Anthony Sacramone

So the Vatican’s chief exorcist insists that the joint is demon-possessed. Father Gabriele Amorth, 85, who has been the Vatican’s chief exorcist for 25 years and says he has dealt with 70,000 cases of demonic possession, said that the consequences of satanic infiltration included power struggles at the Vatican … . Continue Reading »

So the Vatican’s chief exorcist insists that the joint is demon-possessed . Father Gabriele Amorth, 85, who has been the Vatican’s chief exorcist for 25 years and says he has dealt with 70,000 cases of demonic possession, said that the consequences of satanic infiltration included power . . . . Continue Reading »

And so, a new Christian denomination prepares to shed its caul and come wailing into the world—the NALC, which, upon first Google, I took to be the National Association of Letter Carriers . Fair enough; a goodly portion of the New Testament is composed of epistles, and so an . . . . Continue Reading »

Never let it be said that too much water has passed under the bridge, nor too much missionary under the Hollandaise, for the grand and glorious act of confession to affect reconciliation, both on the vertical and horizontal planes . In the 1830s, the Reverend John Williams was the most famous . . . . Continue Reading »

What is an evangelical? In a word: imputation. If there is one animating idea that separates evangelicals most precisely from Catholic, Orthodox, and mainline Christians, and from the rest of the world’s religions, needless to say, it’s that Christ’s righteousness is imputed, not . . . . Continue Reading »

So one Steven A. Beebe, professor of communications at Texas State University–San Marcos, was rummaging through C.S. Lewis’ original manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, when he came across a fragment . Not just any tidbit or afterthought but what the good professor came to . . . . Continue Reading »

Speaking of Star Wars , Joe, Tesco’s, a retail chain in Britain roughly comparable to a mini Wal-Mart here in the States, wants people who enter their premises to reveal their identity, presumably so a store manager can ID anyone running out the door with that box of Weetabix under his arm. . . . . Continue Reading »

Dan Brown, who is to history what Rasputin was to anti-coagulant therapy, has a new book out. But you knew that. Everyone knew that. Because it sold a million trillion copies in four minutes. It’s called The Lost Symbol and marks the return of Robert Langdon, symbologist (a degree now . . . . Continue Reading »

Anyone who has read my stuff in the past knows I’m not a fan of the fantasy genre . The minute I see that any story features dwarfs gamboling in the heath, guys in pointy hats wielding black magic (be they wizards or bishops), unicorns, faeries, glow-in-the-dark rings, quibbles, certified . . . . Continue Reading »

I know that most Readers of First Things have a huge stockpile of Jean-Claude Van Damme films. There’s nothing to be ashamed of here. We can speak frankly about such intimate matters. This blog is a safe space to confess, to come clean. And spare me the whole Chariots of Fire, Man for All . . . . Continue Reading »