Various

Bonds of Wool: The Pallium and Papal Power in the Middle Agesby steven a. schoenig, s.j.catholic university of america, 544 pages, $75 Each year on the Feast of St. Agnes, a curious ritual takes place in Rome: Two young lambs are brought to the Church of St. Agnes Outside the Walls, where they are . . . . Continue Reading »

CONTEMPT OF COURT James Nuechterlein (“Remembering Peter Berger,” October) feels that the 1996 First Things symposium on the judicial usurpation of politics was inappropriate because it cast doubts on the legitimacy of American political order. As it is, however, the problem is still with us. If . . . . Continue Reading »

BURNING BRIDGES I would like to thank First Things for the kind invitation to respond to Fr. Paul Mankowski’s review of my book Building a Bridge (“Pontifex Minimus,” August/September). Sadly, I found the review almost entirely divorced from the experience of the majority of LGBT Catholics in . . . . Continue Reading »

John Witherspoon’s American Revolution:  Enlightenment and Religion from the Creation of Britain to the Founding of the United States by gideon mailer university of north carolina, 440 pages, $45 Were John Witherspoon living today, he would be a regular contributor to First . . . . Continue Reading »

SACRAMENTS, NOT SWEETS James Zacchaeus’s story (“Thanks for Everything, Pope Francis,” June/July) is a testimony to what can result when a Catholic couple treats Christ’s commandments on marriage as divine guidance requiring obedience for their own good rather than an unachievable ideal . . . . Continue Reading »

Luther and His Progeny: 500 Years of Protestantism and Its Consequences for Church, State, and Societyedited by john c. raoangelico, 290 pages, $19.95 . . . . Continue Reading »

R. R. Reno is sympathetic to nationalism because he sees it as a reaction against disenchantment (“Return of the Strong Gods,” May). While I agree that “the banishment of love from our politics is creating the populism that presently troubles us,” it doesn’t strike me that this populism . . . . Continue Reading »

Never Retreat, Opioids, Spirit and Truth, Sham . . . . Continue Reading »

Forgiveness, Right to Work, Shepherds and Wolves, City . . . . Continue Reading »

Shame the Devil, Drunk on Heresy, Reading Tradition, . . . . Continue Reading »