Hans Urs von Balthasar is justly famous for his creative reflections on Holy Saturday. The thesis of his book, Mysterium Paschale, is that Jesus Christ suffers not only a physical death on the cross but a spiritual death in hell. Von Balthasar’s speculations are inspired by the creedal phrase descendit ad inferna as well as 1 Peter 3:19, which says that Christ, after he was put to death, preached to the spirits in prison. Von Balthasar’s critics typically argue that he went too far in putting Christ in the actual precincts of hell… . Continue Reading»
Humor site McSweeney’s Internet Tendency recently posted an article with this promise: “Our Internet Speeds Are So Fast You Will Lose Your Faith in God.” Finally, McSweeney’s says, that whole religion and science debate is dead; with the right technological gadgets, faith evaporates as nonessential metaphysical baggage. But rather than triumphantly defeating religion in a head to head battle, this high-speed Internet will just slowly drown out the religious impulse … Continue Reading»
Same sex marriage has become the issue of our time. Michael Kinsley summed the situation nicely: “You may be in favor of raising taxes on the rich, increasing support for the poor, nurturing the planet, and repealing Section 14(b) of the Taft-Hartley Act, but if you don’t support gay marriage, you’re out of the club”… . Continue Reading»
I really did not intend to ignite a theological firestorm when I wrote my On the Square column, “No Squishy Love.” I simply pointed out that the committee preparing a new hymnal for the Presbyterian Church (USA) had voted to omit the much loved hymn “In Christ Alone,” because of its offending line, “Till on that cross as Jesus died / The wrath of God was satisfied.” I tried to place this decision in a wider historical context. But then “No Squishy Love” went viral generating thousands of comments and spin-off articles not only on the Internet and in religious publications but also in USA Today, The Washington Post, and even The Economist! What’s going on here? … Continue Reading»
Princeton University at the dawn of the twentieth century is a place marked by chauvinism, racism, anti-Semitism and anti-Catholicism (that “old and much feared enemy,”) as presented in Joyce Carol Oates’ latest novel, The Accursed. Yet its greatest sin is that of presumption… . Continue Reading»
A few weeks ago, Matthew Schmitz posted a story on First Thoughts about a Kenyan lawyer bringing a case in the Hague against Israel and Italy. His legal claim? Jesus of Nazareth was unjustly executed and the modern states of Italy and Israel”the supposed successors in interest of the Roman Empire and Ancient Israel”should be accountable to “uphold the dignity of Jesus.”… The case is frivolous, of course. But the story got me thinking as a contemporary lawyer about the facts of the matter and the differing legal standards that apply now… . Continue Reading»
The day after I arrived in New York City, I got lost. I had left the First Things office for lunch and could not find my way back. Eventually, however, I spotted a church: remembering that there was a church near the office, I headed for it with a sense of relief. But it wasn’t a church, as it happened; it was a shopping center. So I stayed lost. . . . Continue Reading»
The skills gap in unemployment is huge. Workers with at least a four-year college degree have an unemployment rate of 3.8 percent and a labor force participation rate of 75.5 percent. Workers with less than a high school diploma have an unemployment rate of 11 percent and a labor force participation rate of 45.4 percent. Over the last thirty years, wages for workers with a four year college degree have risen while wages for male workers with less than a high school diploma have declined sharply. And yet some economists argue that, despite the high unemployment rate and declining wages, the US faces a shortage of low-skill workers… . Continue Reading»
London’s TheatreUpClose recently announced a new production of A Tale of Two Cities, with a twist. Based on an earlier adaptation by Terence Rattigan and John Gielgud, the play “reimagines Dickens’ dangerous and doomed antihero Sydney Carton as a member of the 27 Club (which includes Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse).” … Continue Reading»
As I remember it, the Civil War centenary, which coincided with my middle school years, got far more public attention than the war’s sesquicentennial has received. There were a flurry of Gettysburg sesquicentennial columns and book reviews in July; the Civil War Daily Gazette provides a reminder, in detail and every 24 hours, of the drama that was unfolding across the land, 150 years ago; Tommy Lee Jones did the impossible by rendering Thaddeus Stevens an attractive character in the Spielberg film, Lincoln. But it would be a stretch to say that this colossal event, which made the United States an “is” rather than an “are,” is prominent in the nation’s consciousness in this anniversary period… . Continue Reading»
