Joe Carter

Peter J. Leithart notes that the spiritual gifts in the church are rarely the same as the skills valued in the secular world: Brian Brock argues that the church’s diversity of gifts should not be understood as a “division of labor.” That conforms the church to the social models of . . . . Continue Reading »

If you are a six-year-old child without much theological training you can be excused for asking the question, “What caused God?” If you are not, then never, ever ask that question in public—it only makes you look like a philosophical ignoramus. Philosopher Edward Feser explains why, . . . . Continue Reading »

Matt Morin has a good article on masculinity, misogyny, homoeroticism, embodiment, and mixed martial arts: Before enrolling in divinity school, I was a cage fighter—not a full-time cage fighter, not a world-famous cage fighter, not even a person for whom cage fighting paid the bills, but a cage . . . . Continue Reading »

My baby was a bastard because I couldn’t get a lesbian divorce. —Karen Hartman in ” Bound in a Gay Union by a State Denying It ” Has America become a nation of psychotics? You would certainly think so, based on the explosion in the use of antipsychotic medications. In 2008, . . . . Continue Reading »

Sarah Pulliam Bailey explains why many former Potter-bashers are warming to the Hogwarts crew : In its early years, “Harry Potter” was a litmus test of orthodoxy for some conservative Christians, who expressed concern over its portrayal of witchcraft. A Christian lawyer sued a public . . . . Continue Reading »

Death and Budgets , New York Times (David Brooks) Employment and Social Justice , Public Discourse (Randall Smith) On Overcoming the Sin of Human Respect through the Fear of the Lord , Archdiocese of Washington Blog (Msgr. Charles Pope) The Year of School Choice , Wall Street Journal Why Religious . . . . Continue Reading »

The Family Independence Initiative, a national center for anti-poverty innovation, is taking a radically different approach from the typical American social service model—and it’s proving to be radically effective : What FII does is create a structure for families that encourages the . . . . Continue Reading »

Concordia Publishing House recently released a new graphic novel about Martin Luther . When I saw the cover I got excited, thinking it might be a radical re-imagining of the reformer’s story (Thor as rogue monk?). I mean, look at it: squinty-eyes, clenched fist, tough guy looking over his . . . . Continue Reading »

At Jewish Ideas Daily, Aryeh Tepper has an intriguing review of Yoram Hazony’s forthcoming book, The Philosophy of Hebrew Scripture : What manner of work is the Hebrew Bible? The 17th-century freethinker Baruch (Benedict) Spinoza had an answer. As part of his war to emancipate . . . . Continue Reading »

Rep. Michele Bachmann was recently criticized for signing a pledge titled “The Marriage Vow: A Declaration of Dependence Upon Marriage and Family” which included a section that said: “Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery . . . . Continue Reading »