Same & Other

If you had long known your friend’s face (having lived with him day after day), what would happen if you met his father? You might have the experience of looking upon something or someone you knew very well, even without having known his very person. Or if you had walked through the rooms of a … Continue reading A Pattern Revealed

I made the case in the first part of this series that to be in the body, at least in this life, is to be apart from God. But how can we be apart from the one in whom we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28)? I do not mean that he … Continue reading The Order of the Body (Limits, Part 2)

You, O Lord, have made us human persons and as such, we long for the bodily presence of those we love. The theme of community and of bodily presence has been at the forefront during these days of social distancing. The season has provided an opportunity to recall truths concerning of our bodily existence. It has … Continue reading Let the Blessings of this Life have their Place (Limits, Part 1)

At a climatic moment in C.S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength, Ransom must reveal himself as a master, as possessing spiritual authority to another master of ages past. Remarkably, it is not through supernatural works or through a test of strength that this is done. Instead, it is in the revelation of knowledge, the knowledge and … Continue reading Great Syllables of Words that Sounded like Castles

The life which is in you came from God. And that God may call upon your life at any time. And because he is the Master of that life, because he is the Author of that life, because it is his and you are his, and because he is Life, when he calls, your shall … Continue reading The Life which is in You: for Holy Saturday

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) What is the forsakeness of our Lord? What mystery does Scripture unfold here? What do these final words of our Lord teach us? They teach us to hope. For Christ was truly allowed to suffer death upon the cross. And yet, while he was allowed … Continue reading On the Forsakeness of Christ: A Good Friday Meditation

Each week, when my children come over, they ask me, “What’s the plan for today?” When I arise, do I turn to God and ask him what the plan is? Do I ask him what he would have me do? Or do I expect God simply to bless my own objectives? Do I assume that … Continue reading What’s the Plan for Today

This was created to cover material that students in Moral Philosophy I at New College Franklin would miss due to a class cancellation during the Corona Virus Pandemic. The quality is better if viewed directly in youtube. It considers the relationship between faith and reason in two parts. Part 1 explored the manner in which … Continue reading Faith and Reason: A New College Franklin Lecture

Is sanctification an upward-bound journey or more like peeling an onion (by which fault and self are more and more deeply revealed)? Perhaps being more precise in terms of anthropology might be helpful. Distinguishing between affections, appetites, and the spiritual will of a person is important, for only one of these really apprehends the good … Continue reading Two Views of Santification