First Thoughts

A Pauline Exegete Watches Aronofsky’s Noah

Darren Aronofsky’s Noah portrays the patriarch as a man of mercy. But according to St. Paul’s theology, even the godly patriarchs needed mercy for themselves. Continue Reading »

First Links — 3.31.14

The Danger of “What This Really Means”
Derek Rishmawy, Gospel Coalition

The Daily Routines of Historical Figures
R.J., Info We Trust

Francis and His Predecessors
Molly Worthen, American Prospect

Voluntary Downward Mobility
Richard V. Reeves & Joanna Venator, Brookings

David Yeago Heads to Ambridge
Living Church

Here Comes Everybody

Those of us who are Catholics have had a rough few years. Well, make that a rough few decades. Horrific abuse scandals. Some weak, sometimes feckless, bishops. Wacky theologians. Boring homilies. Dreadful music. Widespread dissent, often rooted in appalling ignorance. I could go on. We envy our . . . . Continue Reading »

Humanities

Harvard’s report on the future of the humanities comes, at one point, tantalizingly close to seeing the need for a telos. Continue Reading »

Solzhenitsyn on Russia and Ukraine

How would the late Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn have responded to the crisis in Crimea? Continue Reading »

First Links — 3.28.14

U.S.-Vatican Reset Not in the Cards
John L. Allen, Boston Globe

Generation Alienation and the Libertarians
John Allen Gay, National Interest

Walmart vs. Cadillac vs. Leisure
Brandon McGinley, Acculturated

“I Have Not Lived Up to It”: The Collected Works of Hopkins
Helen Vendler, London Review of Books

What’s So New About Futurism?
Morgan Meis, Smart Set

Sweetness and Power

An upcoming Scottish referendum forces us to think beyond the United Kingdom and into Canada, Crimea, and elsewhere. Continue Reading »

In Praise of Evangelical Identity

Of all the back-and-forth that came from the World Vision imbroglio this week, there’s at least one other reason to be encouraged about their reversing course, aside from their board taking the necessary steps to correct a gravely wrong error.World Vision says something about evangelical . . . . Continue Reading »

First Links — 3.27.14

America’s Class System Across the Life Cycle
Matt Bruening, Demos/Policyshop

How Music Criticism Became Lifestyle Reporting
Ted Gioia, Daily Beast

An Interview with Darren Aronofsky
Peter T. Chattaway, Christianity Today

Teaching Literacy Is Teaching Content
Robert Pondiscio, City Journal

The Stories We Tell, the People We Become
Ted McAllister, University Bookman

First Links — 3.26.14

Hobby Lobby Argument Recap
Lyle Denniston, SCOTUS Blog

The Annunciation and the One Ring
Isaac Augustine Morales, Dominicana

The Aesthetics of Evangelicalism
Mark Coppenger, Canon & Creed

Nietzsche’s Jesus, and Ours
Scott D. Moringiello, dotCommonweal

The New American System
Jim Manzi, National Affairs