Given that our culture is in significant disarray (as in, falling apart), many Christian parents have rightly identified the process of secular government education as one of the central culprits. Having made this identification, they have established Christian schools or have begun to home school. They have done this in such numbers that in many locations, …
Semper Deformanda
A certain ministerial candidate was being examined by presbytery, and because his children didn’t have any tattoos, smoke cigarettes, and get drunk every now and again, thinking themselves better than other preachers’ kids, the candidate was having a rough go of it. Not that the subject of his children came up in the examination or …
Giving Them What They Want
A Presbyterian minister in the pulpit was laboring mightily in the fifteenth chapter of John, trying hard not to look like a Congressman who had unexpectedly been given a copy of the Constitution. He was unsuccessful in this endeavor, and the congregation left the sanctuary greatly edified and blessed.
John Robbins is a Hoot
The most recent Trinity Review put out by John Robbins is dedicated to extinguishing the heresies of my good friend Peter Leithart. Congratulations to Peter are in order. It has been a long time coming, and he was beginning to worry. Of course for a Robbins to try to deal with a Leithart in this …
Christ is the Future of Nature
In order to understand our responsibilities in the world, the place to begin is with what God has told us to do. This instruction from God is found in Genesis, in what has come to be called the cultural mandate. “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish …
Sehnsucht
Sehnsucht: I. The Idea of Joy Fundamental to Lewis’ life was the idea of longing or Sehnsucht (p. 7) — a creature longing for eternity. Consider autumn as an idea (p. 16). And northernness may take some explaining (p. 17). II. Trying to Be a Christian Lewis was brought up in the faith, and simply …
Presuppositions
Miracles: I. The Issue of Presuppositions A. In this book Lewis comes closest to what might be called a presuppositional apologetic. When unbelievers behave themselves, he is evidentialist. When they do not, he becomes a radical presuppositionalist. B. He understands the power of paradigms. “What we learn from experience depends on the kind of philosophy …
Abolition of Man
The Abolition of Man: I. The Issue of Education A. The Abolition of Man is a book about education, and about the subtlety of propaganda. B. “I doubt whether we are sufficiently attentive to the importance of elementary textbooks” (p. 13). C. Lewis is greatly concerned here with how the process of education is capable …
Pilgrim’s Regress
The Pilgrim’s Regress: I. Puritania A. Puritania is populated by good and decent people who do not really believe everything they are talking about. The formal position is very strict, but the informal position is conducive to what we are pleased to call reality. B. “I hope,” said the Steward, “that you have not already …
Discarded Image
The Discarded Image: I. A Bookish Cosmology A. The medieval mind was one which represented a literate culture which had lost most of its books. Consequently, they had to make do with what few books they had. This meant that they were not quick to set their books at odds with one another. B. The …