What We’re Reading
C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters. C.S. Lewis was one of the great literati of the 20th century, a member of the Inklings, he is now famous for…
The Inseparable Marriage: Athens and Jerusalem
While central to Western conceptions of time, history did not commence with the birth of Christ. Centuries of pagan culture, art, and thought laid a foundation that…
The Sacrifice of Jesus
Scott Shauf’s Jesus the Sacrifice: A Historical and Theological Study attempts to trace a genealogy of the structure of sacrifice at the heart of Christology. Traditionally, Christology…
The Limits of Paradigm: On Giorgio Agamben’s “Stasis”
Giorgio Agamben’s Stasis: Civil War as a Political Paradigm is a characteristically provocative and elliptical work. As part of the Homo Sacer project, it bears the philosophical…
Gnostic Identity in the Therapeutic Age
“Gnosticism” is invoked often in postmodern discourse, sometimes haphazardly but sometimes with deeper understanding. Eric Voegelin famously referred to various ideologies as “Gnostic” in 1952, setting off…
Without a Sacred Context: Human Exceptionalism is Enough in the Mission: Impossible Franchise
We must necessarily be modest about what we can achieve without a sacred context. - Carl Trueman In his D.C. Lecture “The Hour for a New…
From University to Battlefield: How a Narrative Took Power
Does the university discourse shape public opinion? And can the discourse of humanitarian cultural institutions influence military planning? Today, I will try to answer these questions by…
Time With Erich Fromm: A Cautionary Tale
After a more or less successful news hiatus of several weeks (following advice I often give my psychotherapy clients in order to titrate toxic exposure), I had…
Transplants
Way back east where the green things grow Trees show up naturally, like cities with squares Attract walkers, like families with religion Attract children. The trees there…
Jurassic Park: Chaos, Control, and Childrearing
I do not know how many times I have seen Steven Spielberg's 1993 film Jurassic Park in my lifetime. If I had to guess, I would put…
Lessons About Reality: or, On the Courage of Being Human
This is a joint review, of two books: John Tanyi Nquah Lebui, The Cross and the Flag: Papal Diplomacy and John Paul II's Struggle Against the Tyranny…
A Christian Scholar: Professor Virgil Nemoianu (1940–2025)
On June 6 of this year, Professor Virgil Nemoianu died. A long-time contributor to Crisis magazine as well as to other Catholic publications, this distinguished Romanian-American intellectual,…