Modern Romans


Let Rome keep her noise, the arena of its atrocities, the circus its follies, the theater its revels. Jerome (342-420)

Ancient Rome, imperial Rome, descended into decadent entertainment as a way of life. Or more accurately, death. And this was Before Cable. B.C. Historical rerun of Rome here in the old USA.

As we witness the twilight of our Civilization, on the edge or ruin or redemption, which way the moral winds blow will determine our destination. As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, I try to resist the goods the world sells. Satan Inc. wants us to be grounded in what is passing away. It is easy to get cynical. Non-believers relish deconstructing the Faith. I can also lower the wrecking ball on our culture's Idols. It is like bowling from ten feet away. Can't miss. It doesn't take a Ph.D.

What our day needs is hope, real hope. Our culture specializes in the snarky, being clever about the irrelevant, or more seriously, dismissive of the holy and sacred.  Hope is scarce. The Gospel came into Rome as a harbinger of a better life, a vision of God's reign built on the ruins of a society that had run itself into the ground, killing its best, and extolling its worst.

It is not over until it is over, but we had better study history and study ourselves lest we flunk our lessons.         


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