Peter Hitchens is invariably witty and provocative. His recent essay (“Latimer and Ridley Are Forgotten,” June/July) is no exception. Although diverting, it errs in at least one crucial respect: its assertion that the “judicial murders of Thomas More and John Fisher were political in origin, . . . . Continue Reading »
MARIAN CONTROVERSIES In his review of my book, Mary and the Art of Prayer, Nathan Ristuccia (“Our Lady of Everything,” May) acknowledges that certain elements of the medieval devotion to the Virgin Mary have been a stumbling block for modern scholars and Christians alike—particularly her . . . . Continue Reading »
God’s Country: Christian Zionism in America by samuel goldman penn, 248 pages, $34.95 The New Christian Zionism: Fresh Perspectives on Israel and the Land edited by gerald r. mcdermott ivp academic, 352 pages, $26 Israel Matters: Why Christians Must Think Differently about the People . . . . Continue Reading »
Rabbi, if only I knew our suffering was paving the way for the Messiah,” cried a Jewish refugee to R. Hayyim Soloveitchik of Brest-Litovsk shortly before his death in World War I–era Warsaw. R. Hayyim rebuffed him, questioning whether it was self-evident that the advent of the Redeemer justified . . . . Continue Reading »
I am a rabbi who is often asked how to improve Christian relations with Jews. I’m grateful that so many are concerned with continuing the positive changes of the recent generation. But I also follow the ups and downs of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaign, which since 2004, . . . . Continue Reading »
Last spring I attended a conference at the newly established St. Olaf Institute for Freedom and Community, which is dedicated to “free inquiry and meaningful debate of important political and social issues.” The institute invited four professors to talk about religious conflict: a well-known . . . . Continue Reading »
Now in its thirty-sixth year, the annual Feast of Tabernacles celebration, sponsored by the International Christian Embassy (ICEJ—the J stands for its headquarters in Jerusalem), attracts thousands of Pentecostal Christians from around the world to Israel. Timed to coincide with the Jewish . . . . Continue Reading »
The Paradox of Liberation: Secular Revolutions and Religious Counterrevolutions by michael walzer yale, 192 pages, $26 Michael Walzer’s name is associated with the summons to undertake social criticism that is engaged: that is, rooted in actual circumstances; cognizant of real people’s wants, . . . . Continue Reading »
Critics of Christian Zionism usually dismiss it for one or more of three reasons: 1. They say it makes mincemeat of the New Testament, where (it is alleged) the Old Testament focus on a particular land is replaced by the vision of a whole world; 2. They think it is the exclusive concern of premillennial dispensationalists, whose theology supposedly uses Jews to advance its own role in presumptuous schedules of End Time events; 3. It is said to be more political than theological, attached to right-wing American and Israeli political parties that wrongly identify the current Israeli state with the eschaton.Scholars at a recent conference at Georgetown made the case for a “new” Christian Zionism that takes a fresh approach to all three of these problems. Continue Reading »
Jews and Power by ruth r. wisse schocken, 256 pages, $19.95 Ruth Wisse is a distinguished scholar: professor of Yiddish and comparative literature at Harvard, author of the classic 1971 study The Schlemiel as a Modern Hero, and editor of several anthologies of Yiddish prose and poetry, much of . . . . Continue Reading »
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