Mark Bauerlein: Reading the 1991 novel A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin (a contributor to this month's magazine) is like going back to the great works of the 19th century. Like Sir Walter Scott's historical novels, it takes place amidst events events that changed the course of human affairs, in this case, World War I, but remains vividly focused on one character's fate. Continue Reading »
This business of signing the inside covers of books is both charming and macabre. People die; books live forever. Scrawling on a flyleaf is a down payment on immortality. Think of me, it says. Memento mori. Continue Reading »
When we pledge our faithfulness to another on our wedding day, we’re mocking the changeableness of life, saying that we trust in the covenant of marriage to transcend the weakness of our flesh, the fickleness of our passions, and the fragility of our egos. Continue Reading »
Whatever one thinks about the day that bears his name—so unjustly desacralized, in my opinion—it seems fitting that this day still retains a memory of a love which is hidden. Continue Reading »
The First Things Podcast, Episode 23. Featuring: An Irish Senator argues against repeal of Ireland’s pro-life Eighth Amendment; and Rusty Reno reflects on recent headlines. Continue Reading »
In Gautreaux’s stories, signals demand knowledge, even wisdom, if they are to be understood. Continue Reading »
“Sometimes moms and dads fall out of love/ Sometimes two homes are better than one” Continue Reading »
I was honored that such a distinguished collection of Catholic intellectuals would stand in unity with their black brothers and sisters in defense of life, family, and justice for the poor. Continue Reading »
Kennedy at his inauguration and medieval theologians agree: humans owe their existence to something beyond themselves, and they should live in light of that debt. Continue Reading »
A new document indicates just how weak Roman Catholic moral theology could become. Continue Reading »
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