More gun violence in the United States of America – truly a public health epidemic. There are outcries from liberals and progressives for action – as there should be. There has also been criticism of the pat – almost routine – offering of “thoughts and prayers” in the wake of tragic, unbelievable mass shootings. What […]
afterlife
Current Research on Pompeii, Part II: Paul’s Letter to the Romans
In Part I, we examined some recent research on Pompeii, focusing on archaeological studies. Here we will look at British scholar Peter Oakes’ 2009 book, Reading Romans in Pompeii: Paul’s Letter at Ground Level, which combines archaeological insights from Pompeii with an exegesis (analysis) of important aspects of St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. St. […]
Offering Hope in the Easter Season: Posts on the Resurrection and the Afterlife
We have discussed the afterlife and related issues, from the perspective of paranormal research, on a number of occasions. These are related to the Christian concept of the resurrection – at least in the sense that Christians’ belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ promises hope of our own eternal life with God after we […]
Reincarnation and Karma: Valuable Concepts for Religion Professionals (and the Rest of Us)
In the New (Christian) Testament parable of the wheat and the weeds, which we explored a few years ago, we noted that the doctrine of reincarnation and its cognate, karma (the law of cause and effect), appear to have been perniciously eradicated from Christian belief and dogma, leaving Christianity and thus the West, from at […]
They Know What We’re Up to: Paranormal Evidence about Our Deceased Loved Ones
From Electronic Voice Phenomena to near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, and the work of reputable mediums, the paranormal evidence shows that our deceased loved ones do not “go off” somewhere far away and become disconnected from us. Nor do they cease to exist and enter some kind of eternal emptiness. Rather, they stick pretty close to […]
Index to the Second Year
Thank you as always for checking in with WisdomWordsPPF! Here is a guide to the past year of blog posts (note that some posts appear in several categories). If you want a guide to the first year (October 2015-October 2016), you can find it here. Posts on Social Justice, Politics and Our Peer Nations The […]
Medjugorje: Exploring the Science of the Afterlife
Many modern Westerners tend to be leery of the possibility of an afterlife, even of the existence of a soul. In a Post-Enlightenment age, we are surrounded by science, technology, evidence and proofs. Climate change denial notwithstanding, we tend to believe only what we can observe with our five senses. The physical is real; the […]
Arthur Conan Doyle’s Wisdom on Death and the Afterlife
It is probably safe to say that many if not most of us are familiar with classic detective Sherlock Holmes. His creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), actually was ambivalent about his creation, and here we will honor that sentiment and focus on an element of Doyle’s life that was much closer to his heart: […]
First Anniversary!
One year ago, I posted my first blog on WisdomWordsPPF.org! I thought I would provide a review of the topics and topic areas, to give new visitors a feel for what I have been covering and to help sporadic visitors to get caught up. (Note that there are overlaps in the following selections.) Posts on […]
Capital Punishment from the Perspective of the “Other Side”
The United States is one of the few Western industrialized nations that still allows the death penalty. Americans who favor capital punishment justify it for several reasons: someone who commits a heinous crime deserves to die; the death penalty is a deterrent to violent crime; and death is the only punishment that comes close […]