Matthew Schmitz

In the above video, aired by the BBC this week, Jonathan Sacks, chief rabbi of Britain, discusses science and religion with three scientists, including Richard Dawkins. The two entered into a dispute at a related BBC-sponsored debate this week over whether or not Dawkins’ attacks on the God . . . . Continue Reading »

Emily Esfahani Smith profiles  Victor Davis Hanson, who shakes his finger at the profligate Greeks and praises the generous and “prudent” Germans: “What’s happening in Greece is fascinating. The Greeks started rioting because they couldn’t borrow more money from . . . . Continue Reading »

Here is a delightful example of St. Thomas’ sense of humor, from Questions on Whatever (Quaestiones Quodlibetales), Question 12, Article 20:  Whether truth is stronger than either wine, the king or woman. Objections:  It seems that wine (is stronger than the others) because it affects . . . . Continue Reading »

First Things is pleased to welcome our newest blog: Dr. Boli’s Celebrated Magazine . The blog, a light but frequently learned literary exercise, casts a wry eye on contemporary events in the language of a 19th century broadsheet man. Its editor, the fictional character H. Albertus Boli, . . . . Continue Reading »

Today is a good day to reread R.R. Reno’s explanation  of how we misremember the attacks. . . . . Continue Reading »

Jacob Sullum reports that Thomas Szasz, one of the most vigorous critics of the psychiatric profession, died over the weekend. Jeffrey Oliver explained the importance of Szasz career in the  New Atlantis : Nearly one hundred years after Eugen Bleuler invented the word “schizophrenia” . . . . Continue Reading »

In an article on Christian art at Ignitum Today , my colleague Anna Williams commends to her readers the band Scythian , a celtic-inflected group that treats religious themes. Now, I have nothing against Scythian, but there’s a lot of music—-even of music with religious . . . . Continue Reading »

Shulamith Firestone died this Tuesday at the age of 67, reports the  Times . Back in June, Patrick Deneen penned an “On the Square” about how Firestone’s thought is being rejected by some young women today. It amounts to a sort of intellectual obituary to read alongside the . . . . Continue Reading »

His office’s statement: Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, has accepted an invitation to deliver the closing prayer at next week’s Democratic National Convention. As was previously announced, he will also be offering the closing prayer at the Republican Convention on . . . . Continue Reading »

James Chastek offers a succinct explanation of the horror genre: One can make any number of horror-movie monsters by removing the limits from some natural desire: Alien is reproduction without regard for anything else; The Blob is pure and unlimited growth (with unlimited consumption as a . . . . Continue Reading »