The essays collected in Thomas Howard’s Imago Dei: Human Dignity in Ecumenical Perspective represent a spectrum of approaches to the question of human nature and human dignity. All the essays are rewarding. John Behr offers an Orthodox perspective that emphasizes the eschatological realization of . . . . Continue Reading »
The Frankish monk Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel is reputed to have written the first mirror for princes, the Via Regia in 813. As desceribed by Michael Edward Moore in A Sacred Kingdom: Bishops and the Rise of Frankish Kingship, 300-850 , Smaragdus aimed to reshape institutions “in accordance . . . . Continue Reading »
A student, Chris Kou, notes that Hosea 5:8 alludes to the incident with the Levite and his concubine in Judges 19-20. “Blow the horn at Gibeah, the trumpet at Ramah” takes us back to “we will spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah” (Judges 19:13). The men of Gibeah are like the . . . . Continue Reading »
How do you overcome a powerful opponent? David shows how to conquer with a lyre and song . . . . . Continue Reading »
In an essay on “The Government of the Tongue,” the late Seamus Heaney drew on the incident of the woman caught in adultery to explain the purpose of poetry: “The drawing of those characters [by Jesus] is like poetry, a break with the usual life but not an absconding from it. . . . . Continue Reading »
Even after extensive research, Carrie Rosefsky Wickham hasn’t quite cracked Egypt’s secretive Muslim Brotherhood . But the TLS reviewer gives enough to leave us worried. The Brotherhood’s emphasis on the status and dignity of Muslims alone was a break with Egyptian . . . . Continue Reading »
From the Economist ‘s review of Vic Gatrell’s The First Bohemians: Life and Art in London’s Golden Age , the book sounds like a colorful read. Gatrell focuses on 18th-century London and finds it a merry old place: “At general elections in Westminster hecklers threw dead or . . . . Continue Reading »
According to the Economist ‘s review of Paul Collier’s Exodus: How Migration is Changing Our World , we can’t answer the question about whether migration is good or bad without asking for whom it is good or bad. Most of the discussion concentrates on the countries receiving . . . . Continue Reading »
As “Breaking Bad” winds down, the Economist suggests that the show offers as much insight into business as a Harvard MBA at a fraction of the cost. What makes high-school-teacher-turned-meth-producer Walter White’s business successful? There are three ingredients: “The first . . . . Continue Reading »
Older brothers get bad press in the Bible. Cain was the first, and the first fratricide. There’s Ishmael and Esau and the older brothers of Joseph. Aaron was older than Moses; he wasn’t a villain, but he did make a calf at Sinai. The prodigal had an older brother too. It’s all . . . . Continue Reading »
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