We too often fall into the trap of thinking that a description is the same thing as an explanation. If confronted with the inadequacy of our description, we resort (oddly) to a more detailed and “scientific” description. But this makes no sense. When we let go of an object, we readily assume that our scientific …
Leithart’s Ugly Ditch
Here’s the problem. Merold Westphal wants to stand outside modernity, critiquing it. But he most certainly does not want to replace it. He talks wistfully about how nice it would be if it were to be magically replaced — in a Lennon-like Imagine sort of way, where the schools have all the money they need …
A Word to NSA Students
We are halfway through Jerusalem Term, and so it is appropriate for me to bring you a few words of exhortation — what your academic dean described to me as a few kicks and hugs. This I am happy to do, and after thinking it over, I decided to speak to you in a Mosaic …
In the Kind Name
Gracious Lord and God, Father of Life, the gift of rest is one of the great blessings You have bestowed on us, and the blessing of work goes with it. We thank You for it all, and seek to rest before You now, preparing our hearts to worship You in the morning. We ask that …
Not Eating Gravel
“I have no problem with high standards or tight rules — but the rules are for the children; the children are not there to give the rules something to work upon. There is nothing wrong with hard work in a rigorous school, but there is something wrong with work that is hard for all the …
Ideational Art
“Ideational art, speaking for its culture, represents a nonvisual world of transcendental realities lying beyond both reason and the senses. Its subjects are spiritual: Almighty God, the Divine Christ, the blessed Madonna, inspired apostles and saints, and, generally, the realm of intangible spiritual values” (B.G. Brander, Staring Into Chaos, p. 269).
Let’s Get Some More Uplift Around Here
“Like all great satirists, Shakespeare must have been besieged with requests for a more uplifting view of mankind. Great mimetic writers are always asked to renounce the very essence of their art, mimetic conflict, in favor of an insipidly optimistic view of human relations, always presented as more gentle and humane, whereas in reality it …
As the Stars for Multitude
An important part of the service of covenant renewal is the recognition of sin, and the confession of it. Moses begins by recalling for the people how they have come to this point. “These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel . . .” (Dt. 1:1-18). First, an outline fragment. As we consider …
The Miracle Continues
The Incarnation was a stupendous event, a miracle of miracles. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the foundation of all our hope, rest upon this prior foundation. Christ became a man in order to be able to die. He became a man in order to come back from the dead, leading us all out …
Confessing the Crass
James tells us that fresh water and brackish water should not flow from the same spring. The apostle Paul forbids a particular form of coarse jesting, and says that every word that proceeds from our mouths should be for the edification of the hearer. Our worship this morning is the fresh water. What has the …