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Douthat on government and its rivals

From First Thoughts

Writing for The New York Times, Ross Douthat’s mention of “liberal communitarians” sounds a little odd to my ears, but he is dead on in his analysis of the current situation in the US: Government and its Rivals. An excerpt:Liberals know that it takes a village; conservatives . . . . Continue Reading »

Religion and soft drink labels

From First Thoughts

Many of us are persuaded that religion is not merely one element among many in life but is central to one’s entire being. Social and political scientists have explored the implications of this for partisan loyalties, among other things.  But could one’s ecclesial commitments . . . . Continue Reading »

What the Cultural Mandate is not

From First Thoughts

Reformed Christians often refer to Genesis 1:28 as the Cultural Mandate:And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”There . . . . Continue Reading »

The decline of psalm-singing: the rosary

From First Thoughts

We are given to understand that many religions have something akin to prayer beads to assist the devout in saying their prayers. The rosary is one such aid used especially by Roman Catholics. However, it seems that the prayers accompanying the rosary long ago supplanted the Psalms for the use of . . . . Continue Reading »

‘And with your spirit’

From First Thoughts

Yesterday, the first sunday in Advent, our English-speaking Roman Catholic brethren began using a newly revised liturgy that is closer to the Latin texts than the previous 1973 version in use for nearly four decades. Liturgy Training Publications has posted a comparison of the two texts for those . . . . Continue Reading »