Now, I don’t expect you to read these on the first day of Christmas, but there are 12 whole days of Christmas (that’s right Adam Sandler).
James Chastek, who is just a
Nestorius insisted on the seemingly innocent theological clarification of referring to Mary as mother of Christ and not as Mother of God since “Christ” was an awaited figure in history but to take this “Mother of God” talk literally would give us the sheer contradiction of generating the ingenerable. Nestorianism mirrored the earlier and more widespread Arian heresy, which also boiled down to the same seemingly innocent desire to clarify that, whatever this “son of god” talk amounted to, there wasn’t literally a generated God.
William Briggs (whose book Uncertainty was recently gifted me) writes about the mathematics of Santa’s feats of power. It’s a unique and helpful look at how a saint and theologian, embued with Elven toy-making prowess is able to deliver presents to Christians children in a world where over 1,000,000,000 people are professing Christians:
Santa’s sleigh ride is largely ceremonial at this point, though he does go out and personally deliver some presents. He does this in cases where the math indicates that certain children are unlikely to get exactly what they want. This is because the methods that we use are not perfect: Santa and his elves can only “flap their wings” in so many places and in so many ways.
As far as the darker corners of the web are concerned, the anonymous pro-Christian heathen at the Chateau asks an important question:
[W]hich Christmas song is most triggering to non-Christians?
I would wager God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. Billy Idol has a great version (as one of the CH commenters noted):
But it must said the Christopher Lee (who played a James Bond Villain, an evil Jedi, Dracula, and a wicked Wizard) has a fairly metal version of the Little Drummer Boy:
Edward Feser reminds us (in a very Catholic way) that every day is a day to welcome our Lord:
That, as I told my friend, is why the doctrine of transubstantiation is so important. Meditating on the meaning of the Eucharist can help make sin detestable and horrific to us, because God’s dwelling place ought to be spotless, and we know that every time we take Holy Communion God Himself dwells in us. We can do so daily – God with us, not just at Christmas, but throughout the year. And throughout the year, not merely at Christmas, we need to welcome Christ with the unreserved yes that His mother exemplified.
Then two silly political tweets. First, Rand Paul:
So everyone
enjoy your feats of strength today. Air your grievances here or in your home. But remember, thanks to Donald Trump we are ALL saying Merry Christmas this year — so repeat after me: MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS to everyone even the haters and losers.— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 23, 2018
But it doesn’t live up to the original:
Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don’t know what to do. Love!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2016
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