Various

I read with much interest Bruce D. Marshall’s “No Liberal Home” (­August/September). I applaud his invocation of St. Augustine’s doctrine of the two cities, reminding us that our heavenly home is not identical to any earthly regime—even one as relatively welcoming as our liberal . . . . Continue Reading »

It is no easy task to write the biography of an autobiography, but Carlos Eire has done it. His book describes the composition and legacy of St. Teresa of Avila’s Vida, which popularized the introspective prayer and contemplative Carmelite devotion that has inspired so many—including . . . . Continue Reading »

Hadley Arkes, echoing themes he has developed for many years in his work, offers a forceful argument (“Backing into Relativism,” June/July) that the Supreme Court’s aspiration to contentless neutrality in its Speech and Religion Clause doctrine is a jurisprudential dead end—a “descent . . . . Continue Reading »

Immigration Reinhold Niebuhr’s Christian ­realism, which was lately set forth in Matthew Schmitz’s “Immigration Idealism” (May), famously relegates ­Jesus’s social teaching to the realm of the ideal rather than the possible. Schmitz’s endorsement of this realism makes a mistake that . . . . Continue Reading »

The End is Music:  A Companion to Robert W. Jenson’s Theology by chris e. w. green cascade, 107 pages, $17 We are still in the first stage of the reception of Robert ­Jenson’s theology, but Chris E. W. Green has emerged as one of the most thoughtful and active Jensonians. The End is . . . . Continue Reading »

DE GAULLE In “A Certain Idea of France” (April), Peter Hitchens goes too far when he concludes that de Gaulle was “the last stand of a great lost cause” of a Europe of independent nations: “De Gaulle’s desire for a Europe of independent nations, including a resurgent France, was doomed . . . . Continue Reading »

We pray that Visitation’s leaders will reaffirm their commitment to teaching the Catholic faith in its fullness. Continue Reading »

liberal politesse R. R. Reno’s point in “The Civility Trap” (March) is well-taken: Nobody on the wrong side of contemporary liberalism, either to its right or left, would likely disagree that the expectation of civility masks exercises in raw power. Manners aren’t simply politic, in other . . . . Continue Reading »

God’s Supersessionism David Novak (“Supersessionism Hard and Soft,” February) clearly demonstrates the negative consequences of the “hard” supersessionism and the positive benefits of the “soft.” I consider myself a soft supersessionist, meaning that the covenant God made with the Jews . . . . Continue Reading »

A Catholic Quest for the Holy Grail by charles a. coulombe saint benedict, 264 pages, $27.95 Despite its frequent ­appearances in pop culture, the Holy Grail is elusive to us—even more elusive than it was to ­Perceval and King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table. Films that present it as a . . . . Continue Reading »