R&L: You are a professor of economics and a Christian. How do you understand the relationship between your faith and your field of study? Loury: I am also a teacher, so I see the interaction between my faith and my work as a professor manifest itself not only in my scholarly research and writing, but also in the conduct of my daily affairs in the classroom. So if I can cast your question somewhat more broadly, this is an...

R&L: You have described How Now Shall We Live? as “the most significant book” of your career. Why do you feel this way, and what prompted you to write it? Colson: How Now Shall We Live? is the most significant book I have written because, in my mind, it is the lack of a biblical worldview–a well thought out understanding of how Christianity affects all of life–that results in the church being increasingly marginalized in society. So many Christians...

Born in Illinois, Ronald Reagan might have been remembered by history as a famous film actor. While serving as a captain in the U.S. Army in the 1940s, he made training films for troops. After he was discharged from the army in 1945, he signed a million dollar contract with Warner Brothers. By the end of his long Hollywood career, he had over 120 film and television credits. But Reagan was not destined to be remembered primarily as an...

One of the most eminent moral and dogmatic theologians of his time, Cardinal Juan de Lugo, S.J., was the last representative of the famous group of early-modern Catholic thinkers associated with Spain’s University of Salamanca. Sent by his father to study law at Salamanca, de Lugo entered the Jesuits in 1603 and turned his attention to theology. His theological reputation was such that he was eventually summoned to Rome by the Jesuit General Mutius Vitelleschi in 1621. Despite his...

R&L: Witness to Hope joins at least two other massive studies of Pope John Paul II’s life, Szulc’s Pope John Paul II: The Biography and Bernstein and Politi’s His Holiness: John Paul II and the Hidden History of Our Time. What makes this biography distinctive? Weigel: John Paul II can be understood only from “inside” the Christian convictions that make him who he is. Other biographies have approached John Paul from the “outside,” as a world statesman who is,...

In addition to economic and health reasons, there are also spiritual grounds for doing away with early, full-time retirement. From a Christian point of view, work is not a punishment, but it is a gift of God that allows man to take part in the furthering of the world of creation. In this, Christ gave us the supreme example: He was a diligent worker, publicly known as a carpenter’s son, and good not only in words but also in...

R&L: Unlike defenders of capitalism such as Friedrich von Hayek and Philip Johnson, who view capitalism as a morally neutral system, you see a clear relationship between morality and the free market. To your way of thinking, what is the connection between capitalism and morality? Wilson: To me, capitalism is neither immoral nor amoral but, on balance, a moralizing force. petition gives to businesspeople an incentive to acquire a good reputation, and to clerks an incentive to treat customers...

The secular world and the Christian world agree that religion and the state should be separate. It’s better this way for all concerned. It keeps the social peace. It prevents entanglements that can corrupt the faith. And these spheres have different jobs to do, and each can uphold its job better when they tend to matters that are their own respective responsibilities. And yet there are times when mixing does occur, with the predictable result of social division and...