“With the emergence of high and low cultural categories around the turn of the century, distinctions were created between ‘commercial’ art, or entertainment, and nineteenth century ‘high’ art, that which was considered creative and authentic” (William Romanowski, Pop Culture Wars, p. 76).
Confession is not Manipulation
“One of the first principles to remember is that confession is not meritorious — to confess sins as a way of placing God in one’s debt is not dealing with sin; it is commiting another sin. The context of all confession must be a thorough grasp of the fdree grace of justification. Put another way, …
Don’t You Love Science?
“The association of eugenics with race, social class and the emerging ideas about ‘highbrow’ and ‘lowbrow’ cultures was unmistakable. The terms themselves were first used around the turn of the century to describe people of intellectual or aesthetic superiority (highbrow) or inferiority (lowbrow). They were derived from phrenology, a nineteenth-century practice widely used in determining …
The Importance of Picking Up
“Confession of sin, keeping short accounts, is therefore essential to the spiritual health of a school community. After all, for an average-size school, three hundred sinners spend five days a week together there, for eight hours a day for nine months. If such a school had no janitor, just imagine what the bathrooms would look …
What Is A Highbrow?
“Harper’s Magazine examined the three categories at mid-century. ‘What is a highbrow?’ the writer asked, followed by three replies. ‘A highbrow is a man who has found something more interesting than women,’ Edgar Wallace, a writer of crime novels and thrillers once said. Harper’s writer thought that too vague, but that Columbia professor and author …
Confession of Sin and Growth in Holiness
“Confession of sin is a sine qua non of personal holiness, but it is not the same thing as personal holiness. Growth in grace is not the immediate result of a negative process. If a houseplant is knocked over, and the pot is broken, the plant must be repotted if it is to continue to …
Like Toothpaste
” . . . in the aftermath of a controversy over The Birth of a Nation in 1915, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the cinema a ‘business pure and simple’ and not an art form to be protected by the First Amendment. The movies, then, could be regulated as a consumer product” (William Romanowski, Pop …
The Real Scoreboard for All Programs
“In other words, if the athletic program is not helping the kids understand God, man, sin, and salvation, then the program is failing, regardless of the win/loss record. But the same thing is true of the ‘classroom program'” (The Case for Classical Christian Education, pp. 165-166).
A Substitute Aristocracy in a Democracy
“American popular culture is as old as the colonies, but the appearance of high and popular culture as distinctive categories in American life occurred around the turn of this century [1900] . . . a cultural hierarchy emerged that divided American life into ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture as a primary means of social, intellectual and …
Balance
“There is no reason to give the brain priority over the body or vice versa. Both are to be submitted to the Scriptures. God tells the mind what to think, and He tells the body what to do. He always says what He says to the whole person. The issue is obedience to God, and …