Support First Things by turning your adblocker off or by making a  donation. Thanks!

What the Assumption Means

As a small contribution to ecumenical understanding, on this sixtieth anniversary of the promulgation of the doctrine of the Assumption in  Munificentissimus Deus, here is a section from my book Discovering Mary explaining what the pope said in defining it. It is, let me stress, only a “just . . . . Continue Reading »

Gnostic Meditations and other stuff!

Here are some insightful excerpts from, “Secret Cinema: A Gnostic Vision in Film,”  a book by Wake Forest University English Professor, Eric Wilson: http://www.voegelinview.com/secret-cinema-gnostic-film-pt1.html Professor Peters, a clever writer and provocateur at The . . . . Continue Reading »

The Last Station

 Over the weekend, courtesy of my friends at Netflicks, the wife and I watched what may be the most under appreciated film in quite some time, The Last Station. Beautifully filmed while adhering closely to period costume, architecture, and environment (1910 Russia) the drama examines both . . . . Continue Reading »

Joe Escalante on Restoring Faith

Let’s take the solemn dress code away from the Goths, the Rosaries away from the gangs, the blood & death fixation away from the scene-kids, the art away from the academics, the Latin away from the Harry Potter geeks, the bi-location away from Siegfried & Roy, the exorcisms away from . . . . Continue Reading »

Leo and Eric

Over at the Voegelin View website, Fritz Wagner has the first two parts of a four part essay titled, “Medieval Rationalism or Mystic Philosophy” by Dr. Ellis Sandoz the editor of the Collected Works of Eric Voegelin. The essay originally appeared in a compilation of essays titled, Faith . . . . Continue Reading »

On Avatar

Peter’s review of Avatar is a must-read: Avatar isn’t much a movie: Instead, Cameron’s cooked up a derivative, overlong pastiche of anti-corporate clichés and quasi-mystical eco-nonsense. It’s not that the film’s politics make it bad, it’s that . . . . Continue Reading »

The Genius of Fr. Schall

Always illuminating, Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.  is a philosopher/priest who like Justin the Martyr might find wisdom in Eric Voegelin’s comment that “ . . . Christianity is not an alternative to philosophy, it is philosophy itself in its state of perfection; the history of the . . . . Continue Reading »

Tags

Loading...

Filter First Thoughts Posts