Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Book Reviews

April 05, 2023

Is Social Science ‘Science’?

Jason Blakely is professor of political science at Pepperdine University and has written a book, We Built Reality: How Social Science Infiltrated Culture, Politics, and Power, that is likely to perturb some, gratify others, but interest almost everyone. Continue Reading...
March 28, 2023

Antonin Scalia’s Rise to Greatness

When Judge Antonin Scalia was confirmed to a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States on September 16, 1986, no senator voted in opposition. He was confirmed by a vote of 98-to-0, a margin completely unthinkable 30 years later. Continue Reading...
March 08, 2023

The Adam Smith We Need

There are two reasons to read Glory M. Liu’s new comprehensive book, Adam Smith’s America: How a Scottish Philosopher Became an Icon of American Capitalism. The first is that if you are a student of economics or history, there is a remarkable amount of well-documented information packaged into a logically sequential analysis that is well worth your time. Continue Reading...
February 22, 2023

Blessed Are the Well-Armed Peacemakers

Of all the writers in the limited universe of Reagan biographers (myself included), William Inboden is one I have never met. His Amazon page shows only one previous book. I was surprised by the release of his major work on Reagan, The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink, covering nearly 600 pages, augmented by many endnotes referencing numerous primary sources. Continue Reading...
January 24, 2023

A Priest for People with Problems

Being fully human is complicated. Having a foot in both the material and spiritual worlds and with an originally good but fallen nature, our thoughts, motivations, and desires often come into conflict, and we don’t always choose what is best for us. Continue Reading...
January 19, 2023

Biblical Critical Theory and Other Errors

If a Christian scholar has figured out a way to wrestle with critical theory through a biblical lens, that would be an important book. Unfortunately, Christopher Watkin’s Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture is mistitled. Continue Reading...
January 17, 2023

The Will to Power Is Not the Christian Way

It is not a point of dispute that the Christian faith, both in influence and number of adherents, is declining in the Western world. Every month, new books, articles, podcasts, surveys, and sermons analyze, diagnose, and strategize about the waves of secularism pounding through churches, synagogues, homes, marriages, workplaces, universities, primary and secondary schools—indeed, what feels like every square inch of our society. Continue Reading...