Faith on View

Why everyone’s gifts matter

Small gifts wrapped in red and gold paper sit in a pile.

The Christmas classic The Little Drummer Boy, while a catchy tune, doesn’t have its origins in the biblical narrative, but in the mind of composer Katherine Kennicott Davis , who penned the song in 1941. …

Figurines of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus are shown in soft light.

See amid the winter’s snow, Born for us on earth below, See the tender Lamb appears, Promised from eternal years. Hail, thou ever-blessed morn! Hail, redemption’s happy dawn! Sing through all Jerusalem, Christ is …

A Gremlin wears a Santa hat and sits at a piano keyboard.

Ghostly apparitions glide as easily into the Christmas season as they do Halloween. In fact, the traditional association of frightening morality tales with the holiday season stretches at least as far back as the seventeenth …

Wooden letters used for printing are shown face up and ink stained in a drawer.

The Reformations of the sixteenth century are remembered as many different things. Interpreters focus on this period as a time of religious renewal, ecclesiastical schism, social upheaval, and political realignments. All of these approaches and …

Bruce Willis is shown crawling in an air duct wearing a Santa hat in the movie Die Hard.

Die Hard ranks among my all-time favorite Christmas movies. But before you spit out your eggnog in protest while directing a choice “Yippee ki yay” my way, the film’s director John McTiernan supports my position …

The author, Dan Ferren is shown in front of a wooden wall.

I’m one of those old guys who posts on TikTok . My content there has a lot of consonance with the content we publish on Faith on View. The other day, I posted about being …

A portrait of Alan Noble standing outside in front of concrete steps.

In junior high school, I was subjected to the ramblings of a history instructor who seemed almost inspired by the misguided romanticism of the Antebellum South in America. One of his lectures went on about …

Francis Bacon is shown in a black top hat, black cape, and white neck collar of his era.

I received an opportunity to give a presentation four years ago at a conference held on the campus of Central College in Pella, IA on the theme of “Faith and Reason in the Reformations.” The …

The comment below came across my Twitter and it struck me… but, not in a good way. “The Holy Spirit does not use movies. He uses whatever Scripture is in those movies. The film, itself, …

Turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing and rolls are shown on a table.

We’ve officially arrived at that time of the year when social media feeds are filled with well-intentioned posts of thankfulness. This is a welcomed reprieve from the numerous protest memes from evangelicals about the evils …