If Christianity were my religion, I wouldn’t thank God for the Cross. But it’s not my religion, and on Thanksgiving Day here in the U.S. tomorrow, I will be giving God all the thanks I can for the Cross of Jesus Christ.I know I need to explain that, and I will. First I’ll need to clarify what . . . . Continue Reading »
The annual Thanksgiving messages have begun to show up around the web (for America’s Thanksgiving Day, that is). This time of year poses a bit of a problem for Christian bloggers: how to express our thankfulness without saying the same thing everyone else has already said. It is the challenge of . . . . Continue Reading »
There’s little less fashionable today than praising the Puritans, especially for their egalitarian political idealism, their promotion of genuinely humane and liberating learning, and their capacity for enjoyment and human happiness. Praising the Puritans is especially difficult for us because . . . . Continue Reading »
Hopefully I’m not too late to join the Thanksgiving chorus and I can throw in a quick message of gratitude for my local church. About this time last year I was wrestling with some difficult issues relating to problems at my church. I loved the people there and much of what went on there, but . . . . Continue Reading »
As Christians, we are a people who live in a present that is shaped definitively by the past and the future. The meaning of our present, of our contemporary lives and relationships, is fixed, but not yet revealed. We take shape only in relationship to the eternal, which Boethius famously defined as . . . . Continue Reading »
I saw a disturbing play last weekend. It was disturbing because it spoke the truth about the condition of man. Extinction is the story of two men who, for a decade since their friendship began in college, have met annually in Atlantic City to revel in all the drugs, gambling, and women . . . . Continue Reading »
This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for blood. It’s one of the most powerful metaphors in any language, and it is the substance by which we measure our humanity.Blood can mean death, of course. With loss of blood goes our life. Blood is the mark of violence, whether it is brought to bear . . . . Continue Reading »
I love the television show Heroes on NBC. My wife and I got addicted to the program via Netflix and have made it appointment viewing ever since. Lately, the show, which began with straightforward characters and easily understandable models of nobility, has become more complicated.Noah, a . . . . Continue Reading »
Thanksgiving Day, presently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, has been an annual tradition in the United States since 1863. It did not become a federal holiday until 1941. Thanksgiving was historically a religious observation to give thanks to God, but is now primarily identified as a . . . . Continue Reading »
Abraham Lincoln, one of my great heroes, declared the first Thanksgiving National Holiday on October 3, 1863 in the midst of the worst crisis in American history. Here is what he proclaimed:The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and . . . . Continue Reading »
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
