Murderous Myth or Gospel Unveiled

“The spirit born of the sacrificial murder inspires the community of its perpetrators to remember the murder as holy and creative. The Spirit of the Gospels, on the other hand, remembers the false accusations, sordid plots, the sham trials, and the weak faith of those who fled” (Gil Bailie, Violence Unveiled, p. 130).

Not Just a Mirror

“Believing as I do that the arts in general are not merely a mirror reflecting social and cultural values, but are, on the contrary, powerful forces which shape and mould the way in which people live and behave (a view, incidentally, held by every major literary critic from Plato to T.S. Eliot), I have examined …

The Gospel Bars the Old Way Out

“Wherever and whenever the biblical tradition morally incapacitates a culture’s sacrificial system, the aggravating effects of mimetic desire flourish precisely because there is no reliable way to focus them on one flamboyant object of lust or loathing and eliminate them at his or her expense” (Gil Bailie, Violence Unveiled, p. 110).

This and That, That and This

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 101 “Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife” (Prov. 17:1). The book of Proverbs loves comparisons—this is better than that. And it loves combinations of comparisons—this with that is better than …