In a fascinating essay at Jacobin, Orthodox theologian, Bible translator, and polemicist David Bentley Hart engages the teachings of Jesus, the apostles, and the early church on wealth and poverty. Continue Reading...
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June 25, 2024
Pagans, Gnostics, and Christians—Oh My?
Conservatives, conscious of the past, disturbed by the present, and worried about the future, often ask: Where did it all go wrong? The polymathic aristocrat Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn argued that the “genuine historian” would trace our present ills to the French Revolution. Continue Reading...
June 21, 2024
Decay and Reform in Christian Higher Education
Writing on June 16 at Current, John Fea tells a story that’s becoming too familiar in Christian higher education:
Last Spring, ten Cornerstone faculty … either left Cornerstone or were forced out by the administration. Continue Reading...
June 20, 2024
How the Most Influential Novel Ever Written Has Been Misunderstood
“You have no real appreciation of Newspeak, Winston.”
—Syme to Smith, Nineteen Eighty-Four
For 75 years, the number “1984” has represented a numerical nightmare. Those four digits have been brandished in screaming headlines, blaring soundbites, a BBC teleplay that resulted in heart attacks and even deaths of viewers (in December 1954), and the Washington hotline of the John Birch Society, the far-right American advocacy group. Continue Reading...
June 19, 2024
Should Christians Be Afraid of Christian Nationalism?
Controversy erupted late last month when the New York Times reported that Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito once flew an “Appeal to Heaven” flag at his New Jersey vacation home. The paper alleged it was a symbol “for a push to remake American government in Christian terms.” Continue Reading...
June 18, 2024
The Waning of the Modern Age
Happy centennial, Johan Huizinga! He wrote his famous history book, The Waning of the Middle Ages, in 1919, but an English translation came out in 1924 and changed the way many thought about writing history. Continue Reading...
June 13, 2024
Liz Truss: A Short but Vital Tenure
Liz Truss’ tenure as the United Kingdom’s prime minister will almost certainly be reduced to two footnotes. First, she was invited to form a government by Queen Elizabeth II during Her Late Majesty’s last public engagement. Continue Reading...
June 11, 2024
Becoming a Constitutional People Once Again
Yuval Levin opens his new book, American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation—And Could Do So Again, with counsel against despair. He writes, “This is a book about America, and therefore, it is a hopeful book.” Continue Reading...
June 06, 2024
Richard Dawkins and Mere Cultural Christianity
On April Fool’s Day, I saw headlines that Richard Dawkins, the famed British atheist and evolutionary biologist, had claimed to be a “cultural Christian.” I assumed the headlines were clickbait consistent with the day’s theme. Continue Reading...
June 05, 2024
The Genius of Franklin
The United States’ Office of the Historian “Milestones” webpage “1776–1783: Diplomacy and the American Revolution” devotes one of its eight sections to Benjamin Franklin, “the most distinguished scientific and literary American of the colonial era” and “the first American diplomat.” Continue Reading...
