Thanks to high school anthologies, many of us have read O. Henry’s work “The Gift of the Magi.” And while it is a fine enough story (if a bit sappy for my tastes), it is not really representative of the whole of O. Henry’s corpus. For that, I strongly recommend a collection of his short stories. (I’ve been reading the Barnes and Noble edition–which is excellent; but this one is cheaper and looks to have the same stories in it.)... Read more
Over Father’s Day weekend, a documentary festival shows the power of parental legacies. Read more
How did Christianity stand out in the ancient world? What made it different from other religions? In the early 20th century, the dominant theory was that Christianity was just one of many new religions (the Manicheans, the mystery cults, the cult of Mithras, etc) which happened to have better PR and more Machiavellian leadership. That scholarship has been discredited these days, but what then is the truth? Why did Christianity take off in so spectacular–albeit halting–a fashion? To help answer... Read more
When you think of Anne McCaffrey and riders, the first thing that undoubtedly springs to mind is her Pern series. But she has another book (apparently a series) that likewise involves riding mythical beasts–at least so far as its title goes. To Ride Pegasus is the first book of the “Talent Saga”, which explores the implications of the rise of parapsychic powers in the world. You rarely find good theology at used book sales–people who have good theology books don’t give... Read more
Punishingly grim, Hereditary goes from dark to demented. You can’t say it’s ineffective. But is it essential? Read more
Rigney's "Lewis on the Christian Life" is excellent Read more
More than you might think. At least, that’s what Justin Dyer and Micah Watson argue in their book C.S. Lewis on Politics and the Natural Law. You can now listen to an interview with Dyer and a talk by Watson below, or through the City of Man podcast (available on Stitcher, iTunes, and elsewhere on the internet). Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar,... Read more
In my continuing quest to be the ultimate anti-hipster, I’ve finally read Wicked long after it was famous (after, that is, both the book or for the musical were well known–the latter of which I know next to nothing about, and couldn’t name a song from if you held a gun to my head). And it was… fine. I mean, after all the hullabaloo that I vaguely remember about it, I was expecting something earth-shakingly amazing. Instead it was, well, it... Read more
Light on sound doctrine but heavy on cinematic craft, Paul Schrader’s career-capper is highlighted by moments of transcendence. Read more
Assurance is something that Christians used to struggle with. Am I really a believer? Is that thing I feel really saving faith, or am I just deluding myself because hell sounds scary? This sounds strange to our contemporary American ears. Where our ancestors questioned themselves and used doubt as a springboard for personal reflection and measurement against the standard of Scripture, we instead have become experts at asserting ourselves and simply refusing to hear anything less that a full celebration... Read more
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