A generation of Christians hasbeen inspired and challenged by James Davison Hunter’s popular work, To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World 1st Edition. Published five years ago, the book promotes a particular approach to cultural engagement(“faithful presence”) thatstirred a wide and rich conversation across Christendom. Its influence continues toendure, whether instirring individualimaginations or shapingthe arc of institutions. To reflect on that influence, The Gospel Coalition recently rounded up a series of...

A new report shows that global indicators of economic and political freedom declined overall in 2015, with the most serious setbacks in the area of freedom of speech and rule of law. Freedom House, an “independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom and democracy around the world,” released its Freedom in the World 2016 Report which included some disturbing statistics and worldwide trends, particulary as it concerns the progress made by women in some regions. The beginning of...

The Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal recently released the 2016 Index of Economic Freedom. Despite modest gains in economic freedom worldwide, Americans have, for the eighth time in a decade, lost economic freedom. The global average score is 60.7, “the highest recorded in the 22-year history of the Index” with more than thirty countries including Burma, Vietnam, Poland, and others, received “their highest-ever Index scores.” 74 countries’ ranks declined, but they improved for 97. The least free countries included...

Enticed by the promise that their children could go to school in America, numerous Guatemalan parents paid to have their children smuggled into the U.S. No one knows how many made it across the border, but some of the children were detained by immigration official and transferred to the custody of Health and Human Services (HHS). Once in the hands of the federal government, the children should have been safe. Instead, the HHS gave at least adozen children over to...

Tonightthe nominating process for the U.S. presidential elections officially begins when voters in Iowa meet for the caucuses. Here are five factsyou should know about what has, since 1972, been the first electoral event of each election season: 1. A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. To participate in the Iowa Caucus, political supporters show up at a one of the 1,681 precincts (church, school munity center, etc.) at a specific...

Any number of meanings are attached to “the Kingdom of God” as an essential element of Jesus’ teaching for Christian praxis. Used as just another slogan for political activism, in which the shade of meaning is usually reconstructing Heaven on Earth along collectivist lines, has me tossing the theological yellow flag. Another way to put this futile and often dangerous exercise is immanentizing the eschaton. This business has raised many skeptics. From St. Thomas More we received the word “utopia,”...

Acton Institute and Instituto Acton have taken top spots in a new ranking. Earlier today, the University of Pennsylvania’sThink Tank & Civil Societies Program released the 2015 Global Go-To Think Tanks Report which maintains data on almost 7,000 organizations worldwide and creates a detailed report ranking them in various categories. Acton was named in five categories and Instituto Acton was named in one. See the highlights: Acton Institute is 9th (out of 90) in the Top Social Policy Think Tanks...

Where do good and e from? Some possibilities that have been proposed include evolution, reason, conscience, human nature, and utilitarianism. But as Boston College philosopher Peter Kreeft explains in the video below, none of these can be a source of objective morality. So where does e from? “The very existence of morality proves the existence of something beyond nature and beyond man,” says Kreeft. “Just as a design suggests a designer, mands suggest a mander. Moral Laws e from a...

A new Pew Research Center survey examines how voters feel about the religiosity of presidential candidates. Here are seven figures you should know from the report: 1. More than half of Americans (51 percent) say they would be less likely to vote for a presidential candidate who does not believe in God. (This is down from 63 percent in 2007.) 2. About half of U.S. adults say it’s “very important” (27 percent) or “somewhat important” (24 percent) for a president...

The weekend forecast calls for sunny skies, so you decide to have a picnic in a national park with your family. After finishing your meal you throw away your trash. Your son, however, isn’t so careful — he leaves behind a few leftover items. As you leave your picnic area, a park ranger asks if you or your family has left trash in the area. You tell him that you’ve cleaned up after yourself. You’ve mitted an arguable federal felony:...