Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Bible and Theology

April 17, 2008

Review: Barth’s Church Dogmatics

Late last year controversy arose after the federal Bureau of Prisons had created a list of approved religious and spiritual books that would be allowed into prison chapels. Among those authors who was excluded from the list was the greatly influential twentieth-century theologian Karl Barth. Continue Reading...
April 09, 2008

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, d. 9 April 1945

“How can success make us arrogant or failure lead us astray, when we participate in the sufferings of God by living in this world?”  Born on February 4, 1906, Dietrich Bonhoeffer began his theological education in 1923 to the mild surprise of his upper middle-class family. Continue Reading...
March 26, 2008

Ben Stein takes on “big science”

Ben Stein’s new movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is creating a few waves in the Evolution vs. Intelligent Design debate. He presents it as, “a controversial, soon-to-be-released documentary that chronicles my confrontation with the widespread suppression and entrenched discrimination that is spreading in our institutions, laboratories and most importantly, in our classrooms, and that is doing irreparable harm to some of the world’s top scientists, educators, and thinkers.” Continue Reading...
March 23, 2008

Resurrection

If it be all for nought, for nothingness At last, why does God make the world so fair? Why spill this golden splendor out across The western hills, and light the silver lamp Of eve? Continue Reading...
March 21, 2008

And His glory knows no end

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!” – Luke 24:5b,6a The Lord Jesus Christ makes all things new. He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, and his glory knows no end. Continue Reading...
March 05, 2008

Solovyov on economic morality

Vladimir Solovyov Towards the end of his life, the 19th century Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyov published his “On the Justification of the Good: An Essay on Moral Philosophy” (1897). In this book, wrote historian Paul Valliere, Solovyov abandonded his vision of a “worldwide theocratic order” in favor of the more concrete demands of building a just society. Continue Reading...
February 28, 2008

Some problems with Protestantism

Following up on our discussion of the Pew survey on the American religious landscape, I have a few thoughts as to what plagues American Protestantism, particularly of the evangelical variety, and it has to do precisely with the “catholicity” of Protestantism. Continue Reading...
February 13, 2008

Klinghoffer on the decalogue on the Sabbath

I’ve lately completed David Klinghoffer’s book on the Ten Commandments, Shattered Tablets. In large part it is a conventional conservative critique of American culture, but along the way the author makes some interesting theological connections, especially when he draws on the long tradition of Jewish biblical commentary. Continue Reading...
January 30, 2008

The faith of the centurion

“When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, ‘I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.'” Continue Reading...
January 29, 2008

Augustine on God and happiness

As a brief follow-up to this week’s installment of Radio Free Acton, here are some of the direct quotes from Augustine on happiness. First, he says, A joy there is that is not granted to the godless, but to those only who worship you without looking for reward, because you yourself are their joy. Continue Reading...