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No Method but Christ
When I try to explain to people why we need to recover patristic interpretation, the biggest obstacle I face is the desire of my interlocutors to establish the one,...
You Can Take That to the Bank
Jesus labeling money “Mammon” is most curious, seeing as the Aramaic term māmōnā means “faithful,” “reliable,” “true,” “genuine,” “you can take that to the bank.” Jesus’s point in Luke...
Anna Is Our Advent Model
In the Parable of the Unjust Judge (Luke 18:1–8), a poor widow seeks justice. Day after day she goes to the judge, who “feared not God, neither regarded man,”...
God Gets into Our Boat
The sea is a terrifying place. Way down, at the bottom, is where the seven-headed dragon Leviathan lurks. When the winds begin to blow and the waves start pounding,...
We Were There When They Crucified the Lord
Were you there when they crucified my Lord? The lyrics of Mahalia Jackson’s famous gospel blues song echoed through many churches during Holy Week. We sing it as a...
A Sumptuous Meal During Lent
Lent reminds us that food counts in our lives. We are hardly spiritual giants: Abstaining from our favorite foods; cutting out meat on Wednesdays and Fridays; skipping entire meals,...
Philanthropy in the Desert
It is meet and right that Lent should start with Matthew 4. Its first sentence sums up not just Lent but the entire Christian life. “Then was Jesus led...
Withered Hands and Minds
The Pharisees defend the sabbath, while Jesus puts an end to it—or so we often think. Mark 3 seems to fit this picture: The Pharisees watch in judgment as, on...
Let’s Speed Up the Coming of Christmas
The days are short, the shadows long. I can hardly wait for the light of Christmas to arrive. The darkness of our lives awakens deep within us the longing...
Eucharistic Donkeys
Humans are like donkeys. The Bible’s word for “donkey” is, literally, “burden-bearer” (hypo-zugion). Like donkeys, you and I are “burden-bearers.” Our burdens are numerous. Some seem random: a freak...
Open Communion Invites the Devil to the Table
Bear the standard for religious orthodoxy with First Things. Make your contribution to our 2023 spring campaign today at firstthings.com/donate. At the Anglican Communion’s 1968 Lambeth Conference, delegates debated the question of...
Is the Anglican “Reset” Truly Anglican?
The Kigali Commitment of April 21, 2023, was a shot heard around the world. Thirteen hundred Anglican leaders, dominated by bishops and clergy from the Global South, gathered in...
Sharing Immortality
God is life, full stop. Mortal beings that we are, we cannot imagine life that is not in some way spoiled by the corroding power of death. With Saint...
Silencing the Word
The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear,” says Isaiah in one of Holy Week’s most well-known passages (Isa. 50:5). His prophetic words were the result of God waking him...
Anointed with Clay
Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. These are the words we heard when the priest smudged us with ashes a few weeks back, on Ash Wednesday....