Matthew Milliner

I shall now snootily subvert “the year in culture” blog post genre by linking to one from 2004.  A wonderful essay by Una Cadegan in the Confessing History volume (which I reviewed over here ), brought my attention to Judith Shulevitz’s 2004 wrap up in Slate , where she wrote . . . . Continue Reading »

This year was the sixtieth anniversary of William F. Buckley’s God and Man at Yale .  Here’s a taste of the bracing new proposals for higher education reform from another Yale graduate, entitled Do It Yourself University : Most people no longer feel the need to visit a large, stone . . . . Continue Reading »

Christian complaints of being willfully misunderstood by secularists will win far more sympathy when those same Christians stop willfully misunderstanding contemporary art.  P.D. Young has some advice in that regard :   “If you cannot name five contemporary artists, you need put all . . . . Continue Reading »

In his much-discussed column last month highlighting Christian Smith’s much-discussed sociology of young adults , David Brooks laments that young adherents of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism aren’t even that moral.  “Morality was once revealed, inherited and shared, but now . . . . Continue Reading »

Those frustrated with the art world’s prohibition of non-ironic religious art might enjoy this lecture from art historian John Walford. Walford begins by quoting a contemporary art critic who asserts the non-existence of serious art by Protestant Christians.  Walford then goes on to . . . . Continue Reading »

Everyone is loving to hate Pastor Joe Nelms’ oft-viewed prayer to open a recent NASCAR event.  I couldn’t even find an articulate condemnation—something with conviction like, “High priest of consumerism breathes oil-addicted Empire’s last pious gasp.”  . . . . Continue Reading »

Amidst commentary on the passing of evangelical leader John Stott has been the occasional suggestion that Stott represented the propositionalist, logic-driven, “modern” evangelicalism of the past. For better or for worse, younger evangelicals today, on the other hand, tend to prefer . . . . Continue Reading »

Though not as good as it might have been (see Thomas Hibbs’ percipient review ), Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris is a refreshing step down from the nihilistic soapbox. The lesson—in case we’d miss it—is pedantically spelled out: Beware “Golden Age syndrome,” the . . . . Continue Reading »

The Venice Biennale - the World Cup of art - just awarded top prize to Germany, the Leone d’Oro for Best National Participation, because of a church . The winning entry, built by the recently deceased artist Christoph Schlingensief, is an impressive pseudo-chapel lined with the artist’s . . . . Continue Reading »

Poetry, Beauty, and Contemplation: The Complete Aesthetics of Jacques Maritain by John Trapani Catholic University of America, 176 pages, $34 .95 The turn of 2011 saw the art world embroiled in a controversy as predictable as the Venice Biennale. This time it was a protest of the Smithsonian’s . . . . Continue Reading »