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Christians and Development Amy Sherman’s article “Christians and Economic Development” (March) contributes no new insights to the ongoing discussion about the Church’s participation in the international development effort. The evaluation and judgments of the so-called . . . . Continue Reading »

Trust and Obedience First Things has done me the favor of asking Professor Gilbert Meilaender to review my book, The Giving and Taking of Life: Essays Ethical (April). May I dialogue briefly with some of his remarks? He attends, in the first place, to my central argument: that the moral import of . . . . Continue Reading »

Liberal Arts and Community: The Feeding of the Larger Body by Marion Montgomery Louisiana State University Press, 170 pages, $27.50 Graceful and erudite essays aimed at recovering the liberal arts for the sustaining of community that is formed by an understanding of the good. As for subjects . . . . Continue Reading »

Abortion and Morality If abortion is to be one of your major concerns, as it was in the premier issue, shouldn’t it be discussed as the tragedy it is for those persons, mostly young and unmarried, who have neither a moral nor a legal right to bear children? Why is fornication itself immoral? . . . . Continue Reading »

Thinking the Faith: Christian Theology in a North American Context by Douglas John Haul Augsburg Press, 456 pages, $29.95 The intention is admirable, indeed urgent. It is to restate the Christian proposition in a manner critically attuned to American culture and the challenges facing our society. . . . . Continue Reading »

Jewish-Christian Dialogue I have read with a great deal of interest Russell Hittinger’s thoughtful review of David Novak’s new hook, Jewish-Christian Dialogue: A Jewish Justification (March). At the very outset of the hook, as Hittinger notes, Novak examines three objections to dialogue . . . . Continue Reading »

Defenders of God: The Fundamentalist Revolt against the Modern Age by Bruce B. Lawrence Harper& Row, 306 pages, $24.95 The subtitle says it all. Lawrence, who teaches the history of religion at Duke, attempts with modest success to analyze similarities between American fundamentalism and militant . . . . Continue Reading »

Setting the Agenda (Editors’ note: In order to inaugurate our correspondence section, we asked a number of people to respond briefly to the following question: “What are the most important issues in religion and public life that First Things should address, and what advice would you . . . . Continue Reading »