Tag: Religion

ISSUE #43 | DEC 2023, Religion

Love and Logos: The Wind and Sail of Human Existence

There are two things that guide humanity: reason and love.  Humans alone can use language and rational deliberation, as Aristotle observes: “All men by nature desire to know.”  In his philosophy, we determine through reason how virtue is a tempered response between two extremes. It leads to eudaimonia—happiness in life—through this kind of rational deduction, and makes up the telos of human existence.  In this … Continue reading Love and Logos: The Wind and Sail of Human Existence

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ISSUE #43 | DEC 2023, Religion

Shakespeare and the Psalmist: How Hamlet Echoes Psalm 8

“What a piece of work is man, How noble in reason…/ and/ yet to me, what is this quintessence of dust.” Hamlet’s mournful declaration in Act II, scene 2 opens the audience up to his deeply despondent view of human nature.  The prince of Denmark, fresh off his mother’s wedding to his uncle, looks at the world through graphite-colored glasses. Throughout the play, he is … Continue reading Shakespeare and the Psalmist: How Hamlet Echoes Psalm 8

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culture, ISSUE #42 | OCT 2023

Nineteenth Century French Catholics’ Challenge to Integralism

In 2019, Sohrab Ahmari and David French engaged in an infamous debate that culminated in a discussion of drag queen story hours. Both men agreed that exposing children to drag queens is immoral; however, while French argued that the First Amendment protects drag queen story hours, Ahmari argued that such activities are harmful to society and ought to be suppressed by the government. Whatever your … Continue reading Nineteenth Century French Catholics’ Challenge to Integralism

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ISSUE #42 | OCT 2023, Poetry

Poetic Creation: Illuminating the Mystery of Divine Love

Love is the colossal mystery at the heart of the universe—a mystery that haunts every corner of our lives as we ponder what we see around us. It is the light illuminating the nothingness within the atom and the chorus singing through the darkness between the stars. We often have a utilitarian view of nature, with horses for riding, trees for building and burning, and … Continue reading Poetic Creation: Illuminating the Mystery of Divine Love

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ISSUE #40 | MAR 2023, Religion

Personifying the World

At the end of his short work on prayer, the north African theologian Tertullian wrote something surprising about non-human animals: “The whole creation prays,” he said. Cattle and wild beasts pray, and bend their knees, and in coming forth from their stalls and lairs look up to heaven, their mouths not idle, making the spirit [or breath] move in their own fashion. Moreover the birds … Continue reading Personifying the World

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From the Faculty, ISSUE #39 | DEC 2022

Made in Our Image?: Straight (Theological) Talk About Transhumanism

Prior to my arrival at Hillsdale College this fall, I had designed and offered several times a new course on a trendy topic: transhumanism. It was something of a devil’s bargain. While I had come to believe that all young men and women ought to know something about this movement, I was also looking to design a topical course that would be popular. For mainstream … Continue reading Made in Our Image?: Straight (Theological) Talk About Transhumanism

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ISSUE #35 | DEC 2021, Religion

The Problem of Christian Philosophy

God is not an answer to the enigma of being; He, veiled and hidden, tenuous to the human eye, is wrapped in its center In a 1935 series of lectures, Martin Heidegger asserts that Christian philosophy is a contradiction in terms. If philosophy—especially metaphysics—is the exploration of the fundamental question “Why is there being rather than nothing?”, then religion, and dogmatic religion in particular, cannot … Continue reading The Problem of Christian Philosophy

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ISSUE #33 | MAY 2021, literature

Gregory Alan Isakov and Rainer Maria Rilke on the Quiet Things of Life

“ Oh blessed rage for order…The maker’s rage to order words of the sea…”   ~ Wallace Stevens One of Augustine of Hippo’s ways of understanding the human heart sounds paradoxical at first: a man can walk around the earth, but he cannot ever circumscribe his own heart. Rather than debate whether or not this is the case, I am going to take this as … Continue reading Gregory Alan Isakov and Rainer Maria Rilke on the Quiet Things of Life

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ISSUE #33 | MAY 2021, Music Reviews

“Take Me to Church”: Hozier and Man’s Innate Religious Impulse

Perhaps pagan, apparently agnostic, undeniably unchristian—whatever category you apply, Hozier’s music is fundamentally religious. Rather than divorcing faith from art,  Andrew Hozier-Byrne, who performs under the stage name Hozier, brings religion to center stage. He wrestles with God in both of his albums, inviting his audience to actively contemplate the afterlife and critically analyze the nature of worship alongside him. His disdain for institutionalized Christianity, … Continue reading “Take Me to Church”: Hozier and Man’s Innate Religious Impulse

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