Ralph presents his case against Rawls below. Although I agree with much of it, I think he goes too far. Here are a few rather disordered suggestions intended less to vindicate Rawls than to complicate the picture: 1. We need to distinguish between Rawls an sich (as it were) and what Ralph describes . . . . Continue Reading »
Since a new survey of political theorists has confirmed the towering, unrivaled reputation of John Rawls, allow me to state briefly why this thralldom is a disaster for political philosophy. Prof. Lawler is of course right that Rawls is boring, but he’s getting bigger rather than going . . . . Continue Reading »
Jonathan Rowe has provided a couple of interesting discussions (one, two) regarding the founding of the United States and the problem of slavery. Even so, a couple statements seem problematic and pursuing them might be valuable as a defense:And Christianity, properly understood, is entirely . . . . Continue Reading »
These principles are some of my personal first principles for what a church is and how a church ought behave. These come out of my mixed theological background – some Mennonite, Conservative Baptist, and E Free, and uncompromisingly an historic dispensationalist. I welcome your feedback.You . . . . Continue Reading »
Today marks the fifteen year anniversary of the Murrah Federal Building bombing and I emailed an old friend, Jayna Davis, whose book, The Third Terrorist is by far the most accurate record of that horrific event. I reviewed her book for an old website some years ago . The review is here . . . . . Continue Reading »
The recent and dramatic rise of modern Gnosticism, implemented in part, by the capture of the vocabulary of reality, is merely the continuation of the effort, identified by Eric Voegelin, to form a Western civil theology by immanentizing the Christian eschaton. The totalitarians of the previous . . . . Continue Reading »
What is often difficult in getting a perspective on socio-political perspectives is to get past the popular rhetoric and get into the heads of the secular philosopher. So I took Hebrews 11 and reframed it in materialistic terms that would convey the ideas of today’s progressive. This . . . . Continue Reading »
Over at Cato, Julian Sanchez has written a post about how the aftermath of healthcare reform could reveal faultlines in existing political coalitions and trigger realignment: There’s no intrinsic commonality between, say, “left” positions on taxation, foreign policy, and reproductive . . . . Continue Reading »
From a Christian point of view, the virtue of compassion is rooted in the character of God and exemplified by the saving work of Christ. His was an example (though not merely an example) of ultimate compassion, giving completely of himself not out of compulsion but out of pure sacrificial love and . . . . Continue Reading »
Excellent words from Dr. Russell Moore:“Now these three abide: anger, outrage, and fear—and the greatest of these is fear.”That’s not in the Bible.But sometimes I wonder if I think it is.The United States House of Representatives just passed a health care reform bill that I . . . . Continue Reading »
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