Rumors abound: of a sinful father,Or did she truly give birth without seed?You thus revealed to us by the water The truth of this most miraculous deed. Moving to completion, the Cross in sight,To make whole the cosmos, death trampled down.Prepared to endure all lashing and spiteBy double-birth for the world to renown. May weContinue reading “Festal Views”
Tag Archives: Christianity
Theodicy as Tragedy or Evil?
The “problem of evil,” even if imprecisely named, remains the most powerful intellectual impediment to belief in God. The world contains extraordinary beauty, joy, and order—and yet also deep suffering. How can these coexist if there is an all-good, all-powerful, all-knowing God? This question is not a modern discovery. It already stands at the centreContinue reading “Theodicy as Tragedy or Evil?”
Of Macarius
Embracing hard desert sand,Where his eyes did see great truth;Of the first end for this land—Lost by error of our youth. Although man did stray, in Faith did he pray.The Lord he did not eschewDespite the loss of his love;His pain to reveal a clueAbout grand plans from above. Divine kept at bay, in FaithContinue reading “Of Macarius”
The Idea of Liberalism
For B. A. B., who continually asked for this to be written. ‘Liberalism’ was concerned [with what] I have called the menace of ‘sovereign’ authority and with constitutional devices to reduce it. If it had any theoretical understanding of a state it was that of an association in terms of assured ‘natural rights’ recognized asContinue reading “The Idea of Liberalism”
Θεωρία (Theoría)
Your eyes that look beyond my own,Mere dye and egg upon bare wood,Reveal all that cannot be shown:Beauty giving the true and good. Mere dye and egg upon bare wood –To what do figures, still, attend?Beauty giving the true and good.With you, the past and future blend. To what do figures, still, attend?Both here withinContinue reading “Θεωρία (Theoría)”
Seven Days
Out of NothingnessComes the life-giving lightBy Your loving Hands Setting Your KingdomFar above and beyond hereOur humble dwelling Shaping splendidlyOcean and country preparedLife’s bloom may begin Two partners are madeBeacons for both night and dayIn celestial waltz Creatures emergingExploring both land and seaEarth now made a home To tend creationWants He a worthy servantFor thisContinue reading “Seven Days”
Bequeathed
I’ve heard complaints: why petty Creator would sic a father’s penalty upon the son; penance for the agitatorbut never due to parent’s belov’d spawn. Yet blind to volition is this protest – choices to make imbibed from choices made; the son’s own will drawn from father’s compressed.Elder’s conveyed dictates fledging’s inlaid. My boy, imperfect IContinue reading “Bequeathed”
The Incoherence of the “West”
A new concern emerged during the twentieth century that was more common among ‘conservatives’ (of a certain sort), and there has been something of a countercurrent from those more critical of present affairs: I am referring to the defense or attack of what many have called “Western Civilization” (or, more simply, the “West”). To pointContinue reading “The Incoherence of the “West””
Hume, Miracles, and the Importance of Epistemology
Fresh ink need not always be spilled upon fresh ideas, and I am of the persuasion that revivified thinking may spring from echoes of old debates. For today, I take my task as such a reinvigoration of our thoughts: I want to discuss David Hume’s rejection of miracles – a subject that has perhaps hadContinue reading “Hume, Miracles, and the Importance of Epistemology”
Paternal Guidance
By my own power, I hope to flowerA life forg’d in the manner of true faith; Into the desert, no rain or shower,Ready to combat all demon and wraith. Hot sand trod upon, as I run along,Seeking all powers of Satan’s legion.Yet the mere sound of solitude does throng:Only my lonesome soul in this region.Continue reading “Paternal Guidance”
Hoping for Clarity 