Jesus was a great teacher. His teachings left such a great impact on His students that He did not have to write them down. This was because His life and the impact of knowing Him was enough. They might misunderstand what He meant at first or even for a long time, but being with Him would straighten a person out. Jesus was there. For God so loved the world, He did not create an online class (scoring 5 with our service provider!) or send... Read more
Faith and reason go together for Christian people. Of course, sometimes even good Christian people believe wrong things about faith, but that’s what happens when there are two billion of you. You can find some Christian someplace who believes almost anything! I once met a fascinating chap who had confused a search for Atlantis, atheism, and being a Christian. This was not a terrifically successful point of view in terms of rationality, but it was interesting. I did not, however, buy... Read more
Commercials still pitch “leaving something” for your family at death to people my age or older. I have yet, however, to meet a student who makes a single career decision in terms of inheritance, except for the few that expect to get one. We are not raising a generation concerned about what they will leave to family or the people they know. Instead, students tend to have ideas about leaving a cleaner planet or a more just Republic. These are... Read more
If you are hiring a leader, avoid one type more than (almost) any other. Do not ever hire George B. McClellan to run your university, church, or non-profit. If so, you will regret it every day. If you presently work for McClellan, flee. Do not pass “Go.” Do not collect two hundred dollars. Flee. If you have a McClellan in your life, don’t be deceived: he is a fearful man that uses fear to gain power. He always sees... Read more
The Saint Constantine School is starting a shooting team, but I will not be a coach. Why? I am too absent minded to be a good trainer when it comes to firearms. My shooting ability is limited any way and it would not be wise for me to pretend more expertise than I have. My colleague Bob Stacey (Provost of whom none is greater) and a college student we shall call MacGyver are in charge. MacGyver is very good at... Read more
Moby Dick is one of the great American books and a good place to start for lessons for our time. The text wrestles with God, man, race, religion, social classes and has the wit to say: So ignorant are most landsmen of some of the plainest and most palpable wonders of the world, that without some hints touching the plain facts, historical and otherwise, of the fishery, they might scout at Moby Dick as a monstrous fable, or still worse... Read more
Moby Dick is one of the best books for just this moment in American history. Melville is weary of the Christian American culture too compromised with money and power and by the time of Moby Dick has left Christian orthodoxy behind him. In particular, the Protestant North struck him as hypocritical, though he also appreciated bits and pieces of Christianity. Having traveled the world, doctrinal arguments between Christians seemed absurd in a world where new religions were discovered on nearly every... Read more
Moby Dick is one of the best books for just this moment in American history. Herman Melville makes mistakes about race, while trying to fight racism. He faces a broken political establishment and what seems to be a morally bankrupt set of Christians. The times were hostile to manual workers and republican virtues. The book anticipates some of the lies we now believe. It even advocates for some of them! Melville’s masterpiece also balances those errors with a brilliant defense of... Read more
Teach bright students, get great questions. Teach bright students and eventually they become peers and ask even better questions. Recently one such clever person asked: Does suffering build character and if it does, what is an appropriate way to educate in light of that? This is a tricksy question and requires some important clarifications before we can start to answer the question. First, what do we mean by suffering? There are (at least!) two kinds of suffering. The first sort of “suffering”... Read more
During the horrible circus fire of 1944, when many children were burned alive, this happened: Another officer had had a long day. He’d started before noon, doing traffic on Barbour for the big crowd coming in. Now he drew duty at the Brown School, becoming the officer in charge. Three adults approached him. “Where do we get our refunds for our circus tickets?” they asked. The man was so nonplused he didn’t even laugh at them. “I’m sorry,” he said,... Read more
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