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

On the Bible and Civil Government

The Bible is a most valuable book . . . being without error and all.It is not, however, an exhaustive text on every single thing a human must know or even should know. It does contain all you need to know for salvation, but will, perhaps, let you down if you attempt to use it to answer the question: . . . . Continue Reading »

Liberty and Happiness: Brother Locke

Let me commend to our readers the work of noted Christian apologist John Locke on the topic of liberty and happiness. His recent work on human understanding is, perhaps, wrong on innate ideas, but attempts a consistent description of human capacity in a Biblical framework.Who knows if his comments . . . . Continue Reading »

A Simple Error

If you oppose a government program, someone will suggest that you “hate” the people on the receiving end of the government largesse.Surely, however, it is a simple minded error to assume that if the government does not help someone then nobody will do so? Isn’t it more dubious to . . . . Continue Reading »

An interesting summary

While the top 20 for each list is pending to post sometime on Friday, The Telegraph UK is publishing its Top 100 list of US Conservatives, and also of Liberals.The list is interesting as it is an outsider’s perspective on the state of US politics — and I’m a fan of people who try . . . . Continue Reading »

Torture, Killing, and Degrees

John Mark Reynolds’ response has helped me to clarify where I think he and I are disagreeing on the torture question.JMR defends his view based on his argument that torture is worse than killing. Of course, I can easily concede that torture can be worse than killing. But I can’t . . . . Continue Reading »

Meta-Ethics, Memory, and the Torture Question

The topic of torture and Christian ethics is now a heated discussion topic here. I’d like to ask a (perhaps naive) question about torture. Where is the harm located? What ethical principles are being violated by torture?Sixteen years ago, I contracted appendicitis and was in the hospital three . . . . Continue Reading »

One-Child for the One World

This past Thanksgiving, my extended family hosted some college students from Asia for the big meal. As we were making small talk, I opened my mouth and had a little roasted foot to go with my lunch: I asked the Chinese students if they had brothers or sisters. They don’t, of course, because of . . . . Continue Reading »

Which is more annoying?

Which is more annoying: Leftists who in the wake of Climategate have suddenly discovered a love for public choice theory or libertarians who in the wake of Climategate have studiously ignored public choice theory? Whatever your answer to that question, I hope it suggests that public choice theory . . . . Continue Reading »

Filter Tag Articles