Michael Novak

Beer Blessing From the Rituale Romanum (no 58) Bene+dic, Domine, creaturam istam cerevisae, quam ex adipe frumenti producere dignatus es: ut sit remedium salutare humano generi: et praesta per invocationem nominis tui sancti, ut, quicumque ex ea biberint, sanitatem corporis, et animae tutelam . . . . Continue Reading »

People who call themselves atheists often say rather strange things about people with faith¯things like, "Well, if you need the comfort, go on and believe." An odd notion, that there is "comfort" in faith. Serious believers often don’t find it so. Actually, it has . . . . Continue Reading »

AEI Book Forum¯March 6, 2006 Who Was Washington’s God? The need for this book stems from the lack of interest in religion on the part of most biographers of Washington, especially since World War II. The occasion for this book was a magnificent outdoor candlelight dinner on the veranda . . . . Continue Reading »

A pair of articles on the justice of the Iraq war have appeared on the website Right Reason , in the form of a review of a new book bitterly opposing the war, President Bush, and the neoconservatives. The book’s title typifies the seriousness of the essays it includes: NeoCONNED . The . . . . Continue Reading »

On Monday one tree here, another there, burst into blossom in Washington, and when the weather the next day hit eighty-five fahrenheit, more and more trees burst out white, pink, and a very light violet. Including, I am told, at least one cherry tree near the Capitol. The innocence of newborn . . . . Continue Reading »

Just now, as Islamic nations wrestle both with new theoretical ideas and new public policies concerning religious liberty, there may be an opportune moment for reviewing how crucial religious liberty is for democracy. There are rival theories about this. Atheists in Europe have their own approach . . . . Continue Reading »

The Huge Event of the Week, February, 20-25 An ominously huge event overshadows reality this week, and it has been almost wholly neglected in the American press. During the Muslim holy day last Friday, the golden dome of the Ali al-Hadi Mosque in Samarra gleamed in the sun, the pride of Shia Iraq . . . . Continue Reading »

Conventional wisdom seems to say that the Left has gone around the bend, is jumping off cliffs, is stark raving mad. But there is a method in the madness of the Left. There has always been a method in it. The Left is not engaged in an “argument,” it is engaged in a revolution in the . . . . Continue Reading »

The village atheist usually challenges believers in Providence to answer a couple of devastating questions. One of them is: "Well, if two opposing armies pray to the same God, how can Providence be faithful to both if it answers one, but not the other?" It was to such a village atheist . . . . Continue Reading »

In the century since Max Weber published The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, the book has been subject to severe and sustained criticism, much of it justified. Yet reflecting on its thesis in the light of worldwide economic developments during the past several decades reveals that, . . . . Continue Reading »