R. R. Reno

A reader wrote to correct my recent observations about the contemporary culture of transgression. It was not Robert Mapplethorpe who put the cross in a jar of urine; it was Andres Serrano. I’ll admit that most contemporary art blurs in my mind. A few months ago, I toured the Chelsea galleries. . . . . Continue Reading »

I have long felt that the defining event of my lifetime has been an ongoing cultural revolution. A recent book by Philip Rieff, My Life among the Deathworks , confirms this. According to Rieff, from the beginnings of human history, men and women have thought that happiness comes from a disciplined . . . . Continue Reading »

Last year, while London suffered under terror bombings and insurgency continued in Iraq, a local UCC minister wrote in my hometown newspaper that the violence we are experiencing is caused by the spirit of religious exclusivity. Universal claims on behalf of faith (the minister was scrupulous to . . . . Continue Reading »

On a Saturday in mid-September of last year, the feast day of St. Robert Bellarmine, I was received into the Catholic Church. I pledged to believe and profess all that the Catholic Church believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God. The priest anointed me with the oil of confirmation. I . . . . Continue Reading »

On a trip to Boston a few years ago, I made a pilgrimage to one of America’s most famous Episcopal churches, Trinity Church, Copley Square. I went, in large part, for architectural reasons. I have always admired H.H. Richardson, the architect whose plastic historical imagination is so well . . . . Continue Reading »

When I conjure in my mind the objections that people I know make to Christianity, I am reminded of my friend on the couch, enervated by life’s manifold demands. Most of these people are not confident rationalists dismissing the supernatural or wanton hedonists rejecting moral constraint; they are . . . . Continue Reading »

Praise and Blame: Moral Realism and Its Applications by Daniel N. Robinson Princeton University Press Praise and blame are cultural practices that shape our desires, intentions, and actions. Praise a child for something, and you will likely get more of the same. Blame a child and the pressure is . . . . Continue Reading »

For most of the modern era, Christian apologists have emphasized the role of pride as the primary barrier to faith. Take Milton, for example. At the outset of Paradise Lost, Satan rallies his fellow fallen angels with a speech of exculpation. Bidding farewell to the “happy Fields” now lost, . . . . Continue Reading »

With the Grain of the Universe: The Church’s Witness and Naural Theology By Stanley Hauerwas Brazos. 250 pp. $22..99 Stanley Hauerwas often changes his topic, but he never changes his tune. Christian witness should be Christian; the Church should be churchly; theology should be theological. . . . . Continue Reading »

We live in what we like to think of as a very sophisticated society. International commerce keeps the economy humming day and night. Silicon chips grease the wheels of calculation and communication. Medical centers are engaged in perpetual expansion as research facilities grow at a furious pace. . . . . Continue Reading »