First Thoughts

Are Lutherans Catholic?

Did the “Protestant Future” hubbub leave you longing for an Evangelical Catholic Church? It already exists. It’s called Lutheranism. Continue Reading »

Anselm, Justice, and the Chinese

A recent article in Christianity Today about Confucianism and Christianity in China called to mind the time several years ago when I taught an introductory class on Christian theology to recent Chinese converts to Christianity. Continue Reading »

Trademarking the Name of God

Malaysian court has denied a newspaper of the Roman Catholic Church the right to refer to God as “Allah.” Continue Reading »

FIRST LINKS — 6.24.14

Nepal’s living goddess who still has to do homework
Sonia Narang, BBC News

For Muslims, Howard Gordon’s ‘Tyrant’ Is a Step in the Right Direction
Dean Obeidallah, Daily Beast

And Gladly Learn
Abigail Lavin, The Weekly Standard

James Joyce’s Untamable Power
James Longenbach, The Nation

Rebellion Vs. Conformity in ‘We Are the Best!’
Eve Tushnet, The American Spectator

Pope: More Christian Martyrs Today than in Church’s First Centuries

Pope Francis opened an academic conference in Rome last week with a statement on religious liberty and the persecution of Christians. He reflected on the place of religious liberty in Catholic thought and decried religious discrimination across the world, particularly against Christians. Continue Reading »

FIRST LINKS — 6.23.14

Looks Like Kafka, Plays Like A Dream
Karl Ove Knausgaard, The New Republic

Their Blood Cries Out
Mark Noll, Books & Culture

Iraqi Christians Flee Homes Amid Militant Push
Diaa Hadid, ABC News

Fortune’s Child
Lewis H. Lapham, Lapham’s Quarterly

The Leopard
James Meek, London Review of Books

FIRST LINKS — 6.20.14

Shaka, When the Walls Fell
Ian Bogost, The Atlantic

Existential Woodchucks
Jeffrey Sconce, Ludic Despair

The Mercy of Sickness before Death
D. G. Myers, Good Letters

Theology and Other Catholic Sports
David Cloutier, dotCommonweal

Sneak Peek: Lila
Marilynne Robinson, Work in Progress

We Convert Because We Love

On William Hale White’s The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford Continue Reading »

Rightly Dividing the Wrong Side of History

To determine the crux of a contemporary issue, we must first determine the crux of history. Continue Reading »

FIRST LINKS — 6.19.14

The Death of Klinghoffer: If John Adams’s Opera Isn’t Antisemitic, How Can It Fan Antisemitism?
Tom Service, The Guardian

Philosophy Is A Bunch Of Empty Ideas: Interview With Peter Unger
Grace Boey, 3 Quarks Daily

Beauty Out of Madness
Theodore Dalrymple, The New Criterion

Champs-Elysées Film Festival Honors Indie Genius Whit Stillman
Talia Soghomonian, Collider

Criminal or Prisoner?
Eve Tushnet, Aleteia