Various

God and the Art of Happiness by Ellen T. Charry Eerdmans, 311 pages, $35 Princeton Theological Seminary professor Ellen Charry continues her work on the pastoral function of Christian doctrine with this helpful volume in pursuit of what she calls “a Christian doctrine of happiness,” which . . . . Continue Reading »

Avarice and Eden Edward Skidelsky believes that our materialist culture tempts people to do too much productive work (“The Emancipation of Avarice,” May). He thinks that when men have produced reasonable necessaries, comforts, and conveniences to supply “all the population,” . . . . Continue Reading »

• It must be tough being an atheist in the military, what with having no God to rely on in dangerous times. The least we could do, some are now proposing, is provide atheists their own chaplain. Atheism serves the same role in their lives as theism does in others’, and so they should be . . . . Continue Reading »

CHALLENGING EVANGELICALS If Gerald McDermott is right, Martin Luther is the person ultimately responsible for liberal theology (“Evangelicals Divided,” April). Like those evangelicals McDermott labels Meliorists (a term none of us uses), Luther dared to challenge time-honored and settled . . . . Continue Reading »

• People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has announced that men seeking to spay or neuter their pets are eligible for a free vasectomy in solidarity with their soon-to-be sterile dog or cat. The winner will be selected based on how well he argues that “his sterilization will most . . . . Continue Reading »

Wilhelm Röpke’s Political Economy by Samuel Gregg Edward Elgar, 216 pages, $115 Once upon a time, a political economist could write a book titled An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations and another one titled The Theory of Moral Sentiments . Not so anymore. Though . . . . Continue Reading »

The Reformation and Churchly Scripture There is a tension in Protestant ecclesiology that Timothy George only hints at in his treatment of the “churchly context of reading Scripture” and in his dismissal of the Maritainian critique of Luther’s radical individualism (“Reading the . . . . Continue Reading »

MACINTYRE’S ECONOMICS Robert T. Miller first says that I am a great philosopher (“Waiting for St. Vladimir,” February) and then accuses me of being stupid enough to hold what he takes to be a set of obviously false propositions. On both counts he is mistaken, although I am more . . . . Continue Reading »

Conservative Liberalism or Liberal Conservatism? I am grateful to James Kalb for his thoughtful and respectful engagement with my newly published book The Conservative Foundations of the Liberal Order (“Squaring the Circle,” February). He credits me with posing some of the right questions and . . . . Continue Reading »

Bearing Witness through marriage Liberal evangelical Ron Sider makes a strong case in favor of the ancient Christian and indeed natural understanding of marriage (“Bearing Better Witness,” December 2010). He attempts to “balance” his article by simultaneously chiding . . . . Continue Reading »