“Creative freedom can defeat itself because novelty can be felt only in relation to a perceived norm, just as rhythmic freedom can only be felt against a regular meter. When the norm is obscured by heedless violations, interest gradually disappears” (Jacques Barzun, The Culture We Deserve, p. 155).
The Seamless Coat of Christ
“There was a great deal of ado in Luther’s time about the seamless coat of Christ . . . When Luther labored to bring reformation to the rule, they bade him take heed that he did not rend the seamless coat of Christ . . . And what a stir has there been, an outcry, …
Look at Your Hands
The fact of death is woven into this fallen creation. The fact of resurrection is woven into the new creation. We are to live in the old order, as heirs of the new. We cannot do this by sight, and so we are summoned to walk by faith. Look at your hands. You know that …
An Unthinkable Reverse
[Around 1718] “We have an Ottoman document . . . the first Muslim document in which Muslim and Christian methods of warfare are compared, to the advantage of the latter, and the previously unthinkable suggestion is advanced that the true believers should follow the infidels in military organization and the conduct of warfare” (Bernard Lewis, …
Why Creative Writing Courses Are Usually Full
“Such is the fated result of an assumption deeply buried in our collective mind. It grew there early in the last century when the artist as a social type came to be glorified as a hero, a seer, a genius. Geniuses must be allowed to do as they please while the rest of mankind gratefully …
What We Do When We Never Had It So Good
“No, we have such ease, such liberties, that, were our forefathers raised out of their graves to see, they would admire God’s goodness and bless Him with meltings of heart; but we spend that strength in siding, wrangling, contending, quarreling, vexing, and opposing one another that we should spend in magnifying, blessing and praising the …
Fun Juxtapositions
Sometimes the news brings you fun juxtapositions. The last one I heard about was a local newspaper carrying two stories — one about the removal of Christmas trees from the SeaTac airport, and the other about the terrorist organization Hamas helping Christians in Bethlehem decorate the town for Christmas. Heh. But this is a new …
Blindsided
“Apart from that, the Renaissance, the Reformation, the technological revolution passed virtually unnoticed in the lands of Islam, where they were still inclined to dismiss the denizens of the lands beyond the Western frontier as benighted barbarians, much inferior even to the more sophisticated Asian infidels to the east. These had useful skills and devices …
Knowledge Extract
“But what we are experiencing is not the knowledge explosion so often boasted of; it is a torrent of information, made possible by first reducing the known to compact form and then bulking it up again—adding water. That is why the product so often tastes like dried soup” (Jacques Barzun, The Culture We Deserve, p. …
Not A Tame Book
“Nothing is both more disturbing and more exciting than the irresistible resurgence of the Christian text, at a time and place when it is least anticipated” (Girard, Job, p. 166).