A friend took the trouble to write me privately with some encouraging quotes from Chesterton’s Orthodoxy. One of the most exasperating things about McLaren’s book was his attempt to appropriate Chesterton for himself, and so I thought I would just pass those citations on to you. I believe they are all from from chapter 3, …
Humility and Heresy
There are many destructive things to be found in Brian McLaren’s “generous orthodoxy,” but as I bring this review to a close, I want to summarize some of the clearest problems here. I then want to offer a few thoughts on the subject of humility and heresy. McLaren does not show us a way to …
Entertainment Inside the Bubble
“The deeper problem with our culture is this: the most hip, the most clever, and the most humorous films and television series are laced with references to pop culture itself, as if there were no world beyond that culture.” [Thomas Hibbs, Shows About Nothing, (Dallas, Tx: Spence Publishing Company, 1999), p. 183.]
Blink and Giggle
“Seinfeld’s world is populated by Nietzsche’s last men, who, when faced with the great questions and ultimate issues of life, blink and giggle.” [Thomas Hibbs, Shows About Nothing, (Dallas, Tx: Spence Publishing Company, 1999), p. 162.]
Don’t Try This At Home
“Of course, in saying all this, there are a few caveats of the ‘don’t try this at home’ variety. I believe that true biblical balance in such things is the fruit of wisdom, and that such balance is not usually found in hot-headed young men who do not know what spirit they are of (Luke …
The Battle of Cowpens
“Here they come,” said Robert. Stephen looked out over the mound of earth in front of him and squinted in the early morning light. A few cavalrymen in bright green jackets cantered out of the woods and into the meadow. They came forward to reconnoiter the ground, and see where the first line of sharpshooters …
Ah, Realism
“Apologists for contemporary television often appeal to its realism–the predictable last line of defense for bankrupt artists.” [Thomas Hibbs, Shows About Nothing, (Dallas, Tx: Spence Publishing Company, 1999), p. 150.]
Relativism As Medicine
So I come to the end of my review, taking the last three chapters together. McLaren is coming in for a landing here, and these three chapters can be managed in one setting. In these last chapters, McLaren explains why he is depressed/yet hopeful, why he is emergent, and why he is unfinished. In case …
The Tale of the Ribbons
Two months later, in mid-January, Capt. Monroe called Stephen to his quarters. They were in port again, having been out to sea only once for a short jaunt, but to no avail. No prizes, no action, and they then had to return for supplies and water. The same day they tied up, a gentleman from …
Multiple Reflections
“In the absence of the old distinction between high and low art, sophistication now involves witty commentary on pop culture. Art has narcissistically turned in upon itself as if there were no reality independent of it. Or better-art reflects life but life itself is now indistinguishable from pop culture. The nihilism underlying such a world …