Edmund Burke was a Whig member of the House of Commons between 1766 and 1794, when Great Britain became less great. He thought the American colonies had right on their side and Warren Hastings, the Trump-like governor-general of Bengal (India), deserved impeachment. (The House of Commons did impeach Hastings, but the House of Lords acquitted him.)

In short, given the political context of the time, many saw Burke as a progressive.

Bookstores now display literary efforts with titles like A History of the World in 6 Glasses—and I’m up to a challenge. Here, in honor of the splendid 2018 major league season, is a history of helping the poor in America in terms of three ballparks.

Frequently asked question by WORLD members: What do you think of Andy Stanley’s book, Irresistible (Zondervan, 2018)?

Answer: I’m impressed and depressed. Stanley notes rightly that “skinny jeans and moving lights” won’t keep many young people from abandoning Christianity. But he argues that the way to hold them, and win others who say they’re “spiritual,” is to abandon the hard things in the Bible and emphasize a smiling Jesus. C.S. Lewis brought us Mere Christianity. Pastor Stanley brings us Mere Sponge Cake.

Megachurch pastor Andy Stanley wants to declare the Old Testament “obsolete”—see my column in this issue—but Kevin DeYoung’s The Ten Commandments: What They Mean, Why They Matter, and Why We Should Obey Them (Crossway, 2018) succinctly summarizes their importance. Sometimes we don’t obey them because we think we’ll be happier going our own way, but we find out differently.

On Oct. 7, as the official death toll from Indonesia’s earthquake and tsunami rose toward 2,000, Christians in the devastated city of Palu flocked to Sunday sermons. Many of the 5,000 still missing may never be found because the quake caused loose soil in several villages to liquefy, sucking houses into deep mud and burying occupants.

Fifth and final in a series on the legalization of marijuana

In Greek mythology, Antaeus is the son of Gaea (Mother Earth) and Poseidon, the sea god. People thought he was invincible, but that’s because he kept his feet on the ground: Hercules discerned that secret and beat him by lifting him up so his feet never touched earth.

Barbara Duguid was an MK, a missionary kid born in Nigeria who grew up partly in South America. She earned a degree in medical technology that equipped her to head a mission hospital in Liberia. She’s the author of Extravagant Grace: God’s Glory Displayed in Our Weakness and Streams of Mercy: Prayers of Confession and Celebration. She’s also married to a fine theologian, Iain Duguid. Here are edited excerpts of our interview in front of Patrick Henry College students.