War and Peace in Christian Tradition

What are some wise insights and necessary points of reflection that we, Christian or not, should take heed of when confronted with violence, war and the question of justice?

Erik Johnson | MIT et Spiritus | Fall 2016

Redeeming Rest

With a more robust view of time, we can rest as well as work because both add qualitative value to our lives.

Elizabeth Schmucker | Cornell Claritas | Spring 2016

Postmodernism and the Paradox of Tolerance

Postmodernism conflates truth and personhood, and in doing so confines the person to a state of perpetual insecurity and vulnerability. It is this fear of violence that prevents modern persons from recognizing the inherent dignity of their peers.

Joshua Tseng-Tham | The Dartmouth Apologia | Spring 2017

The Problem of Christ as a Gift

Late 20th century philosopher Jacques Derrida calls into question the very possibility of gift-giving. The aporia of the gift, its dissipation upon coming into presence, presents a problem not only for philosophy, but also for Christianity.

Dan Ju | The Hopkins Dialectic | Spring 2017

Rediscovering Aristotle, Aquinas, and Classical Theism: an interview with Edward Feser

A former atheist, Dr. Feser converted back to the Catholicism of his youth after an extensive study of St. Thomas Aquinas’ thought and philosophy.

The Dartmouth Apologia | The Dartmouth Apologia | Spring 2016

Finding Meaning in a Mysterious World: A Guide to Following the Religious Sense

Our religious sense, so defined earlier as our valences towards mystery, narrative and transformation, plays a critical role in our quest to find meaning in life.

Alex Wyvill | The Vanderbilt Synesis | Spring 2016

Approaching a Christocentric View of Wealth

To the casual onlooker skeptical of the Catholic Church’s wealth, the concern is not how beautiful their churches are, but the cost at which they were built.

Joshua Tseng-Tham | The Dartmouth Apologia | Fall 2015

Justice and Authority

To begin with, it will be helpful to note that this problem is not unique to 21st century American society.

Ryan Ward | The Bowdoin Agathos | Spring 2016

From Gut Feelings to Natural Law

While most people believe in some sense of right and wrong, they may not understand why these values are constructed this way.

Christopher Kymn | The Dartmouth Apologia | Fall 2015

Knowing Christ through Musical Worship

I don’t know whether this connection is deep and natural for others, but for me, it has always made sense: God and song, song and God.

Lilian Chow | The Columbia Crown & Cross | Spring 2015

A Few Thoughts on “the Future”

This problematic tension between one’s desires to make an indelible mark upon the memory of this world and the elusive nature of the future is resolved in a very unexpected way within the Christian tradition.

Viktor Palenyy | UC Berkeley TAUG | Fall 2014

Does Divine Mercy Contradict Divine Justice?

If justice is giving what is due and mercy is overlooking what is due then it appears that justice and mercy really are contradictory.

Danielle D'Souza | The Dartmouth Apologia | Spring 2014

The Art of Reconciliation

When faced with the daunting task of comforting a friend who was contemplating suicide, I felt utterly helpless in trying to prevent her actions, while she felt utterly hopeless in trying to control her emotions.

Jess Tong | The Dartmouth Apologia | Spring 2014

A Defense of the Argument from Motion

When I was first introduced to St. Thomas Aquinas’ Five Ways, I was unimpressed. I was a junior attending Catholic high school, and, at the time, I did not believe in God.

Greg Brown | Swarthmore Peripateo | Spring 2014

Christ’s Crowning Glory

Most directly, [the symbol of the Crown and Cross] refers to Columbia’s founding as an Anglican college: the fruit of a Christian Church under the British monarch.

Luke Foster | The Columbia Crown and Cross | Spring 2014

Gendered Grace in the Book of Isaiah

The real beauty of Isaiah’s strategy is how he declaws the female stereotypes of weakness and promiscuity and proceeds to deflect their stigma upon the very males that perpetuated them.

Sarah Durham | The Columbia Crown and Cross | Spring 2014

Faith and Reason

Truth, the great 13th century philosopher Thomas Aquinas insisted, can only ever be one.

Christopher Hauser | The Dartmouth Apologia | Fall 2012

Called to Friendship

This article is about friendship; more specifically it is about human friendship that makes possible moral transformation, and it is about friendship with God that makes possible spiritual transformation.

Nick Palazzolo | Swarthmore Peripateo | Spring 2013

The Divine Attributes: Why an Imperfect God Just Won’t Do

Yoram Hazony’s version of apophaticism restricts theists to a kind of fideism, wherein our rational concept “God,” a human construct, is radically divorced from the subject of our faith, the non-conceptual, personal God. The result is confused, even contradictory.

Chris Hauser | The Dartmouth Apologia | Spring 2013

Created to Serve: The Telos of Work

As a senior, I get asked what one of my close friends calls the “Benjamin Braddock question” rather frequently: “What are you going to do after you graduate?”

Josh Satre | Swarthmore Peripateo | Spring 2013

A Lament for Skepticism

It seems to be a common assumption that religious believers are somehow irrational for holding the beliefs that they do. The claim, simply put, is that there just isn’t enough (or any) convincing evidence for the truth of many Christian beliefs, such as the belief in God, especially in light of the discoveries of modern science.

Enoch Kuo | Princeton Revisions | Summer 2013

Aquinas on Everyday Emotions

As we understand ourselves and see extreme emotions in the light of many everyday impulses, we need to cultivate emotions that align with our intellect, reason, and that most fundamental desire, the desire that God implemented within us for Himself.

David Nolan | The Williams Telos | The Williams Telos, Fall 2012, Issue 8

A Review of John Lennox’s Seven Days that Divide the World

If we fail to address the seeming inconsistencies between science and the Bible, we risk reinforcing the widespread belief that science deals with reality while the Bible deals with fantasy.

Bryan Padilla | The Harvard Ichthus | Volume 8, Number 1, Spring 2012

Whom Are We Friends with and Why?

As the ancient philosophers recognized the ease with which we can settle for less from our relationships, the current cultural context challenges us, diverts us from what it means to have a true friend and be one.

Hannah Jung | The Dartmouth Apologia | Fall 2012, Volume 7, Issue 1

Wisdom in the Inward Parts

For a long time, I never strayed into discussions about the relation between science and religion; however, ten years ago, I found myself in a position where I had to say something.

Professor John Huth | The Harvard Ichthus | Volume 8, Issue 1, Spring 2012

The Moral Gap

It is incoherent to put us under a demand we cannot reach. Yet surely we are under the moral demand. How are we to explain this paradox?

Dr. John Hare | The Dartmouth Apologia | Spring 2012, Volume 6, Issue 2

January 2018