In a piece in the March issue of First Things, David Bentley Hart suggests that the arguments of natural law theorists are bound to be ineffectual in the public square. The reason is that such arguments mistakenly presuppose that there is sufficient conceptual common ground between natural law theorists and their opponents for fruitful moral debate to be possible… . Continue Reading »
ROME”At the point at which John Paul II began his papacy in the first volume of my biography of him, Witness to Hope, I borrowed some thoughts from Hans Urs von Balthasar and tried to explain a bit of the uniqueness of the papal office: To be pope is to take on a task that is, by precise theological definition, impossible… . Continue Reading »
Pastors have hard lives. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul referred to being “poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service” of the church. Paul uses the image again in writing to Timothy of his death. Being poured out for the church at Philippi meant Paul’s life being emptied out for the church at Philippi; it meant dying for that church… . Continue Reading »
It’s a familiar script in American politics now. Every few months some politico runs his mouth off, comparing the policies of the other party to those of Nazi Germany. Then pundits take to the airwaves to criticize the exploitation of such painful memories to score cheap political points. The guilty party usually doubles down, insisting that the comparison was taken the wrong way”that he was merely warning of a slippery slope down to Nazism… . Continue Reading »
One of the most striking features of Benedict’s time in office is how frequently he has been assailed and disparaged by certain members of the “Catholic left” (for want of a better term)”often harshly and bitterly. But misery loves company, and the left is constantly on the lookout to see if they can find someone”anyone”on the “Catholic right,” voicing criticism against Benedict, even if for entirely different reasons… . Continue Reading »
The first time Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer Lawrence), one of the stars in Silver Linings Playbook, appears on screen, she’s wearing a cross. I figured it was a token inclusion, Hollywood’s nod to that part of America for whom traditional religion still means something. But I was wrong. Though the director may not have intended it, the cross was not a ploy; it was the foreshadowing of an allegory steeped in Christian themes, making Silver Linings Playbook an unexpected gift for those seeking faith in film… . Continue Reading »
Alarming reports have been coming in for years: Christianity is being expelled from the Middle East. According to Walter Russell Mead, more than half of the Christians in Iraq have fled the country since 2003. Today it’s happening in Syria. Swedish journalist Nuri Kino reports on a “silent exodus of Christians from Syria” in the face of “kidnappings and rapes.” … Continue Reading »
No argument is more effective in promoting gay marriage than the insistence that its rejection offends our sense of justice and equality, especially as concern for the underprivileged and marginalized lies at the heart of our Judeo-Christian heritage. Many today believe it patently “unfair” and “unjust” to ban an entire group of people from the benefits of marriage merely because they happen to be attracted to people of the same sex… . Continue Reading »
There is a long, rich, varied, and subtle tradition of natural law theory, almost none of which I find especially convincing, but most of which I acknowledge to be”according to the presuppositions of the intellectual world in which it was gestated”perfectly coherent. My skepticism, moreover, has nothing to do with any metaphysical disagreement… . Continue Reading »
I have a dozen white cotton handkerchiefs, neatly folded and placed in my clothes drawer. Over the last year, though, I have cycled through but five handkerchiefs, rarely pulling out the others. Those five are colored handkerchiefs, inherited from my father. He died a year ago tomorrow… . Continue Reading »
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