Various

Agony and Art The rhetorical devices employed by Russell Hittinger and Eilzabeth Lev in “Gibson’s Passion ” (March) to justify the orgy of sadomasochism and anti-Semitism in Mel Gibson’s film—and to cover over their own lack of cogent arguments—should not go unchallenged. They . . . . Continue Reading »

Of Time and the River I love the way the river rollicks here, and how it sluices headlong down the hill to hurtle through these spruces in a thrill of spray. Up-slope, beneath the glacier’s sheer façade, this melt of snow that fell the year the earth was made emerges as a rill; then, far . . . . Continue Reading »

Hitler and the Vatican: Inside the Secret Archives That Reveal the Complete Story of the Nazis and the Church. By Peter Godman. Free Press. 282 pp. $27. Last year the Vatican opened the previously sealed archives that contain correspondence between the Holy See and Germany from the years 1923-1939. . . . . Continue Reading »

Europe’s Problem or Ours? George Weigel’s provocative article, “Europe’s Problem”and Ours” (February) was interesting to me for two reasons. First, in the late 1950s, I served as Christopher Dawson’s teaching assistant in the Harvard Divinity School, where . . . . Continue Reading »

A Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in America, 1870-1920. By Michael McGerr. Free Press. 395 pp. $30. When historians get ambitious, they often get into trouble. In A Fierce Discontent , Michael McGerr has gathered an impressive amount of information about the . . . . Continue Reading »

I noted with interest Edward T. Oakes’ review of Luther (“Luther, the Movie,” January). His remarks about the film’s theological deficiencies were well founded. What I found disappointing were Father Oakes’ wholly unnecessary swipes at Lutheranism. Two can play at this . . . . Continue Reading »

“We Are Lincoln Men”: Abraham Lincoln and His Friends. By David Herbert Donald. Simon & Schuster. 269 pp. $25. David Herbert Donald, an eminent historian and the author of a splendid 1995 biography of Abraham Lincoln, has published an eloquent and absorbing reflection on Lincoln and . . . . Continue Reading »

I very much appreciated reading Philip Turner’s ruminations about “The Episcopalian Preference” (November 2003). I have thought about similar issues regarding the state of the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA), most especially since the Presiding Bishop defended the General . . . . Continue Reading »

Questions of Faith: A Skeptical Affirmation of Faith. By Peter L. Berger. Blackwell. 187pp. $24.95. The noted sociologist of religion offers a candid statement of what he believes, and why. Tracking the articles of the Apostles’ Creed, the author of, among many other books, The Heretical . . . . Continue Reading »

The Church and the HolocaustTo the extent that it is read by Catholic apologists and others who have a broad and deep knowledge of Europe in the 1930s and 40s, Martin Rhonheimer’s “The Holocaust: What Was Not Said” (November 2003) has considerable value. However, it will also be read by many . . . . Continue Reading »