Denis Donoghue has an essay on a new biography of Gerard Manley Hopkins, saying biographers and readers of the poet cannot be too at ease with him. The pious poet is complicated.
All posts by Phil
Christian Partisanship
According to this article in World (subscription req.), the editor of the large Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization, George Kurian, believes historical arguments from the Christian camp should accentuate the positive and overlook the negative. World reporter Mark Bergin asked, “Why not include such historical realities [as the follies of Christians or those who called themselves Christians] for the sake of truth?” Mr. Kurian replied, “It’s a question of motivation. This is a Christian encyclopedia. It has to be on the side of Christians, because that is the purpose of the encyclopedia.”
I can’t say I agree with Mr. Kurian. Christians are on God’s side, which is also the side of the truth. We side with the truth, regardless how good we look in its light. Even when Joshua prepared to conquer Jericho and met an angel of the Lord, he asked the angel (thinking he was a man) whose side he was on. “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come” (Joshua 5:14 NIV).
That’s where we are with any history; we are with the Lord, not the church or other Christians genuine or nominal. We are on the side of the truth, of what’s real, of the Lord of all creation.
The Friday Fight: Tin Cans
Having seen the good stuff with Viking reenactors, I can’t get behind the style or lack of it in this video. If it wasn’t the pirate’s intervention, these tin cans might have hurt each other.
Online Reading
Here’s a pile essays from Reformed and Puritan authors, such as William Bridge, C.H. Spurgeon, J.C. Ryle, and John Owen. These are types of things you could see printed in small paperbacks, pamphlets almost, with great depth of thought beneath the cheap cover.
The Friday Fight: Helmets
I wish this video was better quality, but apparently the big guy gets hit in the head or struggles with his helmet slipping.
Mr. Obama’s NEA, NEH Appointments
Here’s a somewhat technical article on disappointments in Mr. Obama’s temporary (I think) appointments to federal positions in arts and humanities. Apparently, one of them is liar and the rest have little arts experience.
Why would anyone want a cabinet level office on American culture? I didn’t think people wanted government in their lives.
Earth Hour Likened to March in Selma
I think this comparison is horrendous. Actor Edward Norton says the upcoming Earth Hour, where participants will turn off “non-essential lighting” for an hour for the sake of saving energy and saving the planet, is symbolic just like the march in Selma, Alabama, in 1965, where participants were beaten by police, was symbolic. I wonder Norton thinks the student who stood before the tanks in Tiananmen Square were standing symbolically too.
Before We Learn the Truth
“Whenever politicians declare a crisis, or an emergency, watch out. Chances are this means they want to impose something before the public discovers the truth.”
Don’t Worry. A Hero Is Here
I love this. In Bangkok, a fireman dressed as Spiderman to save an autistic boy who was sitting on a third floor balcony, trying to avoid third grade.
John McWhorter on English Problems
Problems or inconsistencies with English: “But Shakespeare is not assumed to have been in his cups when he wrote in The Comedy of Errors, ‘There’s not a man I meet but doth salute me / As I were their well-acquainted friend’ (Act IV, Scene 111). Later, Thackeray in Vanity Fair tosses off ‘A person can’t help their birth.’ …”
Because the rest of us think it’s proper English to say, “One should take his opinion outside,” one and his being singular. In the above examples, Shakespeare says, “a man I meet . . . as I were their friend.”
I’m right to complain, aren’t I?