Elizabeth Scalia on 3:00 prayer in the Year of Faith :
This word of Jesus is rich in anthropological content and it cannot be reduced only to the political context. The Church, therefore, is not limited to reminding human beings of the right distinction between the sphere of Caesar’s authority and that of God, between the political and religious contexts. The mission of the Church, like that of Christ, is essentially to speak of God, to remember his sovereignty, to remind all, especially Christians who have lost their own identity, of the right of God to what belongs to him, that is, our life.
Also today, James R. Rogers reviews Os Guinness’ A Free People’s Suicide :
Guinness concedes that the American framers were imperfect men, some as “distinguished for their vices and hypocrisies as well as for their virtues.” So how much virtue, and what type of virtue, is necessary to sustain American freedom? If all people are imperfect, then we know that republics can work with imperfect people. If one is then going to claim—seriously, at least—that the lack of virtue is an imminent threat to a republic, then some line on a continuum of imperfection needs to be identified.
We launched the First Things 2023 Year-End Campaign to keep articles like the one you just read free of charge to everyone.
Measured in dollars and cents, this doesn't make sense. But consider who is able to read First Things: pastors and priests, college students and professors, young professionals and families. Last year, we had more than three million unique readers on firstthings.com.
Informing and inspiring these people is why First Things doesn't only think in terms of dollars and cents. And it's why we urgently need your year-end support.
Will you give today?
