Various

An Exchange on Crime and Punishment: William J. Bennett and Charles Colson I was surprised by Charles Colson’s criticism of my views (“Crime and the Cure of the Soul,” October 1993), and I must respond to him. Because Mr. Colson is prominent in this debate, it is important to . . . . Continue Reading »

Sister Aimee: The Life of Aimee Semple McPherson by Daniel Mark Epstein Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 496 pages, $27.95 Among the many colorful personalities who gripped the nation’s attention in the 1920s, no one fascinated the eager public more than the evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, an . . . . Continue Reading »

More on Berger’s God Peter Berger’s “God in a World of Gods” (August/September) illustrates how quickly a Christian may pour out the baby with the bathwater if he is willing, for the sake of “political correctness” and “multiculturalism,” to make concessions on the chief points of . . . . Continue Reading »

Benjamin Franklin, Jonathan Edwards, and the Representation of American Culture edited by Barbara B. Oberg and Harry S. Stout Oxford University Press, 230 pages, $35 Benjamin Franklin and Jonathan Edwards have frequently been studied as competing character types in American culture: with Franklin . . . . Continue Reading »

Dealing with Gay Advocacy The excellent and superbly presented article by Jerry Z. Muller, “Coming Out Ahead: The Homosexual Moment in the Academy” (August/ September), contains an interesting paradox. The paradox involves the following questions: Who benefits most from such an . . . . Continue Reading »

No Longer Exiles: The Religious New Right in American Politics edited by Michael Cromartie Ethics and Public Policy Center, 153 pages, $18.95 To list the participants in the discussions from which this book emergedis to recommend the book most highly: George Marsden, Grant Wacker, Robert Booth . . . . Continue Reading »

Christianity and Darwinism The debate between Howard J. Van Till and Phillip E. Johnson (“God and Evolution: An Exchange,” June/July) sounds a lot like an argument about the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin. Unless one is a hopeless solipsist, the universe exists. . . . . Continue Reading »

The Church and Abortion: In Search of New Ground for Response edited by Paul T. Stallsworth Abingdon, 152 pages, $10.95 paper Although it is prepared by and for Methodists, you don’t have to be a Methodist to welcome this important contribution. The contributors are Ruth S. Brown, Michael J. . . . . Continue Reading »

On Women’s Ordination Michael Novak’s article “Women, Ordination, and Angels” (April) represents the essence of your fine journal. We sometimes need prompting to think about the thorny issues facing the Church, and Mr. Novak’s article made me do precisely that. His . . . . Continue Reading »

The Church and the Left by Adam Michnik, edited, translated, and with an Introduction by David Ost University of Chicago Press, 301 pages, $24.95 First published in Paris in 1977 and smuggled back into Poland as samizdat, Adam Michnik’s Church, Left, Dialogue (the book’s original title) . . . . Continue Reading »