ROME”Despite an enormous amount of media chaff throughout April 2005, it was clear to those with eyes to see that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was the obvious, leading candidate to succeed John Paul II. There is no such clear frontrunner in 2013, although even more journalistic chaff is being vented into the atmosphere … Continue Reading »
Greg Forster has written to challenge Alister McGrath’s insistence that we correct the date of C. S. Lewis’ conversion, which McGrath bases on a lack of evidence for said in Lewis’ life and writings from the time. If Lewis had really converted in 1929, McGrath wonders, wouldn’t he say something about a deity when his father passes away later that year? Wouldn’t his behavior immediately change, as it did, later the next year? … Continue Reading »
Rich Mullins’ songs are some of the most recognizable and enduring tunes in contemporary Christian music”a genre heavily influenced by and almost exclusively marketed to Evangelicals. Still, even Catholics and mainline Protestants recognize the refrain of his best-known hit, “Awesome God” … Continue Reading »
Any Catholic who has attended a parish fundraiser is familiar with the concept of a so-called “Chinese Auction”: One buys a round of tickets, surveys a table laden with baskets of cheer, baby items, sports memorabilia and other tchotchkes, and then drops a ticket or two into paper bags near selected items . . . Continue Reading»
Obama’s victory in November reflects an important trend. Our political culture is now being shaped by liberals. That’s not because their ideas are sound. They’re often not. But conservatives largely don’t have ideas, or at least not ones that can animate national campaigns… . Continue Reading »
When the next pope is elected, pronouncements from major Jewish organizations will follow this basic script: Mazel tov. Your recent predecessors did many good things for the Jews; please expand them. Your predecessors also did many bad things for the Jews; please admit this and do better. Mazel tov again, and keep in touch.… Continue Reading »
What does it mean for an Evangelical theologian to say that the next pope should be Catholic? Is this a joke? Actually, no. As one involved in various church dialogues over the past thirty years, I have come to see the crucial role played by the Bishop of Rome in helping all Christians everywhere to work together for Christian unity. … Continue Reading »
Thirty years ago, who would have dreamed that a 490-page book by a Russian Orthodox monk would sweep Russia and sell millions of copies around the world? But that has been the deserved publishing history of Everyday Saints and Other Stories, recently translated into English… . Continue Reading »
Tariq Ramadan emerged after September 11 as an apologist for a liberal, peaceful interpretation of Islam, earning him plaudits from the Western media, including the title of the “Muslim Martin Luther” in a 2004 Washington Post op-ed. In his new book, Islam and the Arab Awakening, he is at pains to stay on script. More than anything, he means to show that the Arab Spring is not a catalyst for the rise of Islamist regimes, but instead could be the initial step in throwing off the yoke of European colonialism and American imperialism … Continue Reading »
On March 24, 1980, Archbishop Oscar Romero was shot during the celebration of Mass by the death squadrons of El Salvador’s military government. Today his reputation is undergoing a second assassination: Critics have responded to the floating of his name for beatification by wrongly charging the man with supporting violence, communism, and heresy. Those who would make the archbishop a radical hero have offered their own version of these claims in approving tones. Both are wrong… . Continue Reading »
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