At the behest of one of the editors, we’ve included an appendix in the new volume in the Abraham Kuyper Collected Works in Public Theology series, On Education, and called it “Lemkes’ Wish.” Here’s the background: Hubertus Johannes Lemkes (1828–97) was a teacher and a co-founder of the Association of Christian Teachers in the Netherlands and the Overseas Possession. In 1893 Lemkes writes a letter to Abraham Kuyper, requesting that Dr. Kuyper take up the challenge of writing a study...

At a public event earlier this year, when Ta-Nahisi Coates asked Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez if any “moral world” ever “allows for billionaires,” she replied simply, No.” Earlier this month, Adam Roberts asked at Vox, “Is wealth immoral?” while, some time earlier, journalist A.Q. Roberts wrote inCurrent Affairs that “It’s Basically Just Immoral to be Rich.” Is wealth itself unethical? “On the contrary,” writes Ismar Schorsch, chancellor emeritus of Jewish Theological Seminary, “the Torah highlights [wealth] as a sign of God’s favor.”...

I appeared on EWTN News Nightly yesterday to talk about the collapse of the Italian government. Such turmoil is nothing new in Italy. Discontent with the political class is the main reason there was a populist coalition government in the first place. What made this government unusual was bination of right- and left-wing populists together. Its failure means that the populist appeal to e ideology is not yet mature enough to rule. Matteo Salvini and the League were initially the...

Today is the first observance of the “International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief.” The observance, as Alliance Defending Freedom notes, is considered by human rights experts to be an important step towards the prevention of religious persecution in the future. In May the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution A/RES/73/296 to add this observance and to strongly condemn continuing violence and acts of terrorism targeting individuals, including persons belonging to religious minorities,...

In Wisconsin, Democratic state legislators are proposing the Clergy Mandatory Reporter Act (CMRA), which would require “that members of the clergy report any instances of child abuse, including sexual abuse, ending the loophole of unjust cover-ups and misreporting currently occurring in our state.” “As an Orthodox priest,”says Rev. Gregory Jensen in this week’s Acton Commentary. “I cannot accept any attempt by the state to re-define for its own purposes the nature of the sacrament of confession.” Catholic League presidentBill Donohuesaid...

This is the third in a series of essays on Peter Drucker’s early works. As I explained in an earlier post, Drucker recognized that fascists were able to take advantage of the dissatisfaction that many experience in a society dominated by money. They substitute party organization as a parallel social existence and then elevate it into a superior status-granting mechanism. In this way, the party exploits anger over inequality. I also discussed Drucker’s sense that the church should have been...

In 1958, Leonard Read published his brilliant essay, “I, Pencil.” The Competitive Enterprise Institute recently released a wonderful video that illustrates Read’s point that the creation of a pencil requires an unfathomable level plexity and undirected cooperation. Read’s original essay was written from the point of view of the pencil and the humble writing implement explains why it is as much a creation of God as a tree. Since only God can make a tree, I insist that only God...

President Donald Trump ignited a national debate when he shared ment referring to him by the messianic title of the “King of Israel.” Whatever this says about President Trump, it unintentionally revealed a great deal about Western mitment to salvation by politics, and it brought to the surface a long-simmering question we must answer: Will we pursue cultural renewal through the sustained preaching and incarnation of the Gospel, or will we turn to a secular ruler for deliverance? The evidence,...

In the routine stories of humanitarian activism gone wrong, we find ready reminders of the limits of good intentions. In each case—whether among governments or non-profits and religious institutions—we see how a heartfelt motivation to “do good” can easily serve as a blind spot on hearts and minds. One of the latest examples involves Renee Bach, an American missionary who, at age 20, moved to Uganda and soon started a charity for malnourished children. Now, Bach is under fire for...

For nearly eight years, Senior Editor Joe Carter has been a mainstay of the PowerBlog. Not only have e to expect his daily PowerLinks but Joe’s numerous contributions (let’s enumerate: 4,400 posts!) on just about every topic we tackle here have been unfailingly helpful. Joe truly understands Acton’s “markets and morality” way of looking at the world and gave readers concrete ways of understanding often difficult concepts from economics, theology, social science and politics. On Sept. 6, Joe will post...