Acts 8:36: As Philip and the eunuch went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized? Baptism is God’s work, not mine. The voice you hear will be my voice, and I will be the one to pour water over Andrew’s head. But I’m only an instrument, an authorized agent carrying out something that God Himself is doing. Baptism is God’s work, not mine. (more…) Read more
Peter Beinart offers one contradictory, one misleading, and one astonishing argument in favor of the estate tax on the “super rich” (TNR, May 15). The contradictory argument first: He quotes from Teddy Roosevelt to the effect that the wealthy owe a particular debt to the state because they benefit disproportionately from the services that every citizen enjoys – education, infrastructure, police protection, etc. This argument implies, Beinart says, that “because the American dream involves both public suppport and individual initiative,... Read more
Easter is about faith, hope, and love. Easter is pre-eminently about the love of God for us. The Father loved His Son and rescued Him from death. When the Father rescued the Son, He also rescued us, so that we can join in Paul’s taunt-song against death: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (more…) Read more
In a recent defense of the Enlightenment in Scotland and Naples, John Robertson focuses on the importance of commerce as an agent for renewing society. According to the summary of the TLS reviewer (March 24), Robertson “argues that the Enlightenment in Scotland and Naples began when David Hume, Ferdinando Gliani and Antonio Genovesi started to think that success in commerce might replace war and conquest as the means of national aggrandizement. Robertson rejects the current fasion for thinking in terms... Read more
In his recent book on “religion as a natural phenomenon,” Daniel C. Dennett deploys an evolutionary theory of religion in an effort to curb the abuses of religion. After over 400 pages, he is able to come up with this deep wisdom: “in the end, my central policy recommendation is that we gently, firmly educate the people of the world, so that they can make truly informed choices about their lives.” Glad we got that one figured out. Read more
A Swiss visitor to London in 1599 saw a performance of Julius Caesar, and wrote: “On September 21st after lunch, about two o’clock, I and my party crossed the water, and there in the house with the thatched roof witnessed an excellent performance of the tragedy of the first Emperor Julius Caesar with a cast of some fifteen people; when the play was over, they danced very marvellously and gracefully together as is their wont, two dressed as men and... Read more
According to Stephen Duffy, Philip, Chancellor of the University of Paris, was responsible for elaborating the theorem of the supernatural. He claims that during the Pelagian controversy Augustine had left various problems hanging: “How can one be bound to do something not in one’s power? Can the virtues of unbelievers be so facilely discounted as splendid vices? Do not the Scriptures and the Fathers furnish evidence of unbelievers preparing themselves for justification by their own activity? If God does not... Read more
In his 1993 book, The Dynamics of Grace , Stephen J. Duffy offers a superb brief summary of de Lubac’s thesis in Surnaturel . According to de Lubac’s history, “Neither the Fathers nor the great schoolmen ever considered a purely natural human destiny a possibility. Their focus was on one, sole order: the concrete order of grace in which humans were made for God and human nature could be intelligible only by reason of its finality, diviniation.” There were developments:... Read more
On NPR this morning, Frank Deford described how, instead of bringing feminine modesty and delicacy to the world of sports as Title IX advocates might have hoped, women athletes have adopted the culture of their male counterparts. Recent hazing incidents have brought attention to a much more extensive problem. On average, the grades of women athletes have declined and they are less apt to go on to graduate school or to get involved in other college activities. Sexualized and degrading... Read more
Mark Karlberg charges that Francis Junius introduced a natural/supernatural scheme into the Reformed doctrine of the covenant of works. In Karlberg’s summary, “The covenant, according to Junius, was established with our first parents by God the Father in the love of his Son. It held out the promise of supernatural life for obedience and the curse of death and separation from God for disobedience . . . . Although Adam was obliged to render complete and perfect obedience to the... Read more
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