-
Anthony Sacramone
First Thoughts Articles
The LCMS Mess
Mollie Ziegler Hemingway has a fine article in this morning’s Wall Street Journal , in which she addresses the precipitate cancellation of the popular Lutheran radio interview/news program Issues, Etc. by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod’s board of communications. Mollie puts this . . . . Continue Reading »
Machiavelli: Wise Guy
So, was the man whose name has become synonymous with political manipulation and ends = means duplicity merely a satirist ? Was Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince intended to be read for giggles rather than for counsel? Peter Constantine, winner of the PEN Translation Prize and a National . . . . Continue Reading »
I’d Horsewhip Them if I Had a Horse
Last September, I published on our homepage an article entitled ” Do You Want to Know a Secret? “—my response to the depressing news of the phenomenal success that is that exercise in New Age dimwittery The Secret . Seeking to profit from the general public’s inability to . . . . Continue Reading »
Gorbachev Still an Atheist—Film at 11
So Brother Mikhail ‘s supposed conversion turns out to be piffle . Gorbachev remains an atheist. As it happens, his visit to the Sacro Convento friary was the result of his poor Italian. “I asked the cab driver to take me to a Kentucky Fried Chicken,” Gorbachev told some . . . . Continue Reading »
The Most Stable and Prosperous Country in the World Is—
Vatican City. Or so says this survey . Of course it’s easy to prosper when the only way you can lose your job is to die and your number one export is infallibility. Try competing with that! Interesting that two independent states within Italy rank in the top 10, but Italy itself ranks only . . . . Continue Reading »
Brother Mikhail
Anyone who believes that nothing ever changes needs to be reminded of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of apartheid in South Africa—and maybe this . The former Soviet premier who introduced glasnost and perestroika to our political vocabularies (despite . . . . Continue Reading »
Paul Scofield
The actor who most famously portrayed Sir Thomas More in the classic A Man for All Seasons has died of leukemia at age 86 . From the encomia, Scofield will most probably be remembered by his peers more for his theater work than his film work, which was relatively sparse. I never had the chance to . . . . Continue Reading »
The Ellies
That is, the awards given to excellence in magazine (online and print) publishing by ASME (the American Society of Magazine Editors). Here are this year’s nominees . Like the Emmies, a lot of the same ole people giving the same ole people the same ole recognition. . . . . Continue Reading »
What Happened to Issues, Etc.? (UPDATED EASTER SUNDAY)
KFUO radio , the voice of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, for many years has broadcast a popular interview program, Issues, Etc., hosted by Todd Wilken. It offered sound apologetics and a panoply of interesting guests offering orthodox Christian commentary on the issues of the day. I should say . . . . Continue Reading »
Anthony Minghella
has passed away at the age of 54 . Very sad. Best known for The English Patient , for which he won a Best Director Oscar, Minghella directed a film on a much smaller scale that I much preferred, Mr. Wonderful . No great masterpiece, but if you came from a working-class Italian-American background, . . . . Continue Reading »
influential
journal of
religion and
public life
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
Tags
Filter First Thoughts Posts
Subscribe Today!
