The Calvinist International
The Obergefell decision has been understandably generating tremendous media coverage and analysis. Most of the commentary has discussed either the speed at which society has given approval to same-sex marriages or the potentially dramatic “legal overreach” by the judiciary. One very foundational point, however, has gone nearly without comment: the legal jurisdiction of the family. In the […]
The newly apparent aggression on the part of some proponents of same-sex marriage has many Christians worried, with some justice, about possible risks to religious freedom in America. But whenever cooler heads attempt to calm the room, the more outrageous progressive politicians find a way of confirming what had previously seemed like hysterical paranoia. The recent […]
Last week Michael Hannon posted an essay at First Things arguing against the idea of sexual orientation and the nomenclature of “heterosexuality.” It quickly became a big hit, so popular, in fact, that it warranted a (very poor) response from Slate.com. There was certainly an important truth to Mr. Hannon’s essay: the language of “orientation” […]
Over at Public Discourse, Sherif Girgis attempts to field some objections to natural law arguments offered recently in the context of the gay marriage debates. I’m still waiting to hear the political argument against gay marriage from those who reject natural law reasoning, but Mr. Girgis does a good job of explaining some of the […]
We watched with interest the recent controversy in the pages of First Things on natural law, knowing that sooner or later the spry Dr Feser would say the right thing and settle the matter. When he did, we said he had said the right thing, and in doing so said that certain First Things contributors struck us as “thoroughgoing modernists” on the topic of natural law, which was in effect a synonymous reiteration of Dr Feser’s own point. At this Anna Williams took genial umbrage; she declared war.
Dr Leithart has kindly responded to my post (which can be found here) on the use of natural law in the same-sex marriage debate. The following comments outline my position on natural law in a little more detail and describe some of the concerns that I have with his position.
In a recent post, Peter Leithart reflects upon the debate between Douglas Wilson and Andrew Sullivan on same-sex marriage. Observing the increasing inability of Christian arguments to gain purchase upon the public’s imagination, he wonders how arguments against same-sex marriage might become persuasive again. His conclusion is far from sanguine: without a recovery of Christian imagination, […]
Edward Feser administers a much needed corrective on the subject of natural philosophy and natural law in this response to David Bentley Hart. Before Dr. Feser’s article, the original piece from Dr. Hart was mostly applauded by other noteworthy names like Rod Dreher, Alan Jacobs, and Peter Leithart. We will not reproduce all of Dr. […]
Dr. Paul Helm has written some quite useful things on John Calvin and philosophical theology, but he also has his contrarian side, which yields some very unfortunate results. This latest post is a case in point, wherein Dr. Helm offers up a confused yet troubling articulation and application of the doctrine of the two kingdoms […]