Freedom

We need to become outposts of intellectual seriousness and Christian virtue and moral sanity that expose the darkness of our generation.

Whittaker Chambers’ “Witness” is a classic of American literature and Biden should heed its discourse on Freedom

It is awful enough news that Egypt’s Christians are suffering the effects of years of restrictions on building churches. Yet it is even worse news that they may, yet again, have also become the target of Islamic terrorists.

Someone like me who once lived in a totalitarian society finds it surprising and troubling that so many American churches have defined their mission as “to work for peace and justice in our world” but have neglected the defense of freedom as an essential part of their public ministry.

This article, delineating the two kinds of freedom found in the tradition of Western civilization, was originally published in Christianity and Crisis on October 19th, 1942. Editor Henry P. Van Dusen clarifies the two strands of freedom that have developed in European thought. One comes from the Protestant Reformation, a freedom that comes as a result of being created in God’s image and the rights that entail; the other comes from the Enlightenment, a freedom that is intrinsic to man’s nature and “self-evident,” something that is somehow apparent to all.

This article about the tools necessary to defeat Nazi Germany and the Axis Powers was originally published in Christianity and Crisis on August 10, 1942.  Examining the relationship between ideals and power throughout history, editor Reinhold Niebuhr argues the importance of discerning and then actualizing, the Allied Powers’ potential power. Conversely, he advocates against succumbing to the belief that Nazi defeat is inevitable.

Serious praise of America by prominent Christian thinkers was hard to find this Independence Day, but we should be willing to appreciate and defend her.

This provocative article written by Donald H. Stewart in the heat of World War II calls on the American Church to guide America toward a responsible patriotism which jettisons hatred and self-righteous aggrandizement while remembering “judgment belongeth unto God.”

In a world where might makes right, it is the U.S. military—not international treaties, presidential speeches, UN resolutions, protest marches, Wall Street, or Wal-Mart—that protects us from enemies who would either stamp out all faiths or force submission to one faith.