Well, "warfare" may be a little strong. But blog headlines have to pull you in. And it could happen. I don't have much connection to internecine Catholic disagreement. I overhear a little of it in First Things, but the value of Ross Douthat is that he is a clear...
Mark Ward
Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission Conference Streaming Live
Yesterday and today I've been watching some of the sessions of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission National Conference; they're streaming live. Here's the schedule. The theme is issues of gender and sexuality, which I happen to be writing on at this very...
The Self-Dynamiting Doctrine of Papal Infallibility
A faithful and intelligent Catholic, New York Times opinion writer Ross Douthat, offers some helpful reflections on papal infallibility: On paper, that doctrine seems to grant extraordinary power to the pope—since he cannot err, the First Vatican Council declared in...
Logos 6
Logos 6 is launching for the public this very instant—8 a.m. Eastern Time. I've been using it for a couple weeks, and I am genuinely impressed. I don't have time to write a great deal, but I must say that Logos has put me in an awkward position: I just concluded...
What’s the Difference Between Sex and Gender?
The American Heritage Dictionary supplies this usage note for those who wish to distinguish "sex" and "gender." Some people maintain that the word sex should be reserved for reference to the biological aspects of being male or female or to sexual activity, and that...
Powerfully Compact Quote from James Davison Hunter
This is one from UVA prof James Davison Hunter is worth chewing on, as is the book: Christians recognize that all social organizations exist as parodies of eschatological hope. And so it is that the city is a poor imitation of heavenly community;13 the modern state, a...
Scrivener’s Bible Typography Manifesto, 1873
Scrivener beat me to it: The help afforded to an attentive reader of Holy Scripture by the simple plan of arranging its unbroken text in paragraphs accommodated to the sense, is by this time too well appreciated to require, for adopting that method, either apology or...
Usage Determines Meaning for the Middle-Aged
Usage Determines Meaning, and I'm going to illustrate it by putting myself down a little bit. A close friend of mine heard me refer to someone else as "middle-aged" in such a way as to distinguish myself from that age group. I, I implied, was "young," not...
Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation
Ammon Shea’s Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation is a collection of tiny essays on dozens and dozens of supposed grammar and usage errors in English. In every case, Shea finds a writer who decries the usage (like "hopefully" to mean "I hope that") then...
Salvation Testimony You Should Read
This is one of the most precious saints in our church. He's a faithful servant in every way, and an encouragement to me every time I speak to him. I encourage you to read his testimony.