This Day in History: The Battle of Gettysburg Continues 150 Years Ago

From The History Channel online.

imagesOn this day in 1863, during the second day of the Battle of GettysburgPennsylvania, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia attacks General George G. Meade‘s Army of the Potomac at both Culp’s Hill and Little Round Top, but fails to move the Yankees from their positions.

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The Importance of Scripture and Prayer

The Sacred Scriptures contain
the Word of God
and, since they are inspired,
really are the Word of God…

This sacred Synod urges all Christian faithful
to learn by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures
the “excelling knowledge of Jesus Christ.”
“For ignorance of the Scriptures
is ignorance of Christ.”

Therefore, they should gladly put themselves
in touch with the sacred text itself…

And let them remember that prayer should accompany
the reading of Sacred Scripture,
so that God and man may talk together;
for “we speak to him when we pray;
we hear him when we read the divine saying.”

–From Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation by Second Vatican Council

Katelyn Beaty: Same-Sex Marriage and the Single Christian

From Christianity Today online.

If my gay and lesbian peers have the right to sexual union and companionship, why don’t I [as a single, celibate Christian]? If the scriptural passages forbidding homosexual behavior apply only to a particular context, then surely the passages about fornication (sexual behavior outside marriage) and Paul’s praise for singleness are also culturally bound. And so long as marriage ascends into the echelons of existential imperative—you must have this in order to be a complete human being—then my singleness becomes a problem. It is no longer a unique witness to the kingdom, where people “will neither marry nor are given in marriage.” It no longer reveals that the water of baptism is thicker than blood—that an entire generation of Christians could be single, and still God would renew his church. Instead, it becomes a second-class existence.

A very good article. What is good for the goose must certainly be good for the gander. See what you think.

CT: On Gettysburg’s 150th, New Museum Examines Faith’s Role

From Christianity Today online.

Unknown“Here were these young men, caught up in these events, and trying to be as faithful as they could be as good Christians,” said Maria Erling, professor of church history at the seminary. “They were consoled by those faith commitments.”

In interactive exhibits, visitors grapple with mid-19th century moral dilemmas: Would you harbor a fugitive slave if it meant you could go to prison? What motivated nurses, such as the Catholic Daughters of Charity, to tend to the injured on both sides?

These daze we tend to forget what a pivotal role religion played in our country’s history–for good and for ill. Anyone who has studied the battle of Gettysburg, and who have a clue about having a relationship with God, will readily appreciate how faith would be so important to many of the soldiers who fought there.

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