I was recently reminded of the ongoing problems with a historical paradigm that has been with us since the Jazz Age, when fundamentalist Baptists and Presbyterians in largely northern denominations broke with modernist Baptists and Presbyterians. Given this historical paradigm, Protestantism tends . . . . Continue Reading »
Charlie Cooke has a good article about the madhouse that is MSNBC. Hardball with Chris Matthews used to a be an interesting show. In earlier incarnations of the show, Matthews was a unapologetic but slightly idiosyncratic liberal host who was not entirely a cheerleader for the liberal side. He had . . . . Continue Reading »
Author of the great new Duke Ellington biography Terry Teachout, who’s also the extraordinarily prolific WSJ drama critic and regular blog-reporter on the NYC arts scene, has some good words on not overdoing one’s intake of and praise for pop culture . These thoughts were initially . . . . Continue Reading »
Happy Wednesday! Here’s what we have for you today: Peter Leithart is reading: Antonio López’s Gift and the Unity of Being , writing four short posts on the subject, and the Times Literary Supplement’ s article on Shakespeare’s working life. Dr. Boli reads the mail : . . . . Continue Reading »
How did we come to wish each other not a happy, not a joyful, not a peaceful, but a merry Christmas? The greeting dates back to at least 1565, in which year the author of the Hereford Municipal Manuscript wrote “And thus I comytt you to god, who send you a mery Christmas . . . . Continue Reading »
Last week our nation commemorated the eightieth anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition, the most commonly cited lesson of which is: You cannot legislate morality. Though this has become part of popular history of the era, it’s exactly the wrong lesson to draw from it. Though largely a movement . . . . Continue Reading »
This weekend, December 13-14 at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome, the Religious Freedom Project of Georgetown University’s Berkley Center is hosting a conference on ” Christianity and Freedom: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives .” I will serve on two panels myself . . . . Continue Reading »
I started this series of reflections on Genesis by thinking about when Creation was not yet good : when the man is without the woman in Genesis 2, and when heaven is without the earth in Genesis 1 (when we do not hear the expected refrain, “And God was that it was good” on the second day). Now, . . . . Continue Reading »
Seeking a Saint in the Heart of a War Zone Beatriz Terrazas, The Rumpus Science and Non-Science in Educati0n Harvey C. Mansfield, New Atlantis The Inauthenticity of Christmas Carols Sean Morris, Humane Pursuits Is There Justice in Job? Joan Acocella, New Yorker Québec’s Secular Charter . . . . Continue Reading »
When I heard the rumors this fall, I have to confess, I dismissed them. And maybe it is only political posturing. But leading Turkish officials are actually talking about converting the famed Hagia Sophia in Istanbul back into a mosque. The Hagia Sophia, or Church of the Holy Wisdom, was built by . . . . Continue Reading »
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