It is not difficult to find Christian theologians and liturgical scholars commenting on what makes for a good hymn text. For example, last year I read J. Gresham Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism, in the course of which he discusses the merits of three familiar hymns, Nearer, My God, to . . . . Continue Reading »
With full apologies for the vulgarity of the title (going back to a 70s piece of fluff top 40 music), it was the only thing that came to mind. The subject of prophecy, false prophets, and charlatans in our midst often inspires sarcasm within my heart. But I just could not help . . . . Continue Reading »
A general strike has paralyzed Greece in protest over rather timid austerity measures by the Papandreou government. With a budget deficit at about 13 percent of GDP, markets fear national bankruptcy. Were that to occur the Greek economy would collapse, Greek banks would be unable to roll over . . . . Continue Reading »
Thanks no doubt to all your prayers and crossed fingers, we got the grant from the Science of Virtues people at the University of Chicago. Turns out they weren’t offended by that misleading first sentence or my high-risk call not to use power point. It could be they were seduced by the . . . . Continue Reading »
On this snowbound east-coast day, everybody and her brother is linking to a page of old Calvin and Hobbes comic strips, which gathers all the snowman strips from that great cartoon series. And why not? “It’s a sordid story.” . . . . Continue Reading »
In the current edition of my podcast What It Means to be Human, I discuss Martin Amis’s call for “suicide booths on every corner,” and note the tragic self loathing caused by a terror of losing his talent to old age that seems to have inspired his call for a radical euthanasia . . . . Continue Reading »
One of the main themes of the early days of First Things ’ Evangel blog was evangelicals’ complex relationship to culture. I recently came across Evangel contributor Russell Moore’s astute analysis on the question from 2007 in the pages of Touchstone , the other ecumenical magazine . . . . Continue Reading »
What comes to mind when you hear the word “professor?” A bookish scholar? A instructor from your college days? The smart dude from Gilligan’s Island ? The real answer is “none-of-the-above.” I don’t who you’re trying to kid, you implicit racist, but we all . . . . Continue Reading »
Every day on their web journal First Principles , the Intercollegiate Studies Institute posts an entry from their indispensable American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia. Today’s feature is Russell Hittinger on ” Natural Law “: At least in the English-speaking world, modern . . . . Continue Reading »
Did you know that our Lord Jesus Christ assumed that His disciples would fast, just as He assumed they would pray? Jesus commended fasting as a private act of humility and devotion to God (see Matthew 6:16-18). Note particularly that he says, “When you fast...” not “If you . . . . Continue Reading »
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