Two of the most influential theologians of the last century, Karl Barth and Reinhold Niebuhr, shared the distinction of not having earned doctorates. Niebuhr was a mite uneasy about that and at times turned it into the virtue of not being an academic. In a new book by Martin Halliwell, professor of . . . . Continue Reading »
Steven Waldman is editor-in-chief of Beliefnet, and is working on a book on religion and the American founders. He writes: Contemporary religious conservatives can certainly find quotes from Founding Fathers to support their claims that government should aggressively support religion. They’ll . . . . Continue Reading »
Readers have asked why I do not regularly respond to the public criticism aimed at F IRST T HINGS and me personally. Those who follow The Public Square section of the magazine know that I frequently do respond. Usually I try not to make heavy weather of criticism, and my tone is sometimes joshing, . . . . Continue Reading »
So, protestors have filled the streets of France , once again. Cars burned, buildings occupied, politicians scuttling for cover. Another day on the Champs Elysées. This time it was students complaining about a law that would have established a two-year trial period in which employers could . . . . Continue Reading »
Down in Waco, Texas, there is a Baptist school called Baylor University. It was never a major player in American academics, and with the strained situation in which American colleges found themselves at the end of the baby boom, Baylor had problems figuring out what it should do. Certainly, the . . . . Continue Reading »
This is a very old genre of humor. The darndest things that children say have, I suppose, elicited adult chuckles from the beginnings of human language. In any event, these examples were sent by a source that certifies they were written by children in a Catholic school and have not been edited. . . . . Continue Reading »
Since you asked, last Friday’s 222nd Annual Dinner of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick was a memorable occasion. It’s a black tie affair with several thousand men (it is the sons of St. Patrick, after all) packed into the main ballroom of the Sheraton Towers, a few of us being honorary . . . . Continue Reading »
The May issue of F IRST T HINGS will include a careful look at the prospect of obtaining stem cells for research in ways that do not involve creating and killing human embryos. It is an admittedly complicated question, and some ethicists—mainly but not exclusively Catholic—have deep . . . . Continue Reading »
The curious thing is the lack of memory. It seems a fairly obvious fact that the influence of religion on politics and policy¯and the general tone of American life¯is at one of the low points in the nation’s history. There isn’t a religious leader left who has the kind of . . . . 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 »