Support First Things by turning your adblocker off or by making a  donation. Thanks!

That Line Between Good and Evil

From First Thoughts

Frank Turk, cf this post, is down on wiggly ecumenism. And in this he is right. But it also seems out that he’s throwing the baby out with the bathwater. For there’s an important, and very difficult, first step toward ecumenism that he is not doing very well, especially regarding the . . . . Continue Reading »

Becoming Christian

From First Thoughts

Frank Turk a while back offered that:so it should be no surprise when I say it here that I am sure there are Catholics who are saved, and likewise for the occasional Eastern Orthodoxwhich apparently still has my dander up ... as an Orthodox convert (from an American Protestant church) because this . . . . Continue Reading »

Of the LXX, MT, and Translations

From First Thoughts

Recently I noted textual differences between the MT and LXX text in Isaiah. One other difference noted in our reading recently was in 1 Chronicles (translated as Supplements in the LXX) 21. From the ESV (a MT based translation):Now the angel of the Lord had commanded Gad to say to David that David . . . . Continue Reading »

Isaiah 7, Nativity, and the Theotokos

From First Thoughts

One of the side effects of the late vocations classes I’m taking (currently on the Old Testament), is that after each session I return with wonderful kernels of ideas from which to expand a (hopefully) interesting essay based on the discussions we have in class. Last week one of the books we . . . . Continue Reading »

To Sign or Not to Sign
A Reply to Mr Turk

From First Thoughts

The occasion of the Manhattan declaration has given an opportunity for a number of evangelicals, including Evangel’s very own very active Frank Turk, to profess that the primary reason he will not sign is that it was done in concert with Roman Catholics, and apparently even worse than that, . . . . Continue Reading »

Of Elijah and Darwin

From First Thoughts

This summer I had a class in theology which I sometimes discussed. This class was part of the “late vocations” program offered by in our area by the OCA. Currently, I’m taking the second of these classes, and true to form the reading/work load has been somewhat larger than . . . . Continue Reading »

On Your Inner Israel

From First Thoughts

And Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him till the morning.  And he saw that he prevailed not against him; and he touched the broad part of his thigh, and the broad part of Jacob’s thigh was benumbed in his wrestling with him.  And he said to him, Let me go, for the day . . . . Continue Reading »

Considering the Hero

From First Thoughts

John Mark Reynolds takes another tack on the question regarding the heroes in our midst and not in the distant past, although he mentions at least one of them as well.One approach to the question of the hero is to start with the particular. That is to say, before you have a hero, you have heroic . . . . Continue Reading »

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal

From First Thoughts

If one were to attempt to continue the conversation about the Church in late modernity started by Matthew Lee Anderson here, there are a few avenues one might pursue. In the comments, there are suggestions of following threads from CS Lewis Abolition of Man. One might also suggest Michael . . . . Continue Reading »