At nine or ten my pastor father (Father Father) talked to me about God and doubt. “I believe,” this honest man said, “but sometimes I doubt. Never be afraid of doubt.” I remember church services in West Virginia forty years ago when men born when William McKinley was an up and comer and there were no world wars woud testify of moments of doubt and how God had “pulled” them through. The Jesus People of my early childhood often came... Read more
Deep learning is when you hear, believe, and change. There are three things I learned from a great teacher. These things, truths, were so deeply learned, I did not realize the source until this year. . . And so count this as a thank you and a recommendation of how to live. Dr. Fount Shults is a great teacher. Meaning at eighteen, I could not fall asleep, came to class even after a late night, and thirty odd years later keep learning... Read more
I think, if it were not for hell, Christianity would be perfect for many now “doubting” who are not Christians. Why? ”Doubting,” wondering, is perfect. We should wonder. We should ask every question we have. Wonder is wonderful. As a religion built on faith, knowledge that is not certain, this is obvious. Oddly, there is, in America, a cult of Christians who get rid of the mystery and trade in certainty, like all cults and tyrants, and so have convinced folk that “faith” is... Read more
Ambrose made Christian Milan musical. I saw him at rest in the crypt of the city…a greater treasure than exists on Wall Street. Christians honor the bodies of our dead, because we do not fear death or the dead. In the case of our heroes, we love seeing them at rest with the sure knowledge that in the Last Day we will be with them. Ambrose brought many hymns to the Church and profound prayers. Not for him was a... Read more
The society might have been dying, but he won a few comedy prizes. Aristophanes was hilariously waggish having mocked a few philosophers, perhaps, getting one killed, a theist who refused to move with the times, but Aristophanes was funny. His city would dead as an independent state in about fifty years, he saw the rot that would ruin her, but he made jokes, good jokes, and so he endures. Why? Aristophanes helped nobody decide wisely, yet he had a few... Read more
I asked for guest voices and today I am pleased to introduce a voice that with grace will become a regular: Jill Bergen. Jill Elizabeth Bergen is a writer and educator with nearly twenty years of experience in classical education. She is a member of the Torrey Honors Institute and holds an MA in Education with an emphasis in Philosophy of Education. She and her husband, Bradley, reside in Southern California. She mentions our friend and fellow student, gone... Read more
There are no orcs in a real war. Humans fight and die in a war, not faceless Star Wars clones or robots…at least not yet. For this reason war is a fearful thing not to be fought lightly. Centuries of Christian teaching have labored to make war rarer, if it cannot disappear altogether, Christians have constrained it. Romans fought for the joy of it, but at their worst a Christian power must dissemble to itself to fight. We are a... Read more
Barnaby Rudge defies Hollywood and shows the Victorians were better than we are in at least one respect: they would read a longish novel centered on “natural.” They might have used the term “idiot,” but they not only allowed him dignity, but would cheer for him. This first of Dickens’ historical novels (with the better Tale of Two Cities) centers on the Gordon Riots in the London of 1790 . . . bearing a relationship to Dickens as the First... Read more
I am often sad. I once met an atheist who said that if I was sad, why did I remain a Christian? My reply was simple: “I am a Christian, because it is true, not because it solves all my problems.” Christianity is not, on the whole, very cheerful in the short term. Like hearing your favorite football team is in a “rebuilding” year, it promises future victory, but guarantees short term failure. If your religion didn’t make you initially... Read more
I was driving home out of hope. My mom had spoken about the promises of God to me and that seemed good. As I came into the driveway, I looked up and there was a rainbow stretching over our house. This was good. God used that moment to help keep me from despair. There have been other times that the combination of nature and some human structure reminded me of God’s justice and mercy. Later, thinking about those moments, I... Read more
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