For medieval Christian, Jewish, and Muslim philosophers, the great theological challenge was to reconcile the Aristotelian idea of God—an unmoved, impersonal force—with the biblical God who engages with His creations, answers prayer, and is subject to human-like emotions. Many modern thinkers and scholar see the philosophical approach, associated with Thomas Aquinas, Moses Maimonides, and Averroes, as imposing on the Bible a fundamentally incompatible notion of the deity. Eleonore Stump, however, argues that the gap between the philosophical and biblical God is not so great, and that medieval philosophy can enhance our understanding of Scripture. (Interview by Joseph Ryan Kelly. Audio, 17 minutes.)

Since the beginning of the year, the outgoing secretary of state has been using his Twitter account to tout his department’s various accomplishments during his tenure. Among these, notes Jimmy Quinn, lay an important statement explaining the 2018 decision to cease funding the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA): “it’s estimated [that less than] 200,000 Arabs displaced in 1948 are still alive and most others are not refugees.” Quinn explains: