A central fact of the Christian message is this: we Christians serve a foolish God, who calls His followers to a life of folly.  “Whoever wishes to come after me”, He says, “must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mt 16:24).  To where must we follow him?  To Golgotha, the Place of the Skull.  Sounds foolish, does it not? �...

As one who has struggled intensely with scrupulosity, I can attest to the fact that it is a dreadful experience.  Any seriously scrupulous person, I think, would admit that preoccupation with fear of sin, questioning whether this or that act was a sin, feeling at practically every moment a need for confession, etc., so engrosses him as to deprive ...