Douglas Wilson has translated Beowulf, and a few years back he wrote an essay for Touchstone on it: “The Anglo-Saxon Evangel: The Beowulf Poet Was a Shrewd Christian Apologist.” Though a heroic poem about pagans that never mentions Christ, Beowulf is the opposite of syncretistic compromise. It is written to highlight the treachery as a way of life that …
Category Archives: Art
Manchester’s Churchill
If you’re looking for some inspiration, to say nothing of a fascinating history lesson, an instance of one master of the English language writing about another, and an all around mind-widening read, I commend William Manchester’s biography of Winston Churchill for your reading or listening enjoyment. I’m in the first of three volumes on Audible, …
You’re Not Taking Her This Time
Wow. HT: Douglas Wilson
Death by Living Trailer
HT: Douglas Wilson. Hitchcock said a good story was life with all the boring parts taken out. That’s what N. D. Wilson summarizes in this powerful clip: I’m looking forward to reading Death by Living.
How To Use “The Bible’s Big Story”: Dads, Step Up and Play the Man
Do you know what I’m trying to accomplish with The Bible’s Big Story? I want you to win the hearts of your children. I want you to win them through the time you spend with them. I want you to start when they’re so small they can’t yet climb off your lap and crawl around. I …
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Exploring the Terrain of What Cannot Be Articulated
Marilynne Robinson puts into words exactly what I’ve felt but couldn’t articulate about a number of things in this interview (HT: Eric Schumacher). Some excerpts for your edification. On a period of questioning and doubt: “I definitely went through a period when I thought I would make the experiment of unbelief, and it lasted several months, …
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The Fiftieth Anniversary of The “I Have a Dream” Speech
Here are items #7 and #8 from Joe Carter’s 9 Things You Should Know About the March on Washington, which happened 50 years ago today: 7. King was the last speaker because no one else wanted that slot (everyone assumed the news media would leave by mid-afternoon). King agreed to take it and planned to …
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New Song from Ross King: Win My Soul
I highly recommend Ross King’s new album, “This Hope Will Guide Me,” and so far this is my favorite song: Great chorus: Praise the one who climbed the hill And stormed the very gates of hell Went to war with death itself To win my soul
Paris Review Interview with Shelby Foote
Deeply enjoyed this long interview in Paris Review with Shelby Foote (HT: JT). Here are a few snippets. Advice for young writers: To read, and above all to reread. When you read, you get the great pleasure of discovering what happened. When you reread, you get the great pleasure of knowing where the author’s going …
Hopeful Indications in Derek Webb’s “Everything Will Change”
I’m hearing good things from people I trust about the direction of Derek Webb’s new album. Scott Corbin pointed me to one of the new songs on YouTube, “Everything Will Change.” It’s encouraging that this song locates the resolution to the world’s ills not in some social-engineering project of a political party but in the …
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Derek Webb’s Failed Confession
Collin Garbarino posted a new video from Derek Webb, in which Derek “confesses”: “I was wrong, I’m sorry, and I love you.” My problem with this song is that Derek doesn’t specify what it is he thinks he was wrong about. There are some things I think he has been wrong about, but those may …
First Thoughts on The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling)
What if an author wrote a page-turner of a mystery story that depicted things about the world whose implications we have not pondered? What if there were an industry (modeling) that routinely exploited young defenseless women, stripping them of their inhibitions and their clothing, desensitizing them to indignities, disregarding their futures, and at the same …
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Lepanto by G. K. Chesterton
Savor the power of the language in this stanza from G. K. Chesterton’s tribute to the Battle of Lepanto: Dim drums throbbing, in the hills half heard, Where only on a nameless throne a crownless prince has stirred, Where, risen from a doubtful seat and half attainted stall, The last knight of Europe takes weapons …
How to Read through Shakespeare in a Year
Have you ever read The Complete Works of Shakespeare? Seeing the film Lincoln inspired me to set an informal goal of reading all Shakespeare’s plays and poetry this year, and then I came across this quote in Another Sort of Learning: Not too long ago, I heard a tape of the memorial service held at Stanford …
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Mere Christianity’s Arguments in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
A few years back I read The Chronicles of Narnia aloud to my oldest two sons (we read them in the right order). The third-born is now 5 years old, and it’s his turn. The older boys are listening in, and we’re doing our best to keep them from revealing story-spoilers. I’m also trying to …
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Literary Horse Puckey
My friend Jason Duesing sent me a link to an insightful essay by Kathryn Schulz, “Why I despise The Great Gatsby,” where she points out Fitzgerald’s lack of humor in Gatsby, lack of empathy for his characters, and lack of real moral power. It’s a great essay, and it reminded me of a crisp scene …
“A City Radiant as a Bride,” by Timothy Dudley-Smith
Revelation 21:9–11, “Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy …
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Daniel
Son of Man and floating hand, Mysteries galore. A statue gold, a dream untold, Unfold what is in store. Furnace of fire and lion pit, Nations there did rage. The letters on the wall were writ, And God his people saved. Antichrist is on the way, Many now have come, Those who know their God …
Where Eyes Don’t Go by The Gray Havens
Did you see David Radford on American Idol? His audition is here. So now he’s 24, married, and he and his wife have formed a duo called The Gray Havens, and they’ve come out with a Josh-Ritter-esque literary set of songs with a great sound called Where Eyes Don’t Go. I can’t stop listening to …
J. K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy
What’s with Rowling’s new book? Is it an “adult” novel? I saw one report where, rejecting some connotations of the word “adult,” Rowling said she preferred to say the novel is for grown-ups. That’s right. This is not a book that titillates. This is not a book that seduces people, luring them to fantasize about …