Joe Carter

[Note: Every Friday on First Thoughts we host a discussion about some aspect of popular culture. Have a suggestion for a topic? Send them to me at jcarter@firstthings.com] You know how every September some blogger writes a post explaining why we celebrate Labor Day? Yeah, we’re not gonna do . . . . Continue Reading »

Over on Evangel, Jeremy Pierce lists some of the things he really hates in a worship song . Be sure to read to the end. . . . . Continue Reading »

“Where we disagree we should try to put the best possible construction on the position of the other, while never trimming the truth,” wrote Fr. Neuhaus , “That will become more important as Mormons become more of a presence, both in this country and the world.” I was . . . . Continue Reading »

The following thought experiment is used to explore some basic assumptions currently held in the field of bioethics. As with any such hypothetical scenario, a certain degree of liberty is taken with what is considered within the realm of possibility. Some people may complain that I have stretched . . . . Continue Reading »

You know what’s wrong with us Christians? We’re too reasonable and ordered and not passionate enough. We could really learn a thing or two if, like fans of heavy metal music, we’d embrace the “liberative theology of darkness.” So says Rev Rachel Mann , the latest . . . . Continue Reading »

Today marks my eighteen-month anniversary working for First Things . For a year and a half I’ve had the dual pleasure of working with the finest people in journalism and getting to know some of best readers anywhere on the web. Yet while I’ve gotten to know many of you, I realize that . . . . Continue Reading »

I never find the time to be alone with God during the week, so I’ve dedicated this Sunday afternoon to prayer. I should check my e-mail so I won’t be distracted. It won’t take long. Thirty-two new messages, including one from the boss? I better reply right now. They might be important. Some invitations from Facebook. Those are easy to clear out so let me accept them and I’m … hmm… Continue Reading »

When Beverly Willett’s husband filed for divorce she did what is considered absurd, if not unthinkable, in our culture: she refused to divorce him . One night when I was up reluctantly working on the divorce papers, my eldest daughter appeared by my side. “I don’t want you to get a . . . . Continue Reading »

In a comment to my post yesterday criticizing the self-promotion of Glenn Beck as a leader for conservative Christians, a reader asks, “exactly where is the charismatic Christian leader who would be preferable in your eyes to Mr. Beck?” That’s a fair question. My personal . . . . Continue Reading »

It’s no secret that Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health (and an evangelical Christian), is a proponent of embryo-destructive research. No matter what his other qualifications, President Obama would never have appointed the former head of the Human Genome Project . . . . Continue Reading »