Q. A long time ago, in the 70s I took Romans at Harvard Div School with Krister Stendahl. It was really fascinating, and I agreed with a good deal of what
Q. A long time ago, in the 70s I took Romans at Harvard Div School with Krister Stendahl. It was really fascinating, and I agreed with a good deal of what
The countercultural drama of Ash Wednesday
The day offers an opportunity for the devout, the skeptical and the merely curious to embrace the reality of sin. The Rev. Paul Soper, right, uses a swab to apply ash to the forehead of a parishioner during Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Margaret Mary Parish in Westwood, Massachusetts, on Feb. 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
February 17, 2021
(RNS) I confess I have long labored, with some hesitation and much annoyance, to embrace the Christian concept of original sin. Which makes it odd, I’ll admit, that I am so drawn to Ash Wednesday, the day in the Christian calendar that most reminds us that sin or at least human finitude is the central problem that Christianity exists to solve.