Here’s a conversation that you will have if you, at any point in your life, read a novel: You’ll dislike some aspect of it (let’s say the main character is flat and boring), you will voice this criticism of the novel (“the main character is flat and boring”), and then you will be told, no, that’s the point, he’s meant to be flat and boring, the book is an examination of the flat and boring. That brings us to Donna Tartt’s new book, The Goldfinch, which is made up of 771 lovely pages staring unblinking into the void. . . . Continue Reading»
Father Edward T. Oakes, S.J., professor of dogmatic theology at Mundelein Seminary and University of St. Mary of the Lake, has gone to God, dying on December 6, 2013. Readers of First Things know Fr. Oakes well. Over the course of two decades he has been intimately linked with the journal, publishing essay after essay on subjects that extended from Shakespeare to original sin, from the latest movie, to the nature of evolution… . Continue Reading»
Advent looks back to celebrate the coming of the Son of God in human flesh. As Advent lectionary readings show, God comes in many ways, and so Advent also looks ahead to God’s future interventions in history, and especially to his final advent at the last day… . Continue Reading»
Christians are facing more and more difficulties in Western society. Every day, especially in Europe, churches and cemeteries are desecrated; blasphemy pretends to be an art for the general public; activists like Femen attack symbols of religion, and the media rarely miss an opportunity to belittle Christians and the Catholic Church. It is this latent hostility towards Christianity which explains the indifference, or even the complaisance, of our society towards the desecration of its religious heritage and the persecution of Christians throughout the world… . Continue Reading»
A new study suggests there are 8.8 billion potentially habitable planets in the Milky Way galaxy. Habitable is defined by, among other things, the Goldilocks zone, that magical narrow band of space extending around a sun where temperatures are neither too hot nor too cold, where water can exist as a liquid. . . . Continue Reading»
In his 2008 book, The Faithful: A History of Catholics in America, Boston College historian James M. O’Toole did a fine job of fleshing out the conventional U.S. Catholic story-line by emphasizing the role prominent lay men and women played in the Catholic experience in these United States. Yet there seemed to be something of a political filter at work in O’Toole’s perceptions, such that only the lamentable Joseph R. McCarthy got a mention among post-World War II Catholic Republicans notable in American public life. . . . Continue Reading»
Democrats eager to get Obamacare out of the headlines will soon have their opportunity. The House–Senate conference committee about the national farm bill is underway, and the most contentious issue is whether to cut the Food Stamps program by up to $40 billion over ten years. This fight will get national media attention because it plays into the conventional wisdom that conservative Republicans don’t care about average people… . Continue Reading»
When Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in the Philippines in early November, the nation suffered catastrophic devastation, including the tragic loss of over 10,000 lives. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow sent a letter of condolence, praying for relief for the people of the Philippines. Both the Vatican and the Dalai Lama added to their sympathies and prayers humanitarian aid, the Pope’s initial alms being $150,000. According to Reuters, the Vatican has additionally pledged three million euros. . . . Continue Reading»
’Tis the season to be jolly. ’Tis also the season for me to ask for your financial support! Our mission is important. Our need is great. First Things magazine and firstthings.com are published by the Institute on Religion and Public Life, a 503(c)(b) non-profit that depends on people like you for donations… . Continue Reading»
Now it’s certain. This will be a populist papacy. Denunciations of unfettered free market economics in Evangelii Gaudium—“an economy of exclusion and inequality”—attracted a great deal of attention in the secular press. But for the most part commentators ignore the fact that Francis’ populism has a very strong ecclesial dimension as well… . Continue Reading»
