Nearly a decade ago Jerry Walls wrote an article for this magazine (“Purgatory for Everyone”) in which he encouraged his fellow Protestants to reconsider their aversion to the doctrine of purgatory. His argument turned on a simple question: “If salvation essentially involves . . . . Continue Reading »
In the Valley of the Shadow: On the Foundations of Religious Belief by James l. Kugel Free Press, 256 pages, $26 Whether we like it or not, death is a constant point of reference, an unavoidable horizon, a question mark over everything. Everyone, gravedigger or intellectual, atheist or fervent . . . . Continue Reading »
In case you don’t know, Peter’s The Restless Mind is one of the very best books there is on Tocqueville. Either the best, or in the top three. His post below, which contains a number of fascinating angles for further inquiry, and particularly about Tocqueville’s (scattered, and . . . . Continue Reading »
The gloomy pitcher’s count facing Protestant denominations did not prevent Orthodox Presbyterians from celebrating their seventy-fifth with humility and gratitude. … Continue Reading »
At the end of The Searchers, John Wayne stands framed by the darkened doorway of a cabin, and with the dry scrub and John Ford vastness behind him he contemplates the house his successful search party has just entered. He looks inside for a second, half smiles, turns, and walks with his John Wayne . . . . Continue Reading »
Introduction to Scholastic Theology by ulrich g. leinsle trans. michael j. miller catholic university of america, 392 pages, $29.95 The standard narratives of twentieth-century Catholic theology written in the past forty years typically depict the ways in which modern Catholic theologians managed . . . . Continue Reading »
The transatlantic divide might not run through the Atlantic but through the societies on either . . . . Continue Reading »
What 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 »
Americans have always been an intensely patriotic people. Most of them love their country without reserve and without need for reflection. Devotion to the nation and its symbols is a cultural given, one that politicians ignore at risk of prompt return to private life. Our national parties stage a . . . . Continue Reading »
It’s easy to step back and denounce the excesses of the Christmas season: the orgy of spending, too much food, too much drink, too many parties, and expensive ski vacations that bring aching credit card hangovers. Easy, but mistaken. Continue Reading »
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
