Various

1990 Liberal public opinion found it easier to accept the defections from the pro-Soviet cause than from the radical movement of the 1960s. —The Bad Old Daysby Paul Hollander,April 1990 Capitalism’s relentless erosion of proprietary institutions furnishes the clearest evidence of its . . . . Continue Reading »

A Protestant Education Thank you for the fine article by Jason Byassee and L. Gregory Jones (“Methodists & Microcredit,” November 2009), which demonstrated wonderfully the similarities between grassroots capitalism and a charismatic call to build holy faith communities. Although the . . . . Continue Reading »

The War Between the Sexless Mary Eberstadt (“What Does Woman Want?” October 2009) and the authors (Caitlyn Flanagan and Sandra Tsing Loh) whose articles she reviews seem to miss the entire purpose of sexual intercourse. Sexual intercourse is an outward expression of the exclusive love . . . . Continue Reading »

The Wine Of Certitude: A Literary Biography Of Ronald Knox by David Rooney Ignatius, 412 pages, $17.95 paper Any man who elicited the veneration of Evelyn Waugh and could do the Times crossword in his head without benefit of pencil deserves more than one biography. There have been biographies of . . . . Continue Reading »

Cranky and Getting Crankier In his June/July Public Square column, Joseph Bottum claims that the three infallible signs of cranks are that they have a theory about the Jews, a theory about money, and a theory about Shakespeare’s plays. This is a gross oversimplification that leaves vast swaths of . . . . Continue Reading »

Mortal Follies: Episcopalians and the Crisis of Mainline Christianity by William Murchison Encounter, 215 pages, $25.95 The Episcopal Church, grande dame of mainline Protestantism, is not what she used to be. Of course, we all know that, but William Murchison, longtime Episcopalian and columnist . . . . Continue Reading »

Helen Barrett Montgomery: The Global Mission of Domestic Feminism by Kendal P. Mobley Baylor, 420 pages, $39.95 Were it not for Kendal P. Mobley’s biography, Helen Barrett Montgomery might have remained an obscure footnote to both the women’s movement and Church history. . . . . Continue Reading »

Remembering Richard John Neuhaus The April issue of First Things is a beautiful and moving tribute to a great man. I have been a subscriber to First Things for many years and a reader for many more. The magazine has been extremely influential in my Christian development”in particular, the . . . . Continue Reading »

Keepers of the Keys of Heaven: A History of the Papacy by Roger Collins Basic Books, 566 pages, $35 At the beginning of his preface, Roger Collins, a medievalist and Honorary Fellow of Edinburgh University, admits that a one-volume history of the papacy is “probably far too ambitious an . . . . Continue Reading »

Facing Islam I was surprised to read such a distorted overall view of Christianity and Islam in First Things (Robert Louis Wilken, “Christianity Face to Face with Islam,” January 2009). The author completely ignores the drastic failure of Muhammad’s teaching in today’s . . . . Continue Reading »