One of my children once said: “I don’t want to be too good. It would be boring.” This was a sensible thing as the budding Socrates was shooting for moderation: too much of any virtue becomes a vice. The only problem was the use of “good.” If goodness is “rule keeping,” then too much goodness is not just boring, but wicked. When third-class passengers were warned by wrathful stewards that they would have to pay for the damage they were... Read more

There are some men so great that even when they are hardly involved in an event, they dominate it. So it is with Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar. The great man gives his name to the play, but was assassinated early. Death doesn’t keep a Shakespearean character from making an appearance later, but it does limit the number of lines. Brutus, the noble Roman who helps kill his friend in an attempt to save the Republic, is “there” far more than Caesar, but... Read more

William Shakespeare may be the greatest writer in the English speaking world and a brilliant Christian thinker, but he was also limited by his time period. Shakespeare’s science is acceptable, given what was known when he wrote and his theology is mainstream Christian given the limits of the sixteenth and seventeenth century of turmoil in the European Christian world. In some areas of sexual ethics, Shakespeare’s time was saner than our own, but in other areas, such as the nature... Read more

Hamlet is one type of boyfriend to be avoided at all costs. Dads cannot control their daughter’s lives, but if either of my daughters met Hamlet, I would have a strong opinion about the relationship. I sympathize with the poor lad and his horrid family background, but a relationship is not cheap therapy. Does Hamlet have potential? Sure he does and my advice would be that when he finally actualizes that potential he should give one the girls a call.... Read more

There is no escape from this life, what we have done, and the person we become. Those are facts and the sooner we start to deal with them, the happier we shall be. This will come as bad news to many, I am sure I don’t like it (at first.) Atheists sometimes claim that theists adopt belief in God out of fear of death. Somebody may have done this, but as CS Lewis pointed out in Surprised by Joy, many fewer than... Read more

Higher education begins in learning to form and ask good questions. A good professor challenges our deepest ideas and helps us see the world in a new way. The result of this education will be an ability to act. The best questions challenge the intellect, move the heart, and motivate action. Socrates called his students to know themselves. This did not mean endless self-introspection. One of the hardest ways to know myself is to focus on myself. The best way to learn who I... Read more

Everything may not turn out perfectly in this life, but by God’s grace everything will be fine. History ends with the triumph of Jesus and the Kingdom of God and so we can take a more optimistic view of life: we are in a divine comedy that might will contain tragedy, but that sorrow will be swallowed up in a great marriage between God and humankind. The fact that much of broken, fallen life is a farce leads some of... Read more