Exactly one year ago I suggested that we read through Augustine’s City of God in 2014. I’m happy to report that we accomplished our goal. I had hoped maybe a half dozen people would become interested in the project, but over a thousand people joined the Facebook group. Continue Reading »
A couple of years ago, having twice gone through the Bible on daily reading plans, I wanted to tackle Shakespeare’s complete works with similar discipline. Unfortunately, after searching high and low, I could find no daily reading plan for Shakespeare. So I created one, and read all the works in 2013—even the plays Shakespeare c0-authored—in less than half an hour a day. Continue Reading »
Patrick Cassidy, the composer for the 2014 film Calvary, jokes about the film’s grimness: “It’s not exactly a date movie.” He’s right: The film follows a lonely Irish priest as he shepherds a cold and bitter village. Its harsh realism is profoundly humbling. Heavy as the film is, it is lifted by Cassidy’s classical score. Continue Reading »
How the Essay Was Won and Where It Got Us
Tobias Carroll, Hazlitt
Three Conceptions: Laschian, Romantic, and Immaculate
Michael J. Sauter, Front Porch Republic
Book Review: Modern Man: The Life of Le Corbusier
Eric Wills, The Washington Post
From Foreign Policy, a moving essay on how Iraqi Christians are observing this Christmas season. Last month, the author, Christian Caryl, visited Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, where Chaldean-rite Catholics, refugees from ISIS’s summer campaign, live in tents in a church courtyard: Continue Reading »
We like the story of angels proclaiming peace on earth and good will toward men. But we too often forget a darker side of the Christmas story: the slaughter of Bethlehem’s infant boys. Continue Reading »
On Monday, First Things took its end of year campaign online for a ten-day push to complete our goal of raising $400,000 from our readers by the end of the year. Will you help us reach this goal by making a gift today?
The Boston Globe’s Christmas gift to Gordon College was a slap in the face. The Globe listed Kim Driscoll, mayor of Salem, in its list of honorable mentions for Bostonian of the Year. In the article she was lauded for voiding a city contract with the college over its Conduct Statement, which does not permit homosexual practice. Continue Reading »
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2013, median clergy income was 14 percent lower than the overall median income in the U.S. This is all the more striking when one considers that most professional clergy received years of specialized religious and theological graduate training after receiving their undergraduate degrees. Indeed, median clergy earnings are 24 percent lower than median earnings of people who hold undergraduate degrees, and 36 percent less than individuals who hold masters’ degrees. Continue Reading »
Dear Reader,Thank you for being a reader of First Things. I’m grateful to have you as part of our conspiracy of truth.You’ll be hearing from us more frequently over the next ten days as we continue our year-end donation campaign. Our goal is to raise $400,000 by the end of the year. With . . . . Continue Reading »
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