From Measure for Measure ISABELLA Yet show some pity. ANGELO I show it most of all when I show justice; For then I pity those I do not know, Which a dismiss’d offence would after gall; And do him right that, answering one foul wrong, Lives not to act another. Be satisfied; Your brother dies … Continue reading On the Liberal Arts and the Third Use of the Law
Grace Alone Conquers This is the motto of Trinity House from the Latin Sola Gratia Vincit. What does it mean. Is it a strategy? Shall Trinity House win the Cup at New College Franklin this year by means of grace? Shall we through grace rise up triumphant over our brothers and sisters? Is grace the master … Continue reading Sola Gratia Vincit: A Charge to Trinity House
The Heavens declare the glory of God and the skies showeth his handiwork (Psalm 19:1) When we step outside the walls of a school, when we walk about in a park, when we look up at the sky, as we are about to, we observe. We take in and experience the world. And we all … Continue reading An Address on the Eclipse to the Christian Student
We study the world that we may understand Scripture, and Scripture teaches us to truly read the world. Is this a conflict of principle or a vicious circle? No, it is the ordinary course of human learning elevated to a glorious pitch. God is pleased to use the things of His creation as a tutor unto … Continue reading On Christian Doctrine: The Rule of Scripture and Knowledge of the Profane
Paul gives an allegorical reading of Old Testament history to distinguish between the bondage of the law and the freedom of adoption. But the allegory is a complex one, perhaps because the subject is itself complex. The chief difficulties of the allegory are these: A. He depicts Hagar (vs. Sarah) as under the bondage of … Continue reading Allegory, Reversal and Recognition in Galatians 4:21-31
Near the bulk of St. Augustine’s On Christine Doctrine discusses the role of secular learning. This is surprising because the text promises to reveal how to understand and teach Scripture. Augustine’s approach only makes sense if reading Scripture requires us to become proficient in reading the world. At the outset, Augustine challenges objections to sacred teaching. There have always been … Continue reading Did Augustine take notes from Aristotle?
In the film Moonstruck, Loretta’s mother Rose questions her daughter about her fiance. Their attachment is lukewarm and has an air of convenience and inevitability: Rose: You’re not going to marry him…Do you love him, Loretta? Loretta: No. Rose: Good. When you love them they drive you crazy because they know they can. By the end … Continue reading The Problem and the Promise: Love Hurts
In Brothers Karamazov, Father Zosima recounts being moved in his youth by the story of Job. I have entered in italics some commentary of my own: In the land of Uz, there lived a man, righteous and God-fearing, and he had great wealth, so many camels, so many sheep and asses, and his children feasted, … Continue reading Hast thou Seen my Servant? On the Lost Children of Job
There two schools of Christian anthropology. The first school I will call the Noetic. It advocates the transforming power of knowing God. To know God’s love is to be transformed by that love. The second is the school of Praxis and Discipline. We needs to press on and take hold of what Christ has secured for us, thereby … Continue reading Noetic Transformation vs. Discipline and Praxis
As we begin to mature in Christ, we find that we have begun to relate to others in new ways. We begin to live with others, rather than merely at them. We begin to even exist for rather than continually taking from. This is a result of being restored into the prepositional life of the Trinity, in which God is to, for, … Continue reading In the Newness of Prepositions
Same & Other 