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No center of power in America should become so concentrated that it could force its views on every other citizen. From the archives:
As the dust from the recent explosion over Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act begins to . . . .
In “The Islamic Jesus,” Mustafa Akyol holds that Jesus might reanimate Islamic societies and disrupt the appeal of radical groups. From the archives:
The Islamic Jesus: How the King of the Jews Became a Prophet of the Muslimsby mustafa akyolst. . . . .
I suggest that Eve was the first philosopher, but not just any sort of philosopher. She wants to know what truly matters.
The true servant of God consecrates to his creator not only the things human beings find most instinctively pleasurable, but also the elevated things.
A semi-imperial presidency seems inevitable.
Whether they are monarchs or not, powerful leaders take on royalish trappings because politics is ineradicably sacral.
Protestants would be well-served to study Paul VI’s “Humanae Vitae” and take heed of its warnings. From the archives:
Protestants are not known for their familiarity with papal encyclicals. We pride ourselves in doing . . . .
My loved one sleeps and softly just respires,
A strange and intricate consort of cells.
Each does exactly what it most desires,
In love with all its neighbors, like matched bells.
My loved one sleeps and softly just respires,A strange and intricate consort of cells.Each does . . . .
For all its faults, the Catholic Church in the United States lives the New Evangelization better than any other local Church in the developed world.
For all its faults, the Catholic Church in the United States lives the New Evangelization better than any other local Church in the developed world.
There is an “indivisible tie” between culture and economics that has long been ignored.
Senator Marco Rubio is thinking beyond mere macroeconomic metrics to place human dignity at the core of America’s political economy.
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Have you listened to Mark’s latest episode? Lawrence Mead discusses his book: “Burdens of Freedom.”
Lawrence Mead discusses his recent book, Burdens of Freedom: Cultural Difference and American Power.
For Aquinas, the failure to engage in the active life betrays selfishness.
Our active life is worthy of celebration only because it aims at the contemplative life.
Whoever loves God from other than a fearful distance does not truly love him.
The true servant of God consecrates to his creator not only the things human beings find most instinctively pleasurable, but also the elevated things.
America’s traditional party of the left—whether it admits it or not—is the party of the rich.
Democrats are increasingly becoming the party of the rich in the country’s richest urban and suburban areas.
Presidents have become partisans who survive and succeed if they have a highly developed “talent for low intrigue.”
Whether they are monarchs or not, powerful leaders take on royalish trappings because politics is ineradicably sacral.
When we confess our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed, we dance on the knife-edge of the deepest mysteries of all. From the archives:
Skimming through a stack of books recently, I found myself reading a testimonial of sorts from . . . .
Subtract the political and the private, the commercial and the religious, and you are left with your culture—we have no better name for it. From the archives:
Could I get some mayonnaise with these fries?” I asked the garçon in my broken French, imagining . . . .
The Church must not be—like the paper church of Tract 90—esoterically Catholic and exoterically Protestant. From the print edition:
John Henry Newman joined the Catholic Church on October 9, 1845, after concluding that the via . . . .
Lawrence Mead joins Mark to discuss his recent book, “Burdens of Freedom.”
Lawrence Mead discusses his recent book, Burdens of Freedom: Cultural Difference and American Power.
Eve’s sin is to ignore God in favor of a lesser source of meaning.
The true servant of God consecrates to his creator not only the things human beings find most instinctively pleasurable, but also the elevated things.
We should be careful not to create too many rights, and shouldn’t extend them to trees and bushes.
In July, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo created the Commission on Unalienable Rights in the Department of State—and not a moment too soon.
We must never mistake God’s humility for a watering down of his holiness.
It is not loving to give Communion to a person in a state of grave sin, for it may harm him more than it helps him.
No bishops’ conference in the world has been more deferential to the Holy See than the U.S. conference.
For all its faults, the Catholic Church in the United States lives the New Evangelization better than any other local Church in the developed world.
The teaching of the Garden of Eden is that the twin imperatives of religious love, to imitate God and to obey God, are really not twins at all.
The true servant of God consecrates to his creator not only the things human beings find most instinctively pleasurable, but also the elevated things.
Rubio demonstrates a willingness to use government power to direct desirable economic outcomes.
Senator Marco Rubio is thinking beyond mere macroeconomic metrics to place human dignity at the core of America’s political economy.
Modernity is a by-product of our neglect of contemplation.
Our active life is worthy of celebration only because it aims at the contemplative life.
In my own activism, I had to learn that we must be willing to act with patience, understanding, reconciliation, and love. From the archives:
It wasn’t a perfect evening for a demonstration. The night was cold and damp. On the rain-slick . . . .
For Luther, everything depends on hearing the Word of God, taking hold of it, clinging to it, and not talking back. From the archives:
It all did start with the ninety-five theses, in a sense. Luther probably did not actually nail them . . . .
David, I say your songs
and live to right my wrongs,
doing so every day.
Yours is the text I pray.
Goliath Picture a twelve-year-oldwith round rocks for his slingfacing the fearsome, . . . .
We must tackle the online pornography crisis and defend the innocence of children. From the print edition:
A thirteen-year-old with a smartphone in 2019 has greater access to pornography than the most . . . .
Progressive ideology is built on premises into which controversial ideas have been spirited with the purpose of rendering them axiomatic.
If the idea of “live and let live” is applied only to the right of Christians to privately believe in daft ideas, there will come a time when each of us is excluded from the protection of the human community.
Denying Communion is not an easy thing to do—but in the circumstances where it becomes necessary, it is the loving thing to do.
It is not loving to give Communion to a person in a state of grave sin, for it may harm him more than it helps him.
Secretary Pompeo’s commission will provide a better guide to human rights, one steeped in the American tradition, which is the world’s best hope.
In July, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo created the Commission on Unalienable Rights in the Department of State—and not a moment too soon.
The task of the American bishops during the upcoming “ad limina” cycle will be to correct the cartoon view of the Church in the United States.
For all its faults, the Catholic Church in the United States lives the New Evangelization better than any other local Church in the developed world.
Rubio’s common good capitalism represents a more authentically Christian approach to political economy.
Senator Marco Rubio is thinking beyond mere macroeconomic metrics to place human dignity at the core of America’s political economy.
Jane Austen was not an unthinking defender of traditional social order, yet she sensed the corrosive effects of individualism. From the archives:
That Austen recognized the absence and failure of the Church in combating individualism makes her a . . . .
The question is whether a state built on natural rights can foster trust in a society of individualism and suspicion. From the archives:
I love my country – I fear my government. I first saw that mantra as a bumper sticker in the . . . .
The pseudo-Christianity that has ravaged American Christianity is collapsing. From the archives:
Back in 1998, at a theological conference, I heard a pastor (we’ll call him Pastor V.) of my . . . .
The Gunpowder Plot, the most famous terrorist conspiracy in England’s history, is grippingly related in “Gunpowder,” a three-part BBC miniseries. From the archives:
Gunpowdera miniseries created by ronan bennett, kit harrington, and daniel westbbc one Though its . . . .
R. R. Reno and Sam Tanenhaus will be discussing Reno’s “Return of the Strong Gods” tonight! Last chance to RSVP:
Book Discussion with R.R. Reno and Sam Tanenhaus
In case you missed it: Watch N. T. Wright deliver the 32nd annual First Things Erasmus Lecture.
W atch N. T. Wright deliver the 32nd annual First Things Erasmus Lecture on the topic Loving to Know. This lecture took place on October 28, 2019, at the Union League Club in New York City. He has served as the Bishop of Durham in the Church of England and now serves as chair of New Testament and...
The Christian view of sex is again almost universally regarded as mere prudery or bigotry.
If the idea of “live and let live” is applied only to the right of Christians to privately believe in daft ideas, there will come a time when each of us is excluded from the protection of the human community.
Secretary Pompeo’s Commission on Unalienable Rights has been formed to bring some much-needed clarity to the rights discussion.
In July, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo created the Commission on Unalienable Rights in the Department of State—and not a moment too soon.
The idea that receiving Communion unworthily could kill you is shocking or laughable to many today.
It is not loving to give Communion to a person in a state of grave sin, for it may harm him more than it helps him.
Those people coming in off the streets, coming into churches and taverns, what do they seek? Home. From the archives:
Drinking is not for everyone; few things are. I do not set aside lightly that all of us are frail . . . .
Modern women are right to think that both the pursuit of excellence and the desire to care for others are part of a fully flourishing life. From the archives:
At least once a semester, a young female student will come to my office with questions about an . . . .
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And we’re live! Watch the 32nd Annual Erasmus Lecture now.
31st Annual Erasmus Lecture Presented by Rémi Brague "God as a Gentleman"
Michael Doran on the theological roots of foreign policy.
The 30th Annual Erasmus Lecture— "Evangelizing the Nones," presented by Bishop Robert Barron, founder of Word On Fire Catholic Ministries.
Time for the Benedict Option? Join the live stream now: A Conversation on Community, Counterculture, and Christianity’s Future in the West - with Rod Dreher, Ross Douthat, R. R. Reno, Peter Mommsen, and others This event is a collaboration of Plough, First Things, and The American Conservative magazine. Find out more at www.plough.com/benop
We are pleased to present the 29th Annual Erasmus Lecture, delivered by Russell D. Moore. The lecture begins around the 15:30 mark of the video.
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