The Calvinist International
I recently wrote about Steven D. Smith’s arguments in The Disenchantment of Secular Discourse, and more specifically, about how he demonstrates the vacuity of many of the Western world’s central political buzzwords, such as equality and freedom. In the course of his critique of Martha Nussbaum, he mentions another one that I thought deserved its own […]
Steven D. Smith’s The Disenchantment of Secular Discourse is one of the most piercing works in political philosophy I’ve read in a long while. Though it’s brief, by the end of it Smith has turned inside out some of the modern Western world’s most repeated fundamental values, and shown that appeals to them are actually […]
So back in February, Peter Leithart responded to my response on his essay on Protestants and writing. I meant to respond again, but never did. It’s probably good though, because the conversation needs to be bigger than just any one article– and certainly bigger than personalities. I really did think his original essay shined a […]
David Koyzis has a thoughtful piece up over at First Things today, reflecting on the legacy of pillarization in the Netherlands in the generations following Abraham Kuyper. Discussing the challenges of post-war secularization, Koyzis writes, “A religious community focused only on its own survival in a hostile environment may already have lost the battle, and […]
Anthony Murray worries about what effects the influence of natural law might have now that at least some of the US Supreme Court justices seem to believe in it. It looks grim, as he concludes with this apocalyptic line: “The moment a judge turns to natural law, democracy vanishes.” But what does he mean? His essay […]
At various points in the life of The Calvinist International, contributors have posed questions about the compatibility of Reformed social and political philosophy with modern capitalism. More of the story needs telling, however. In 2003, Dr. Christian Smith edited The Secular Revolution, which argues: …that the declining authority of religion was not the by-product of modernization, but […]
Speaking of Remi Brague, this interview was published along with the release of his very excellent The Legend of the Middle Ages. You should read the whole thing, but this one question and answer provides a key sample for the larger project: Question: How do you imagine a harmonious coexistence among the three religions of the book, […]
Remi Brague is a first-rate scholar on the history of law, politics, philosophy, and religion. He recently wrote an article for First Things on the history and future of secularism. A (free) summary of that essay is available here. While we have a few points of disagreement with Dr. Brague, he is nonetheless always worth […]
Assuming that there is indeed a modern malaise, one contributing factor might be the exclusion of the felt life of the mind from the accounts of reality proposed by the oddly authoritative and deeply influential parascientific literature that has long associated itself with intellectual progress, and the exclusion of felt life from the varieties of […]
Professor Brian J. Auten has posted a very helpful explanation of Salafi Islam, as well as its peculiar jihadist manifestation. Towards the end, he even gives a “translation” guide, offering loose Christian analogues for Salafi principles to aid the reader. One ought to sharply distinguish between traditional Islam and extremist Salafism, but Dr. Auten’s map is […]