Paul the Apocalypticist: Jamie Davies’s “The Apocalyptic Paul”
Jamie Davies. The Apocalyptic Paul: Retrospect and Prospect. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2022. “What does it mean to say that Paul was an ‘apocalyptic’ thinker?” The…
Secularizing the Apocalypse: Ben Jones’s “Apocalypse Without God”
Ben Jones. Apocalypse without God: Apocalyptic Thought, Ideal Politics, and the Limits of Utopian Hope. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2022. In his famous work, The…
Homer’s Song of Troy: Vincenzo Sanguineti’s “Clash of Cultures: A Psychodynamic Analysis of Homer and the Iliad”
Vincenzo Sanguineti. Clash of Cultures: A Psychodynamic Analysis of Homer and the Iliad. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2021. Homer is “the Bard of the West.” And “for…
Sacramental Thomism or Naturalistic Thomism? A Review of Wojciech Golubiewski’s “Aquinas on Imitation of Nature”
Wojciech Golubiewski. Aquinas on Imitation of Nature: Source of Principles of Moral Action. Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2022. “In recent decades, there has…
The Revolution in Jena: How a Handful of German Romantics Changed Our Lives
Peter Neumann. Jena 1800: The Republic of Free Spirits. Trans. Shelley Frisch. New York: Farrer, Strauss and Giroux, 2022. “I saw the Emperor—this world-soul—riding out of…
Our Man in Paris: Why Tocqueville Still Matters
Alexis De Tocqueville was not an American. But as a political observer and theorist, he is more American than any American; he is also the quintessential writer…
Contesting for a Conservative Future: A Review of Yoram Hazony’s “Conservatism: A Rediscovery”
Yoram Hazony. Conservatism: A Rediscovery. Washington DC: Regnery, 2022. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the past 30 years has abounded with intellectual brouhaha over…
Reading Shakespeare and the Ideals of the West: A Review of R.V. Young’s “Shakespeare and the Idea of Western Civilization”
R.V. Young. Shakespeare and the Idea of Western Civilization. Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2022. How should we read Shakespeare? Some people say not…
Are We Doomed to a Rationalist, Loveless, Future? A Review of Harris Bor’s “Staying Human”
Harris Bor. Staying Human: A Jewish Theology for the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2021. Science Fiction is the dominant cultural mythos of…
László Földényi Fights the Empty Rainbow: A Review of “Dostoyevsky Reads Hegel in Siberia and Bursts into Tears”
László F. Földényi. Dostoyevsky Reads Hegel in Siberia and Bursts into Tears. Trans. Ottilie Mulzet. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2020. “Almighty God, though who holds…
The War of The Rings: Richard Wagner and J.R.R. Tolkien
Richard Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung is a masterpiece of modern art and is perhaps the greatest triumph of the artistic spirit since 1800. J.R.R. Tolkien’s…
The Wagnerian Imagination: A Review of Paul Heise’s “The Wound That Will Never Heal”
Paul Heise. The Wound That Will Never Heal: An Allegorical Interpretation of Richard Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung. Washington DC: Academica Press, 2021. Richard Wagner…
Sanctifying Romanticism: A Review of Andrew Klavan’s “The Truth and Beauty”
Andrew Klavan. The Truth and Beauty: How the Lives and Works of England’s Greatest Poets Point the Way to a Deeper Understanding of the Words of Jesus…
The Passion of Star Wars
Is Star Wars more than an entertaining space opera meant to relax us after the daily grind of post-industrialized life? To answer that question, we must consider the possibility…
Shakespeare on Tyranny: Reading the Roman Plays
William Shakespeare, that great bard of Stratford-upon-Avon, was not a political theorist. But he had much to say about politics. Or, at least, his plays are often…