I wish I could say something intelligent about the results of the 2020 presidential election in this post, but that would be futile at this point, so perhaps it would be best to briefly share something helpful about politics in general. Thought One First, I wish to encourage you to get comfortable with politics. But, […]
Life & Culture
Some Brief Thoughts on a Free and Virtuous Society
Last month, I attended an Acton Institute conference in Dallas on cronyism and capitalism. It was the first time I had interacted with Acton, and I was anything but disappointed. As far as conferences go, Acton was generous, efficient, and genuinely interesting. The format of the conference was a series of lectures followed by Q […]
Why Everyone Should Read Plato’s Republic
There are a number of reasons every post-adolescent human being would benefit from reading and studying The Republic of Plato. For starters, I just used the unconventional descriptor, human being, intentionally. I used this nomer to emphasize our distinction from the animals by means of our superior mental faculties, power of speech, and soulfulness instead […]
The Art of Writing, Value Creation, and Cultural Progress
One challenge that often plagues writers is a natural default to express only personal interests. Quite often, writers write because there is something in their percolator they want to get out into the world. Of course, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. But, if writers are not careful, what they create will not be relevant […]
“Being Mortal:” An Essential (But Neglected) Discussion in the Recovery of Christian Humanism
Having pastored a couple of churches in a big city for a number of years, I spend a lot of time visiting folks in the hospital and conducting my fair share of funerals and memorial services. Walking with people through illness and death is, for me, one of the most emotionally taxing experiences a person […]
A Fool and His Fragrances
Proverbs 17:7 (ESV): Fine speech is not becoming to a fool; still less is false speech to a prince. Proverbs 19:10 (ESV): It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury, much less for a slave to rule over princes. Proverbs 26:1 (ESV): Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting […]
Why Secular Education is Untenable
One of the hallmarks of modern education is the belief that education should be secular. According to the OED, secular is defined as being “distinguished from the church and religion; civil, lay, temporal… meaning non-ecclesiastical, non-religious, or non-sacred.” The modern notion of education is an attempt to transfer knowledge from one generation to the next […]
The Value of Rhetoric in Rational Public Discourse
To say rational public discourse is lacking in the modern West would be an egregious understatement. As demonstrated in an earlier post, the social censorship of rational public discourse now looms ominously over the culture.
A Brief History of Christian Humanism
Christian humanism is the belief that human freedom, individual conscience, and unencumbered rational inquiry are compatible with the practice of Christianity or even intrinsic in its doctrine. It represents a philosophical union of Christian faith and classical humanist principles.
The Foundation of Christian Humanism
The Incarnation of Christ, being a complete union of his divine and human natures, informs the very essence of the vision of Christian humanism—divinity came down to humanity and united with it to the end that fallen humans could be redeemed to live out their best lives to the glory of God.