Various

As an ELCA Lutheran I share James Nuechterlein’s concerns in his “ Ecumenical Conundrums ” (March). I’m not sure I can agree with Pope John Paul II that the present institutional exp ression of the faith in some thirty“six thousand denominations worldwide is scandalous and . . . . Continue Reading »

My wife framed a poster decades ago, Take time ”picture of a daddy holding a kid. So Imade time for them at baseball games, before survival training and Saigon. Down on both knees, I taught our babies tickle and horsey rides, caught all three kids with the same oiled catcher’s mitt, then . . . . Continue Reading »

In Defense of Tradition: Collected Shorter Writings of Richard M. Weaver, 1929“1963. Edited and with an introduction by Ted J. Smith III. Liberty Fund. 813 pp. $25 cloth, $15 paper. Richard Weaver, it may be said, was conservative when conservatism wasn’t cool. A professor of English at . . . . Continue Reading »

In “Who Really Cares About Christian Unity?” (January) , Bruce D. Marshall holds up the Jansenists as models of fidelity both to truth as they saw it and to unity, since they never, for their part, broke communion with Rome, even as they denounced doctrinal decrees such as the bull . . . . Continue Reading »

In certain lights, our garden looks almost” not habitable, exactly, but like a garden, all sudden jonquils, an unexpected host of primrose like grounded moths. Think Eden in the aftermath: boxwoods outgrowing their bequeathed rounded, cornered, or conical shapes. Dropped limbs. The grass . . . . Continue Reading »

On Karol Wojtyla . By Peter Simpson. Wadsworth. 92 pp. $13.95 paper. This short book provides an excellent introduction to the philosophical thought of Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II as it is elaborated in Wojtyla’s major works, including selected passages of the papal encyclicals. Simpson places . . . . Continue Reading »

Tom Bethell (“ Against Sociobiology,” January ) is to be commended for pointing out the fatal flaw of socio­ biology and of its latter“day offspring “evolutionary psychology”: the lack of falsifiability of many of the hypotheses proposed in these fields. Lack of . . . . Continue Reading »

I am glad that First Things asked Edward T. Oakes to review my book The Wedge of Truth (January) because I have admired his essays. Moreover, there are a number of compliments in the review for which I thank him. Hence I write not to complain, but rather to clarify. I fear that the review may give . . . . Continue Reading »

Ingathering my frail smocked son he says: don’t squeeze. Absolution by poison has made him into papier maché; They kill him then redress the balance, Befuddle his blood to save the valved heart. If the worst of life connives such weakness How can I plot to sidestep The slow grinding dust . . . . Continue Reading »

The Spirit of the Liturgy. By Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Translated by John Saward. Ignatius. 232 pp. $17.95 The Church is called together to worship and adore the Triune God. Such is the theme of Cardinal Ratzinger’s thoughtful meditations on the Liturgy. Just as ancient Israel was called as . . . . Continue Reading »