For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified (1st Corinthians 2:2). At some point one must ask, “what is enough?” The reader, the classicist, the student or teacher is no less prone to covetousness and curiosity, to the idea that this set of books is necessary … Continue reading My Amazon Wish List of Fear and Shame
A Meditation on Palm Sunday and folly over at the Blog of the Emerging Scholars Network. Thanks for featuring my work again folks! Continue reading The Perfection of our Praise: Reclaiming our Inner Folly on Palm Sunday– A Post on the Emerging Scholars Blog
In the Phaedo, Socrates’ friends gather round him on his last day. He is about to drink hemlock, but they wish to be reassured once again that the soul does indeed live on. They are full of fear that in death the soul meets its end. What would such a proof look like? How can one demonstrate the immortality … Continue reading Experimental Hope
freely adapted from a class in Moral Philosophy at New College Franklin
Adapted from a talk given for Perspective Student Weekend at New College Franklin, Spring 2017 There are times when a song is in my head, or more precisely, part of a song–a refrain which I repeat over and over. No matter how lovely or stirring such a refrain may be, it is imperfect apart from the whole, and … Continue reading Greek is Regular; Greek is Fun: Memory, Science, and the Face of God
Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit (epigraph of Brothers Karamazov from John 12:24)ˆ Early in Brothers Karamazov, we meet a mother who has journeyed a long way to visit Zosima, a monk of wisdom and holiness. … Continue reading The Iconography of Sorrow in a Brothers Karamazov
In less than three weeks, I begin my first class at Holy Apostles College & Seminary (HACS). Since I was a freshman in college, back in 1997, I began to set my eyes on graduate work in philosophy. I would never have imagined twenty years would stand between those dreams, that I would be taking … Continue reading A New Stage in the Journey
Between the difficult and the impossible there lies an infinite distance. No dint of human effort or mortal genius can alter the nature of such a boundary. Each individual believes he knows with certainty precisely where these boundaries have been laid. For instance: I am not good at math; I am a poor artist; I hate … Continue reading Re-moving the Boundary Stones!
Parenthood in A Brave New World is considered obscene. Motherhood, fatherhood, and family-life are looked upon, not only as antiquated, but as shameful. There is a powerful logic at work in the novel, a logic which is at work in our own culture. When sex ceases to be linked with marriage or reproduction, our bodies and our bodily existence can … Continue reading Squeamish About Our Bodies (The Third of Three Meditations on A Brave New World)
Social conditioning in A Brave New World (coupled with genetic and pharmacological engineering) succeeds in eliminating nearly all conflict, but it also undermines certain fundamental elements of a truly human polis. Ironically, in this highly uniform society, it is unity which is undermined most of all. This is because social unity, understood as a communion of persons, cannot be achieved merely … Continue reading Unity vs. Uniformity (The Second of Three Meditations on A Brave New World)
Same & Other 