In his majority opinion in the 1940 Minersville School District v. Gobitis case, which dealt with the question of whether school districts could require students to salute the American flag, Felix Frankfurter wrote: “The ultimate foundation of a free society is the binding tie of cohesive . . . . Continue Reading »
In his book on Dostoevsky, Nicholas Berdyaev sets up a series of comparisons and contrasts between Dostoevsky and Nietzsche. Both recognize that man as he has been conceived in earlier ages is dead. Both know that man is “terrible free.” Both know that Humanism has . . . . Continue Reading »
In an essay in Engaging Economics: New Testament Scenarios and Early Christian Reception , Aaron J. Kuecker contrasts the economics of the Spirit in Luke-Acts with the health and wealth gospel on offer in some “Spirit-filled” churches. Instead of guaranteeing an increase of net . . . . Continue Reading »
Public health, argues Gary Ferngren ( Medicine and Health Care in Early Christianity ), was a Christian invention: “Except for making supplications to the gods, [ancient Greco-Roman] civil authorities did little to alleviate the situation [during plagues]. Responsibility for health was . . . . Continue Reading »
Josiah Ober ( Democracy and Knowledge: Innovation and Learning in Classical Athens ) cites a study by organization theorist James March that shows through case studies of business firm “innovation and learning are potentially contradictory drives: social learning is valuable in that learning . . . . Continue Reading »
Chernyshevsky’s 1863 What Is To Be Done? - described by Joseph Frank was “one of the most successful works of propaganda ever written in fictional form,” inspiring Lenin among others - describes a romantic triangle between two medical students and their love, Vera Pavlovna. . . . . Continue Reading »
Jesus instructs His disciples to store treasure where moth and rust cannot corrupt, that is, in heaven. Hosea 5:12 sheds some light on that. Yahweh is in the midst of condemning priests and kings for their harlotry. Priests don’t teach Torah and the kings move landmarks, so Yahweh . . . . Continue Reading »
In the same 1972 article mentioned earlier, Nelson argues that the early medieval church’s “tolerance” was largely a matter of institutional limits: “It seems to me misleading to characterize [the Church’s] earlier attitude as ’relatively liberal’. . . . . Continue Reading »
In a 1972 article, Janet Nelson argued that medieval heresy arose from a “crisis of theodicy” that arose because of an increasingly unstable and dislocated society. Mixed with these motives were worries about purity: Heretical groups believed themselves to be liberating . . . . Continue Reading »
Luther Peterson writes, “The confessionalization thesis is a fruitful instrument in explaining the transformation of medieval feudal monarchies into modern states, in particular how the new states changed their inhabitants into disciplined, obedience and united subjects. According to . . . . Continue Reading »
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