Volume 19 Number 4

Issue Date:

April, 2008

Features

By: Matthew E. Bunson

Indonesia,Africa, Iraq.The news reports are alarming: Christian communities in largely Muslim lands are facing oppression, persecution, even martyrdom.These situations are not the result of recent shifts in attitudes or current political tensions. In fact, they reflect the difficulties non-Muslims under Islamic law have endured since Mohammed set out to convert the world.

Does the Church Have too Many Secrets?

By: Russell Shaw

Isn’t secrecy in the Church an obstacle to accountability, participation, and other desirable things? But it is sometimes appropriate and even obligatory for the Church to keep secrets. How can we tell the difference between good secrecy and bad? A new book by a noted Catholic journalist offers some answers.

Don’t You Want More (Not Just Mere) Christianity?

By: Fr. Dwight Longenecker

You only think you’re right.Truth is on my side. Sometimes the task of an apologist can seem more like verbal combat than making disciples of all nations. But it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, when we talk to Protestants about the faith,we may find the task made easier when our aim is to build up rather than tear down.

Determined to Deny Your Freedom

By: Peter A. Kwasniewski

There is an idea underlying most textbooks, television shows, and journalism that treats scientific subjects—scientific materialism. Its premises are rarely explained and often assumed but its dangers are real. Indeed, what’s at stake is human freedom. Here is how to recognize it and argue against it.

Man Needs Hope to Live

By: Christopher Kaczor

Americans are on the whole an optimistic people. In Europe,we are viewed as so many Little Orphan Annies, singing about “tomorrow.” But we shouldn’t confuse optimism—grounded in materialistic gain and scientific progress—with genuine hope. Christian hope is the virtue that neither presumes salvation nor despairs of it.