The Catholic I Am
by Gilbert MeilaenderWhat is distinctively Lutheran is to think of ourselves first as catholic—as catholics who found at a certain point in history that they needed to reform the . . . . Continue Reading »
Two Thomisms,
Two Modernities
by Russell Hittinger
The past century and a half of papal teaching on modern times often seems a tangle: any number of different strands—theology, Thomistic philosophy, social theory, economics—all snarled together. And yet a little historical analysis may help loosen the knot. In fact, a careful reading . . . . Continue Reading »
The Catholic Fantastic of Chesterton and Tolkien
by Ralph C. WoodIt is often assumed that G. K. Chesterton and J. R .R. Tolkien were reactionary, antimodern writers. In a certain sense they were. Tolkien regarded nearly everything worthy of praise in English culture to have ended in 1066. He scorned the imposition of Norman culture on a vibrant English tradition . . . . Continue Reading »
Majority Rules
by Lewis AyresVoting About God in Early Church Councilsby ramsay macmullen yale university press, 192 pages, $30 What do we know about the early Christian councils? We know quite a bit about the great figures who normally occupy attention—an Athanasius, say, or a Cyril of Alexandria—but what . . . . Continue Reading »
Briefly Noted 210
by VariousBenedict XVI: The Man Who Was Ratzinger by michael s. rose spence, 182 pages, $22.95 The author of Goodbye, Good Men, a scathing and much discussed account of homosexuality in American seminaries, provides a frequently astute evaluation of what might be expected from the new pontificate. Rose’s . . . . Continue Reading »
Danger and Opportunity: A Plea to Catholics
by Robert P. GeorgeWe live in a time of both danger and opportunity for the Catholic Church in the United States. The danger is that large numbers of Catholics will, as a result of clergy sex scandals and the large, highly publicized cash awards and settlements following in their train, lose confidence in the . . . . Continue Reading »
Theology After the Revolution
by R. R. RenoTwentieth-Century Catholic Theologians: From Chenu to Ratzinger by fergus kerr blackwell, 240 pages, $29.95 Over the last decade, a Scottish Dominican named Fergus Kerr has produced a series of books designed to orient readers to contemporary trends. In the 1997 Immortal Longings, he discussed a . . . . Continue Reading »
Evangelicals and the Mother of God
by Timothy GeorgeIt is time for evangelicals to recover a fully biblical appreciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her role in the history of salvation—and to do so precisely as evangelicals. The question, of course, is how to do that. Can the evangelical reengagement with the wider Christian tradition . . . . Continue Reading »
Fighting the Good Fight
by Thomas F. MaddenGod’s War: A New History of the Crusades by christopher tyerman belknap, 1,040 pages, $35 Not too many years ago, single-volume histories of the Crusades were a rarity. Bookstores were crowded with volumes on the Civil War or World War II, but there was little on medieval battles fought in . . . . Continue Reading »
The Writing Life
by Ralph McInernyIt is the rare reader of fiction who does not at some time or other consider becoming a writer. It comes and goes over the years for many, and some carry it about forever as an unredeemed promissory note to themselves. In their heart of hearts, they regard themselves as writers. When my first novel . . . . Continue Reading »
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