Louis Bouyer on the Reformation

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 1:30 pm By Francis J. Beckwith

Three days before Reformation Day (October 31), I bring to your attention one of my favorite essays, penned by the president of Ignatius Press, Mark Brumley. Entitled, “Why Only Catholicism Can Make Protestantism Work: Louis Bouyer on the Reformation,” Brumley writes: Interpreting the Reformation is complicated business. But like many complicated things, it can be simplified sufficiently well that even non-experts can get the gist of it. Here’s what seems a fairly accurate but simplified summary of the issue: The break... Read more

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) says Joe Miller “not fit to lead.” What would be your comeback to that accusation if you were Miller?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 1:30 pm By Francis J. Beckwith

According to The Weekly Standard: Senator Lisa Murkowski, the write-in candidate in the Alaska Senate race against Republican Joe Miller and Democrat Scott McAdams, oozed with contempt for Miller during a debate last night, which was televised on Alaska’s KTUU: MURKOWSKI: Scott is not ready to lead. Joe is not fit to lead. I have been leading this state [crowd boos]–I have been leading this state for 8 years. And I will continue to do so, bringing the seniority that... Read more

Bob Dylan, live in Boston 1974, singing “Gates of Eden.”

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 1:30 pm By Francis J. Beckwith

A terrific performance. Lyrics follow (more…) Read more

I get nervous when I see Tea Party activists in tea party t-shirts board the plane I am on.

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 1:30 pm By Francis J. Beckwith

This means I get to keep my job as a professor! Read more

My conservative journey on a liberal road; an excerpt from Return to Rome

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 1:30 pm By Francis J. Beckwith

Jonah Goldberg of the National Review just published an edited volume, Proud to be Right: Voices of the Next Conservative Generation (Harper, 2010). It consists of 22 chapters by young conservatives telling their stories about why they tilt right. I have not read the book, but the names of some of the contributors I know well, including the insightful Matthew Lee Anderson of Mere Orthodoxy. There was a time when I was a young conservative. (I turn 50 in two... Read more

Dallas Willard’s Knowing Christ Today; an excellent treatise on faith, reason, and the Christian university

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 1:30 pm By Francis J. Beckwith

Over a year ago Harper Collins sent me a gift copy of Dallas Willard’s new book, Knowing Christ Today: Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge. Soon after I received the book I came across Stan Guthrie’s review of it in which Guthrie quotes from a piece I published in First Things’ On the Square. It is an essay in which I offer an assessment of Notre Dame’s awarding an honorary doctorate to President Barack Obama. In that piece I make... Read more

Last updated on: June 7, 2023 at 2:27 pm By Francis J. Beckwith

f Read more

Neuhaus’ Law confirmed again

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 1:30 pm By Francis J. Beckwith

(HT: Carl Trueman) The late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus proposed what came to be known as Neuhaus’ Law: “Where orthodoxy is optional, orthodoxy will sooner or later be proscribed.” Over at Reformation21, Liam Goligher shares this tale from the Church of England. Apparently, in the Anglican communion, opposing the ordination of female bishops has gone from optional to proscribed. Read more

Evangelical Catholicity and “The New Evangelical Scandal”

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 1:30 pm By Francis J. Beckwith

I published this last year in Houston Baptist University’s periodical The City. My essay is one of two responses to Matthew Lee Anderson’s insightful piece, “The New Evangelical Scandal.” The other response was penned by my friend, John Mark Reynolds, Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Torrey Honors Program at Biola University. As you can probably tell, I had a lot of fun writing it. Here it is republished in toto. (more…) Read more

Chris Castaldo on the Catholic Church and the New Evangelization

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 1:30 pm By Francis J. Beckwith

My friend, Chris Castaldo, an Evangelical Protestant pastor, has posted an entry on the Gospel Coalition blog (“Pope Unveils Agency for New Evangelization”) in which he invites input from his readers. If you want to read the post and the comments, go hear. Although Pastor Castaldo’s post is well-written, informed, and thoughtful, as many of us have come to expect from him over the years, I can not say the same for the public witness of some of the post’s... Read more