Various

When my fantasies, and these extreme regrets, shut my eyes in sleep, I discover, before me, the risin spirit of my lover, who was, even in life, always a dream. Then across some desert, where I can barely see the endlesslyy distant horizons, I pursue my love without success. She fades from view, by . . . . Continue Reading »

Catholics and Jews in Twentieth“Century America. By Egal Feldman. University of Illinois Press. 323 pp. $34.95. The book is an account of the history of Jewish“Catholic relations in America for the past one hundred years or so. The author, an American Jewish historian, carefully traces . . . . Continue Reading »

I am moved to respond to the opinion piece by Professor Robert Benne (“ Reinventing Sexual Ethics ,” March) not only because Prof. Benne refers to me but (more importantly) because he raises some issues concerning homosexuality and the Church that need continuing, reasoned examination on . . . . Continue Reading »

Like the weary sailor, the refugee from wreck and storm, who escapes half“dead, and then, in terror, shudders with dread at the very mention of the name of the “sea”; who swears he’ll never sail again, who raves he’ll stay home, even on the calmest days, but then, in time, . . . . Continue Reading »

Toward an Alternative Theology: Confessions of a Non“Dualist Christian . By Sara Grant. University of Notre Dame Press. 99 pp. $14.95. Sara Grant was a Scottish sister of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus who lived in India from 1956 until her death in 2000. Before going to India she . . . . Continue Reading »

In his article “ Jews, Christians, and Civil Society ” (February), David Novak categorically states that the religious beliefs of an individual Jew have no effect on whether or not that individual is indeed a Jew. Professor Novak writes: “Even nonreligious Jews, even atheistic Jews, . . . . Continue Reading »

You who seek serenity in the wide tempestuous sea of the world, cease and abandon all hope of ever finding peace, except in Jesus Christ, God Crucified. If wealth absorbs your thoughts and preoccupies your nights, God is the greatest treasure of all; And if you’re looking for beauty, always . . . . Continue Reading »

Fascism and Communism. By François Furet and Ernst Nolte. Translated by Katherine Golsan, with a preface by Tzvetan Todorov. University of Nebraska Press. 100 pp. $35. The late French historian François Furet’s magisterial 1995 book on communism and the drama of the twentieth . . . . Continue Reading »

Copyright (c) 2002 First Things 122 (April 2002): 2-7. Dostoevsky and Rome I enjoyed Rodney Delasanta’s “ Dostoevsky Also Nods ” (January). I also agree with Professor Delasanta on the profound depth of Dostoevsky’s insight into the Christian faith. However, I’m not sure . . . . Continue Reading »

Copyright (c) 2002 First Things 122 (April 2002): 7, 9, 20. The Slender Girl The morning slipping past the white Of curtains is a girl, slender As April in a wistful light, With naive air, unsure, tender, Offering herself like daffodils To cruelty from belated snow. A sudden bird quells doubt with . . . . Continue Reading »