Traditions have a deeper hold on us than we realize, and at no other time of year than Christmas is this truth more prevalent or more easily recognizable. Christmas is first and foremost about the birth of our Lord and Savior. As Christians, this is a truth we affirm wholeheartedly in principle but too often…
Ebenezer Scrooge & the Bitter Christian
Photo Credit: Harry Furniss "The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice." A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens In deciding what to write to kick off the month of December, I couldn’t…
[SATIRE] Man Convinced He’s the Prophet Elijah After Personal Bible Study
RALEIGH, NC - A man who sat down to have a personal Bible study was shocked when he received divine revelation from God that he was the long-awaited Prophet Elijah. Robert Allan Chaff (A.K.A., the Prophet Elijah), a former member of Revelation Church in Matthews, NC, had given up on organized religion opting instead for…
“Dracula” by Bram Stoker: The Vampiric Perversion of Communion
While many are familiar with the story of Dracula, few have bothered to read Stoker’s classic epistolary novel. It follows, through letters and journal entries, the lives of Johnathan Harker─prisoner of the Count’s castle─and his cohorts who will stop at nothing to rid the world of vampiric evil. But it’s not all fangs and fright,…
The Starbucks Logo Upside Down Looks Like Baphomet: Modern Day Occultism (Q&A Part 2)
Pastor Bryan Hodge joins Bone of Bones again this week in part two of our discussion on the occult. In last week’s post, we defined the occult and began delving into how we should respond as Christians to the growing practice and prevalence of occultism in our society. *** Amber Ornelas: I’ve been to churches…
The Starbucks Logo Upside Down Looks Like Baphomet: Modern Day Occultism (Q&A Part 1)
Humans are endlessly fascinated with the Occult. From séances to Ouija boards, we're obsessed with seeking knowledge from realms we were never meant to roam. This isn’t unique to our age. We see instances of this all throughout the Bible with Israel building altars and praying to other gods, and most infamously, Saul using a…
Should Women Be in the Military?
This is a tough one for me. In the course of considering this post, I’ve written half a dozen introductions, ranted to friends and family, shouted mental objections at myself, binned the whole idea, retrieved the crumpled paper and smoothed out the edges. Still I feel no closer to expressing what I really want to…
The Pelagianism of Cherubs
You know those cherub figurines? The chubby cheeks and perfectly tousled hair, chins resting thoughtfully in palms, newly sprouted wings, angelic eyes aglow? Harmless, right? But what if I told you there was a sinister heresy behind those winsome smiles, a dark theology imbedded in the lure of baby fat? "Two Cherubs" by Raffaello Sanzio…
“The Essex Serpent”: Faith is Not the Absence of Reason
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry weaves a strange story of friendship between the most unlikely people. But slithering between the lines of this Victorian tale is a much darker theme—a theme that permeates much of today’s literature and film: that religion is the biggest threat to reason and progress. Set in London, 1893, The Essex…
Should We Use Red-Letter Bibles?
Ever wondered why some Bibles emphasize Jesus’ words in rubric (red lettering)? Who originated this tradition? For what purpose? What about the impact of this practice on our reading of the text? As a writer, I was certainly curious about this typographical feature, and so set out to uncover the meaning behind those infamous red-letter…
Bone of Bones 