Historian Jeffrey L. Pasley on the roots of the debate over executive power (via A&L Daily). Defenders of the inherent-powers position frequently and significantly direct attention to the necessity or desirability of the ends they seek to achieve: fighting the terrorists or Communists or (in Hamilton’s case) achieving national greatness and economic growth. While such…

At least according to this funny post on what your drink says about you (via Dappled Things).

In thinking about how non-Christians might be saved without compromising the claim that Jesus is the unique agent of salvation, I wonder if it might be helpful to think about the different ways in which we can be said to know someone. I can know someone in virtue of having met them and engaged in…

It should be remembered that truth does not vary according to persons; when a human being says something true he is invincible, irrespective of the one with whom he may be disputing. – St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job (from this article via Kevin Jones)

Andrew Bacevich on President Bush’s “isolationist” canard in the SOTU. As Bacevich correctly points out, no political figure of any importance in the U.S. today could be accurately labeled an isolationist (more’s the pity, some might say). Isolationism survives in contemporary American political discourse because it retains utility as a cheap device employed to impose…

In his book The Glass of Vision Anglican theologian Austin Farrer attempts to develop a theory of the inspiration of Scripture that avoids verbal inerrancy on the one hand and, on the other, a view that sees the Scriptures as nothing more than the human witness to God’s revelatory acts. He points out, correctly I…

Presentation in the Temple, Fra Angelico (1440-1) Prayer: Almighty and everliving God, we humbly beseech thee that, as Thy only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple, so we may be presented unto thee with pure and clean hearts by the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who liveth and reigneth with thee…

or does Kahled Mashaal of Hamas look a lot like screen heartthrob George Clooney? And could this be the real reason for Hamas’ popularity with the ladies?

As I mentioned yesterday, in the final chapter of his book The Last Word, Thomas Nagel puzzles over the fact that if, as he has argued, reason enables us to understand the world, then what does it say about the nature of the universe that it has given rise to creatures capable of understanding? There…

Hey, I did it and it was relatively painless. Though it does entail severing my one connection to popular indie rock and emo, so now I’ll be completely clueless. (Article via the mysterious “Abby,” thus giving her some small claim to being a “contributor” to this blog.)