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An Ecumenical Question

Throughout Church history, theological controversy has been one of the enduring features. Name any communion or denomination and you will find one which has struggled with this matter. St. Maximus the Confessor was imprisoned, exiled, and lost his tongue and compared to many he got off easy. For . . . . Continue Reading »

Jesus is Neither a Playboy Nor My Homeboy

The July issue of Playboy ’s Portuguese edition features an unlikely cover model: Jesus. Our Lord also makes an appearance within the magazine, posing beatifically next to semi-topless women. The imagery has an ostensibly literary purpose: As Robert Quigley notes, Last month, Nobel literature . . . . Continue Reading »

David Brooks Goes Wobbly on Suburbs

“Whatever the reason,” writes Prof. Deneen , clearly sporting for another round of epic battle, “it’s good news indeed. Score 1 for FPR, zero for the PoMoCons.” But Brooks’ defense of the suburbs was wrongly grounded. Here’s why we know better and . . . . Continue Reading »

A Coarser Discourse

On July 2, on her blog on the National Public Radio website, NPR ombudsman Alicia Shepard posted a piece with the title “ Taking the Lord’s Name in Vain .” In it she describes the complaints NPR received when, on June 23, the network broadcast a story about Tom Cruise that included . . . . Continue Reading »

Education Facts—Part Two (Darwin)

Again, these are very rough and meant to provoke. Carl is right that there are limitations to the point-by-point method, although I think it fits the blog well. 1. So the American understanding of science as technology—the modern understanding that flows from Bacon, Descartes, and that . . . . Continue Reading »

Who Said That?

First Things assistant editor Kevin Staley-Joyce has pointed out that blogger Marcel LeJeune at Aggie Catholics has posted a list of the “ Top 15 Phrases Not Found in the Bible .” Here’s a sample: 3.  “The Lord (or God) works in mysterious ways” Comes from a hymn . . . . Continue Reading »

Virtue and Intelligence

A friend recently expresses chastened sentiment. “Great books and good philosophy,” he sighed, “don’t really help us become virtuous, do they?’ Well, mostly no, they don’t. In my youth I hitch-hiked across America many times, worked all sorts of jobs, and spent a great . . . . Continue Reading »

Rich v. Blankenhorn

Suggesting that the New York Times’ columnist Frank Rich has failed to “respect ordinary standards of decency, reasonableness, and fair play” in writing about David Blankenhorn, he and two of  his colleagues at the Institute for American Values  have written the Times . . . . Continue Reading »

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