Those of us in the contemporary world have very few things left for which we spend several days in celebrations. In all pre-modern cultures, many high feast days and other events such as weddings required days of preparation and then almost as many days of festivity and feasting. I can’t think of anything in the … Continue reading Christmas as Homecoming: Recommending Seasonal Readings of The Wind in the Willows
Author: Jesse
On Monism and Becoming Uncreated in Hart’s You Are Gods
On December 14, 2022 the Notre Dame Department of Theology co-hosted a conversation between Catholic theology professor Jennifer Newsome Martin and David Bentley Hart focused on Hart's book You Are Gods. It contained some helpful material for better understanding this book which Hart claims is a fairly simple and even obvious articulation of Eastern patristic … Continue reading On Monism and Becoming Uncreated in Hart’s You Are Gods
David Bentley Hart on Hell, American Orthodoxy, and Going Out of His Way to Provoke
On November 3, 2022, I had an opportunity to interview David Bentley Hart in person for content that I have largely shared as a mini-course (about 1.5 hours altogether) called "David Bentley Hart: Commentary on the Liberal Arts, Civilization, and the Future of Christianity" in connection to my work as the director of ClassicalU.com. There … Continue reading David Bentley Hart on Hell, American Orthodoxy, and Going Out of His Way to Provoke
Mary Offers to Us Our Humanity: a Cosmos Renewed in This Mother and Her Son
Matthew’s genealogy highlights the fact that the humanity of Jesus comes entirely from his mother. Depending on your translation, we have the words “begot” or “was the father of” repeated thirty-nine times before we come to a striking break in the chain when, instead of “Joseph the father of” as we would expect, we get: … Continue reading Mary Offers to Us Our Humanity: a Cosmos Renewed in This Mother and Her Son
Time, the Christ Child, and a Good Chat with Nate Hile at Grail Country
This post is really just a place to store away a few things for myself quickly that came to mind after a delightful conversation yesterday morning with Nate Hile at Grail Country. I don’t have time to develop these thoughts, but I want to drop them in one place where I can find them again … Continue reading Time, the Christ Child, and a Good Chat with Nate Hile at Grail Country
Alasdair MacIntyre and Open Theism: the Lament of a Christian Platonist
While it would be the height of hubris to suggest that I am capable of following the many profound contributions of Alasdair MacIntyre to the world of Christian thought, I can claim him as a long-standing hero of mine. It also seems clear enough in a lecture delivered on November 11, 2022 that MacIntyre has … Continue reading Alasdair MacIntyre and Open Theism: the Lament of a Christian Platonist
Receiving the World Like Children: Next-Day Reflections on an Evening Stolen from (and Graciously Given by) David Hart
David Bentley Hart can certainly arch an eyebrow. I was not surprised by this, but the experience of his single, powerfully arched eyebrow locked on me for a moment across the table is one of several images that has settled into my imagination on this day after getting to meet Hart in person. There are … Continue reading Receiving the World Like Children: Next-Day Reflections on an Evening Stolen from (and Graciously Given by) David Hart
Astonishment and New Life: All of Us as the Green Man
Image: "Green Man" carving on a door pillar of the Kilpeck Church What do we make of this human face spewing thick and leafy branches from its mouth while its wide eyes stare out past us in apparent shock? Visual art and theology scholar Stephen Miller in The Green Man in Medieval England: Christian Shoots … Continue reading Astonishment and New Life: All of Us as the Green Man
Just in Time for Advent: Hart’s Own Summary of Kenogaia with Some Commentary
With the season of Advent and Nativity approaching quickly, I hope that you might consider reading this wonderful story of a young boy entering a dark world carry light and salvation. On October 21, 2022, Michael Martin invited Mike Sauter to join him in interviewing David Bentley Hart on Hart's novel Kenogaia (A Gnostic Tale). … Continue reading Just in Time for Advent: Hart’s Own Summary of Kenogaia with Some Commentary
Tips on Reading the New Testament Regarding the Afterlife
In a recent online discussion about how difficult it is to discern what the New Testament authors thought about suffering and salvation after biological death, I shared these four top reasons why people today misunderstand the plain meanings of the New Testament on this topic: 1. They have no concept that for most in Christ’s … Continue reading Tips on Reading the New Testament Regarding the Afterlife
Jesus and the Ancient Paths 