As some writers have noted, we have replaced many of our ordinary modes of discourse with therapeutic and pseudo-scientific language (a. , b. c.d.). A consequence is that we lose touch with our humanity. For instance, we describe ourselves as ‘processing’ when we are grieving or as getting a dopamine hit when we are playing … Continue reading Your not Processing; Your Grieving
What does communist China and Russia, fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and pre-WWII Japan have in common? This is not the beginning of a riddle or a joke. It is concerning red flag for American culture. All these nations became increasingly committed to a political climate in which opposing parties and individuals were treated with violence, … Continue reading Ironic Fascism: The Nazi-Playbook (Tried and True)
Pillars of American Life As violence against police, political figures, and politically vocal individuals escalates, it is worth noting the way in which such violence departs from the roots of the Western and American tradition. America has been characterized by the ten commandments and by the rule of law and free speech. We may characterize … Continue reading Your Words Made Me Kill You? John Brown, You are Not
Why is it that Christians seem so little different than men of the world? And why is it that we make so many bad choices? In City of God, Augustine reiterates what the bible teaches, that as long as we sojourn in the world the Church will be intermixed with those who will not in … Continue reading All the Difference in the World
The Heythrop Journal has published a paper of mine on Boethius’s definition of the person. Here is a link to the article on early view. I have included its abstract below. Abstract:While Boethius’s definition of the person, ‘an individual substance of a rational nature’, plays a significant role in Christian theology and anthropology, its reception … Continue reading Boethius’s Definition of the Person in Context: Chalcedon, Tradition, and Consolation
A talk given at Lincoln Memorial University’s Lincoln Museum. I was invited to give the following talk on Judeo-Christian ethics alongside a a talk by Dr. William Hardy on Lincoln’s use of religious rhetoric and evolving attitude toward the Christian faith. Continue reading Vocation as a Conservative Reality
This is a talk presented at New College Franklin’s 2023-2024 Orientation Continue reading What Flashes Forth: Christian Formation vs. Expressive Individualism
Mansfield Park is not one of Jane Austen’s best-loved works, even among her serious admirers. It is certainly not my favorite. It is nearly her longest novel (almost double some of her more esteemed writings) and it is certainly the least humorous. Further, it is more politically and socially complex than most others. But there … Continue reading Jane Austen’s Most Difficult Read
A Talk Given to Students at New College Franklin for Orientation (August 12th, Fall 2022) Continue reading Memento Mori: Magnanimity and Christian Learning
An eye is a part of the face, but what part of virtue is piety or justice? The problem of parts and wholes (mereology) is a central philosophical motif. When one begins to notice it, one notices it everywhere. That is because it is another way of framing the mystery of the one and the many. Continue reading Plato & Augustine: On Parts and Wholes
Same & Other 