Contemplating the death of his first wife, Dostoevsky uncovered what he thought was a proof of the afterlife. (The notebook entry is translated in Joseph Frank’s Dostoevsky: A Writer in His Time , 407-9.) The first plant of the argument was to notice that human beings are incapable of following Christ’s command to love our neighbor as ourselves here and now. Ego controls us in this life, and that can lead us to one of two conclusions. We can become... Read more
Grace Langness, a graduate student at New St. Andrews, analyzes the structure and theology of Galatians 5-6 at the Trinity House site. Read more
Milbank again, from the 2005 article in Religion and Literature , arguing for the importance of play not just to sanity but to political critique: “the sane adult must continue to play—to keep the world of her work in perspective, she must continue to imagine other realities. To sustain, for example, a political critique, within the United Kingdom, she must retain the mythical sense that the island of Britain belongs not just to the current government but to nature, to... Read more
In a 2005 article in Religion and Literature, Milbank explores the importance of fantasy literature as part of an effort to re-enchant the world and recover a genuine vision of childhood. Trinitarian insights are at the heart of the “subversion of traditional notions of catechesis” that makes its appeal to the imagination: “At the centre of Christianity—still more so than with Judaism and Islam—stand narratives and symbols. It is these that are held to be inexhaustibly inspirational and to ensure... Read more
INTRODUCTION Isaiah 55 closes a section of Isaiah that began with chapter 40. Yahweh promised forgiveness (40:2), and now He has brought it (55:6-7). He promised return form exile (40:3-5), and it’s happened (55:12-13). He promised that His word would stand (40:8), and it has (55:10-11). THE TEXT “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you... Read more
Isaiah 53:8, 1: As for his generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living . . . . He will see His seed, He will prolong His days. Reproduction by itself doesn’t create a Christian heritage. Something else has to happen, and Isaiah 53 shows us what that something else is. The Servant does live to see His seed, but only after his generation is cut off. He sees His seed after He... Read more
March is the maddest month, breeding Gators from the South regional, mixing Golden eagles and Buckeyes, stirring Bulldogs to close wins. Harvard surprised us, coming over New Mexico In a shower of threes. I watch, much of the night, and wager on Duke. Read more
Zizek ( The Monstrosity of Christ: Paradox or Dialectic? ) thinks that John Caputo and Giorgio Agamben are right to say that Nietzsche’s declaration of the death of God could only turn inside out. According to them ( After the Death of God ), “if there’s no overarching principle, that means science is also one more interpretation . . . if that’s true, then non-scientific ways of thinking about the world, including religious ways, resurface.” But Zizek despises the vapid,... Read more
In his effort to “think with” Carl Schmitt ( Political Theology: Four New Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty ), Paul Kahn uses a “sacrificial” conception of sovereignty to isolate differences between America and Europe, and between pre-modern and modern states. America v. Europe first (16-17): “To the question of whether there can be sovereign action beyond the rule of law, European institutions have answered with a resounding no. All political violence is limited to law enforcement: no exceptions.” Thus,... Read more
Bauman ( Collateral Damage: Social Inequalities in a Global Age , 144-5) gives several examples of how the pressure of research and military planning lead to atrocities. One occurred in the German town of Wurzburg in March 1945, “when Nazi Germany was already on its knees and the speedy end of the war was no longer in doubt.” In this setting, the allies “sent out 225 Lancaster bombers and eleven Mosquito fighter plans with orders to discharge 289 tons of... Read more
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