Remembering Paul Elmer More
I discuss “New Humanist” literary critic and Christian apologist Paul Elmer More in the December issue of Chronicles Magazine.
Religion
Merton’s “Unspeakable”
A correspondent sent me the following passages from Raids on the Unspeakable by Thomas Merton:
… Read moreThe Unspeakable. What is this? Surely, an eschatological image. It is the void that we encounter, you and I, underlying the announced programs, the good
How religious is natural law?
In the Crisis piece mentioned in the previous entry, I suggested the relationship between the two was ambiguous. A blogger who wants to maintain a strong distinction between natural law and religion called me on it, so I … Read more
Existence as violence
A correspondent referred me to a post by a “progressive Christian” blogger as a sign of a new frontier in inclusiveness. The post picked up on another blogger’s claim that “the self is inherently violent.” The example used was blogging, … Read more
Review of Garry Wills’ Why Priests?
The following review of Garry’s Will’s Why Priests? appeared in the June 2013 Chronicles:
… Read moreGarry Wills identifies himself as a Christian. He says he accepts the creeds, along with prayer, divine providence, the Gospels, the Eucharist, and the Mystical
The state and the sacred
Here’s another column at Catholic World Report, this one on the essential sacredness of the state. If you say “no, the state is simply practical” then some aspect of the simply practical will become sacred.
Mixing it up over Maistre
An old libertarian friend, Todd Seavey, posted an entry in his blog regarding The Works of Joseph de Maistre that complained about Maistre and mentioned me, so in response I posted a couple of comments that I think make sense … Read more
More on Islam, women, and the West
A correspondent, who had read my previous comments on women in Islam, asked whether I thought he was hysterical to say Islam enslaves women. He lives in a part of England where Muslims have recently become more of a … Read more
Liberal theosis
Modern thought can’t make sense of man. Science wants to treats him as part of single system of cause and effect, and liberalism also takes that approach when considering social policy. The problem though is that science and liberalism need … Read more
Two films with food mysticism (spoiler alert!)
A blogger’s complaints about foodies put me in mind of a couple of award-winning and actually quite good movies I saw recently about food and drink as religion, Sideways and Babette’s Feast.
Sideways is set in present-day California. It’s … Read more