When we talk about the key shifts of the twentieth century—those involving politics, trade, consumption, art—we leave out what is surely the most astonishing physical change in all of human history, one that has happened mostly during the last century: the doubling of the human life span . . . . Continue Reading »
It is hard to mourn together while we have different understandings of death and the sacred. Continue Reading »
When it comes to the end of life, “moral complexity” tempts us to recast our tendency to shrink from commitment to the truth as a kind of sophistication. Continue Reading »
I tell friends: Nobody with a riding lawnmower needs to be justified. My 42-inch Sears Craftsman gives me all the salvation I can handle. Continue Reading »
Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory: Rethinking the Things that Matter Mostby jerry l. wallsbrazos, 240 pages, $19.99 The opening sentence of this book declares that it “deals with the most important questions you will ever think about.” Jerry Walls—a philosophy professor at Houston Baptist . . . . Continue Reading »
The Walking Dead, a horror show about flesh-eating zombies, has become a television sensation—perhaps the most popular cable program on the air today.For those who don’t watch, here is the basic premise: A mysterious zombie disease has infected all of mankind. It doesn’t make people sick . . . . Continue Reading »
The rites surrounding Justice Antonin Scalia's death offer a sober contrast to the childish superficiality of this present age. Continue Reading »
We are gathered here because of one man. A man known personally to many of us, known only by reputation to even more; a man loved by many, scorned by others; a man known for great controversy, and for great compassion. That man, of course, is Jesus of Nazareth.It is He Whom we proclaim: Jesus . . . . Continue Reading »
I was once approached by a member of the Hemlock Society after I had delivered a speech opposing assisted suicide. She asked me, “Mr. Smith, how do you envision your death?” I was a bit taken aback. Her whole approach seemed backwards to me. So, I replied, “Ma’am, I’m still trying to . . . . Continue Reading »
The focus on the increase in death rates for white Americans between ages 45-54 in the media obscures equally troubling results in Anne Case and Angus Deaton’s recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, “Rising morbidity and mortality in midlife . . . . Continue Reading »
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
