick, and they are healed in that moment. What would you think? What would you do? How would seeing the miraculous affect you?
Perhaps witnessing a miracle would make clear the path of your life as an individual moving throughout the world. Perhaps it would, in some way, alleviate the pressural pursuit of wealth, pleasure, power, or honor. As the group recounts Jesus’ travels through Samaria, they discuss Jesus’ meeting with the woman at the well. Here, Jesus essentially announces himself as the source of salvation — the Living Water. Rather than continue to pursue counterfeit satisfaction in the four <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/substitutes-for-religion-are-meaningless">substitutionary (and earthly) pursuits</a>, Jesus offers an opportunity away from contagious rhythms through a relationship with Him. This cyclical nature of unending and ill-begotten pursuits has a universal appeal. Bishop Barren posits that this is where hope enters in, because, “At the well, I meet Jesus — if I have eyes to see.” In other words, Jesus is the escape from the trap of pursuing meaningless accolades that never truly satisfy.
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Perhaps watching a miraculous occurrence in real life would unveil the beauty of community. In their discussion, Jordan makes the point that Christ represents a sacrificial offering that paradoxically returns everything in abundance, including the pathway forward to life. Community is founded on this relationship — of giving and receiving. And as Douglas Hedley mentions, Christ gave expression to a philosophical universalism with imaginative power, vision, and spiritual sincerity. His sacrificial teachings, actions, and being itself represents community.
But perhaps seeing a miracle performed in real life would bring clarity to your role as an individual within the greater context of society. During the time Jesus walked the earth, philosophy had shifted to focusing on the human as a part of the cosmos. In other words, particular significance was given to the individual in relation to the universal. How unique a time for Jesus to come to earth and illuminate a philosophy already in vogue. In the present day, Jordan has tailored his teachings in this way, advocating for individuals to <a href="https://store.dailywire.com/collections/books/products/12-rules-for-life-an-antidote-to-chaos">set themselves in order before criticizing the world</a>. Societal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/its-going-to-be-ok-jocko-willink-on-dealing-with-sadness-and-forgiving-yourself">healing begins</a> on the level of the individual.
“The question of miracles is fascinating,” Dennis Prager says, continuing, “Obviously, they’re miracles within the framework of the world as it exists because they’re suspensions of the natural in some way.” But the miracle of the universe, the presence of life itself, and the existence of consciousness is all miraculous, Prager contends. As the group reads the biblical stories of Jesus’ miraculous physical and spiritual healings, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meditations-with-oliver-anthony-negotiating-a-shared-vision-and-taking-a-leap-of-faith">the topic of faith </a>organically makes its way into their discussion — as founding belief and fostering faith was part of Jesus’ point in performing these miracles.
“What do you make of this miraculous healing and its constant repetition throughout the text?” Jordan inquires of the religiously diverse group of scholars. Before they answer, he defends the text through a psychological lens, implicitly demonstrating the masterful purpose in bringing nine voices to surround this table. Each offers a certain area of specialization alongside a particular religious perspective. When one man poses a question based on a passage, another answers with, sometimes obvious, indications of their background. This, then, is followed by a comment from another that steers — and sometimes entirely redirects — the conversation back to the biblical text.
Why the need for such steerage or redirection? The answer is obvious in the third episode. Obvious are the varied interpretations of the text, which, as John Vervaeke points out, gives it a surplus of meaning and makes evident its sacredness. But where does the interpretation end? At this, Jordan asserts his hopeful purpose of this seminar: to specify the symbolic relationships <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-role-of-the-holy-spirit-distinguishing-between-your-will-and-gods-will">encoded</a> in the text. Jesus’ interaction, for example, the woman at the well was to give her hope in this life and of the next, but that was not his sole intention.
What else did Jesus intend to communicate symbolically through the Living Water he offered her? What else did Jesus intend to communicate by performing healings? What else did Jesus intend to communicate by fulfilling Old Testament prophesies of the Messiah’s coming? Jordan wants to discover those answers. “I’ve been thinking we’re on the verge of something like computational epistemology,” he says — intending that meaning is not arbitrary. Tradition brings meaning to the forefront, making the most potent and actual relationships within the text not merely interpretive but, rather, reflective of meaning.
When Jordan began his investigation into the Bible, he did so with humble curiosity, professing he came to it not knowing what he was doing and not having “a prior presumption of my superiority in any manner to the text.” He continues, “Now, that doesn’t mean I had any real attitude towards it except what in the world is this? And perhaps there’s something I can learn from it.” He has, both implicitly and explicitly, taught others during his own learning process — with a keen sense to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wherever-you-are-is-not-as-good-as-it-could-be-plot-a-course-forward">aim at the highest</a>.
While the group often has differing ideas, one consensus is clear: Jesus’ miracles go beyond supernatural events (as if that would not be a fine stopping point). They are stories that teach of healing the individual and society — stories still teaching us today should we so choose to investigate them with curiosity and expectation.

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson

Hope In, Through, And From Miracles — And The Miraculous In Peterson’s ‘Gospels’

For only the second time in their 41-year marriage, Calvin and Trish Zastrow will be spending Thanksgiving apart. The first time was due to travel — this time it&#8217;s because Cal is serving a six-month prison sentence over a peaceful protest at a Tennessee abortion facility in 2021.
Zastrow was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-lifer-targeted-by-biden-admin-sentenced-to-prison" target="_blank" rel="noopener">convicted</a> earlier this year on FACE Act-related charges brought by the Biden administration after he prayed, sang hymns, and sat in front of the door to the entrance of an abortion facility in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. Calling from the Federal Correctional Institute Thomson in Illinois this week, Zastrow told The Daily Wire he was doing “absolutely fantastic.”
“I’m all on fire for Jesus,” he said. “I’m doing absolutely great, I’m on a big mission trip here.”
Over one month into his prison sentence, Zastrow said he has kept busy praying, reading his Bible, and teaching his fellow inmates about Christianity.
“There’s a whole lot of prodigals who are wallowing in pig mud, but they want to come back to Jesus, and so I’m here as a missionary to pull them out of that and help them get back on the Jesus road,” he said.
He said his friends and family have sent him over 50 books, mostly about Christian missionaries, and he has turned his cell into a sort of library. Zastrow said he’s been giving away a lot of copies in English and Spanish of the book &#8220;Tortured for Christ,&#8221; which is about Richard Wurmbrand, a pastor who spent years in a communist prison in Romania.
In a low-security section of the prison, Zastrow said he has seen few fights but has met a broad diversity of prisoners — from men convicted over January 6 to recruiters for ISIS and the Taliban.
He said that many of the January 6 prisoners are optimistic that they will get pardoned once President-elect Donald Trump takes office. He also referenced the discussion that Trump may pardon him, as the president-elect previously indicated that he would look at the cases of pro-lifers targeted by the Biden administration.
“I’m not getting my hopes up too high,” he said. “Plus I’m busy here. I’m busy. This prison holds almost 2,300 men and their need to hear about Jesus, their need for that is greater than my need for liberty. And so I’m here on a DOJ-sponsored mission trip.”
He said that most of the guards in the prison were unpleasant and would frequently “bark” and “scream” at the prisoners. “They can’t touch my joy, they can’t touch my soul, they can’t touch my attitude,” he said.
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Meanwhile, he said he has been able to call his wife pretty much every day so far.
“We are very proud of our Cal,” Trish told The Daily Wire on Wednesday. “He’s in there ministering every day. He’s doing well. He isn’t backing down from things.”
Trish was able to visit her husband earlier this month, saying she was able to spend about four hours talking to him. Still, she said it has been tough to be away from him.
“We miss him around here,” she said, noting that they had a new grandson born on November 1. “I didn’t get to share it with Cal, he’s such a great grandpa.”
Zastrow gets 500 minutes a month to call people in 15-minute increments. Trish said her daughter put a special ringtone on her phone so she knows whenever he calls.
“One of the hardest things is I can’t just call and talk to him whenever I want,” she said. “I don’t want to ever miss a call.”
Zastrow is scheduled to be released from prison on April 8, but may be able to qualify for a few days of early release if he takes some classes. His family is eager to see him back, but say they are grateful for the opportunity he’s been given to share his faith.
“I feel very privileged to be his wife and I’m very proud of him for standing,” she said. “I’m excited to see what God does with all this.”

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Pro-Lifer Spending Thanksgiving In Prison Grateful For Opportunity: ‘A DOJ-Sponsored Mission Trip’

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