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October 2021

October 14, 2021

The Mystery of Tom Bombadil

One of the puzzles in J. R. R. Tolkien's Hobbit and Lord of the Rings...

September 2021

September 02, 2021

The Metaverse

The next revolutionary technology that investors and the big tech companies are trying to develop...

August 2021

August 12, 2021

A Post-Christian Version of a Christian Classic

In my opinion, informed by decades of literary study, one of the greatest stories in...

August 05, 2021

Prospects for a Renaissance

A Harvard history professor sees parallels between our cultural problems and those of the 14th...

July 2021

July 16, 2021

The War Against Satire

Satire has a long pedigree as a conservative literary form. But social media sites are...

July 14, 2021

C. S. Forester’s Novels of Vocation

C. S. Forester's novel "The Good Shepherd" (made into the Tom Hanks movie "The Greyhound"),...

July 08, 2021

Watch for Eucatastrophes

Two bloggers write about "eucatastrophe," "the sudden and unexpected occurrence of something deeply good." The...

July 07, 2021

How Pride Causes Our Catastrophes

The Bible says that pride goeth before a fall. The Greeks said that pride causes...

June 2021

June 09, 2021

If James Bond Became a Pastor

Imagine that James Bond, the dashing spy with a license to kill who keeps saving...

June 08, 2021

James Bond after 50 Years

We've been watching the Sean Connery James Bond movies (streaming free at Pluto and Tubi),...

June 02, 2021

The Conversion of Simone Weil

The story of how Simone Weil--the French Jewish philosopher, social justice activist, and member of...

May 2021

May 21, 2021

Teaching the Trinity to Young Children

Just as very young children trust and depend on their parents, they can trust and...

April 2021

April 01, 2021

Maundy Thursday from the First Great Christian Poet

St. Romanos the Melodist may be the first great Christian poet, but most of us...

December 2020

December 28, 2020

Books of the Year

Suggestions for spending the Amazon gift cards that you got for Christmas: Pick out some...

December 01, 2020

The Doctrine of Original Sin as an Essential American Conviction

When we think of the definitive beliefs of Americans, what comes to mind are liberty,...

October 2020

October 13, 2020

Additional Principles for Good Writing

According to the "Elements of Style" by Strunk & White, writing should always be clear,...

October 12, 2020

Sexualizing the new Tolkien TV Series

The producers of the upcoming Amazon Prime series based on Tolkien's Middle Earth are requiring...

September 2020

September 24, 2020

And Now, Book Burning

Book burning is the iconic manifestation of totalitarianism, thought control, and the suppression of freedom. ...

September 16, 2020

Simone Weil on Vocation

Simone Weil was a French philosopher and convert to Christianity who wrote profoundly about the...

July 2020

July 20, 2020

Christ & Calamity (a free or nearly free book of pastoral care)

As we face sickness, death, economic disaster, uncertainty, fear, and every other kind of suffering,...

June 2020

June 03, 2020

Not Just Teaching but Living Western Civilization

Nathanael Blake points out that we not only need to study Western civilization, we need...

April 2020

April 22, 2020

Lessons from Camus’ “The Plague”

Camus' novel "The Plague" has special resonance during our coronavirus epidemic. He describes how people...

April 21, 2020

Esolen Brings Back Poetry by Bringing Back Christian Poetry

The Christian author and cultural critic Anthony Esolen has written a remarkable new book entitled "The...

April 03, 2020

Our Inability to Sit in a Quiet Room Alone

As the days of coronavirus quarantine turn into weeks and the prospect of months, we...

March 2020

March 26, 2020

Will Heaven Be Boring?

In Edward Young's "Night Thoughts," an unusual poetic meditation on death, the poet turns around...

March 20, 2020

A Classic Devotion for Times of Sickness

In "Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions," John Donne reflects on the course of his sickness from...

February 2020

February 17, 2020

Diverse Editions Cancelled as “Literary Blackface”

Penguin Books and Barnes & Noble thought they were being racially sensitive with their "Diverse...

January 2020

January 29, 2020

The Wolf That Devours Everything, and Then Devours Itself

The epigraph of my new book, "Post-Christian: A Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture," is...

December 2019

December 24, 2019

My Christmas Gifts to You

I wanted to give all of you readers of this blog, whom I appreciate very...

December 23, 2019

The Origin of Nativity Scenes

A fixture of Christmas decor is the nativity scene, the depictions of Mary, Joseph, and...