Richard Swinburne on Sex, Family, and Life

A controversy has erupted in the past week over a keynote delivered by Richard Swinburne at the most recent Midwest meeting of the Society of Christian Philosophers. We at First Things were curious about the paper that prompted all the to-do, and so we asked Professor Swinburne to let us make his paper available. He has generously agreed. Continue Reading »

The Merciful Grace of the Truth

At the Easter Vigil a few weeks ago, tens of thousands of men and women, mature adults, were baptized or entered into full communion with the Catholic Church. Each of them walked a unique itinerary of conversion; each of these “newborn babes” (1 Peter 2.2) is a singular work of the Holy Spirit. . . . . Continue Reading »

The Gospel of Jesus on Sexual Binaries

Rachel Held Evans is once again arguing against “The False Gospel of Gender Binaries.” Regrettably, she does little more than provide us with a reminder of a textbook example of eisegesis (reading “into” the biblical text one's own ideology) rather than exegesis (reading “out of” . . . . Continue Reading »

Five Grueling Days of Joy

When the woman came for our daughters, we were crowded around a small round metal table, eating damp French fries and day-old bagels. It was early evening, and we’d had a long day, and now another stranger was giving my wife a piece of paper. Was this yet another petition to sign? A cool Catholic . . . . Continue Reading »