The Anglicans: What Happened in Tanzania

"We came very close to separation," said Archbishop Gregory Venables of this weekend’s meeting of global Anglican leaders, "but Biblical doctrine and behavior have been affirmed as the norms in the Anglican Church."It could have gone the other way, and for a time it looked . . . . Continue Reading »

Cardinal Newman for Ash Wednesday

No theologian working inside the traditions of western Christianity was more sensitive to the rhythms of the Church’s liturgical year than was John Henry Newman. Which, of course, stands to reason, given the fact that, as an Anglican curate at St. Clement’s in Oxford and later as vicar . . . . Continue Reading »

Was Washington Really a Deist?

As we approach George Washington’s birthday¯so often lost these days in the good shopping bargains of a long holiday weekend¯it seems fitting to celebrate the whole man Washington was in light of the hottest issue in the world just now, religion. Most historians of the last hundred . . . . Continue Reading »

The March Issue Is Here

The March issue of First Things is now available¯at newsstands and here, online, for subscribers.Look, I think every issue we put out is great. Truly great. Documents for the ages that ought, were the world rightly ordered, to be inscribed in stone for ages to contemplate in awe. Or, maybe, . . . . Continue Reading »

Anglican Storm Clouds

“I fear schism," Rowan Williams told the BBC , and with good reason. Today the annual meeting of the Anglican Communion officially begins in Tanzania, and it is not at all clear that the communion will last the week. No fewer than thirty-seven Anglican archbishops have assembled at a . . . . Continue Reading »

Friends of God

“Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab . . . ” ( Num. 22:21ff )Alexandra Pelosi, who took her handheld camcorder on the campaign trails of George W. Bush in 2000 ( Journeys with George , nominated for six Emmy Awards) and Democratic . . . . Continue Reading »