When reviewing a book written by a friend, there are two basic ways the thing could go, one of them very bad. Say that you had been duck hunting for forty years with your very bestest friend, and then, after retiring from his job as CEO of Whatsit, Inc. he gets it into his head …
Time to Go Buy a Glue Gun
When it comes to appointments to the Supremes, there is supposed to be — as all pretend — no litmus test to be applied. There actually is one, however, and the Democrats do a much better job reading the results of said litmus tests. Their appointees turn out true blue, for the most part, while …
Moved and Seconded
There are two problems that contribute to mission drift. Well, there are more than just two, but there are two that represent, as Newton might put it, were he here, opposite and equal errors. One is the error of turning over the reins before the vision is deep in the institutional bones, and to turn …
The End of Sacrifice
Title: The End of Sacrifice Author: Guy G. Stroumsa Genre: Religion Publisher: University of Chicago Press Release Date: November 20, 2012 Pages: 154 The religious transformations that marked late antiquity represent an enigma that has challenged some of the West’s greatest thinkers. But, according to Guy Stroumsa, the oppositions between paganism and Christianity that characterize …
Contempt for Sharkey Law
The difference between an unbelieving libertarian and an unbelieving leftist is quite simple to grasp. The unbelieving libertarian wants to go to Hell, and the unbelieving leftist wants to do the same thing, but wants me to pay for it. Both need the gospel, and both present a problem for the evangelist. There is a …
Gilt Guilt
The Lord Jesus famously said that if we don’t forgive others, we ourselves are unforgiven. “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matt. 6:15). This seems like a bad bit of business, but only because we tend to think of forgiveness as a peculiar sort of double-entry …
Pour Us Another
When your predictions come true in the moral sphere, this makes you less believable, not more. And when all your predictions come true, you are guilty of hate crimes. There were two basic elements of the prophets’ vocation to Israel. One was that of foretelling, and the other was that of forthtelling. The first predicted …
Statist Solutioneering
Wright’s last three chapters were really very good. They were “How to Engage Tomorrow’s World,” “Apocalypse and the Beauty of God,” and “Becoming People of Hope.” What I want to do is make a few brief comments about each, and then make two observations about the book as a whole, and Wright’s influence generally. In …
The Rhetoric Trap
Quintilian defines rhetoric as the art of a good man speaking well. Before getting into that, we need to address a problem that sometimes arises with bookish sorts. As we do this we also have to deal with the problem of doing this in our postmodern age, which is an age of sophistry, illusion, and …
The Paideia Principle
The Christian faith is a religion of world conquest, and no, not that kind of world conquest. If we do not believe this, then every form of cultural engagement will be simply a form of slow surrender. It is the way of compromise. You can always tell this kind of person because they are always …