WH Auden argued in an essay on the fall of Rome that “One may like or dislike Christianity, but no one can deny that it was Christianity and the Bible which raised western literature from the dead.” Elaborating, “A faith which held that the Son of God was born in a manger, . . . . Continue Reading »
Dostoevsky fills his novels with innumerable devils, and they are all folk devils. For Russians, the devil was ubiquitous, and dominated their religious imaginations even more than God and the saints. His novel, The Possessed (also known as The Devils or The Demons ) is, as we’d expect, . . . . Continue Reading »
Stratfor analyst Scott Stewart wisely notes that panic in the face of terrorism plays into the hands of terrorists. Panic is what they want. And he explains that the media, internet, and even government can be “terror magnifiers”: “The traditional news media are not alone in the . . . . Continue Reading »
1 Corinthians 10:21-22: You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than he, are we? As Pastor Sumpter has emphasized, disloyalty in marriage doesn’t . . . . Continue Reading »
Matthew 10:37-39: He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for . . . . Continue Reading »
“We always marry the wrong person.” And if by chance you married the right person, “just give it some time and he or she will change” (Hauerwas). We search the world for a partner to help us build a little kingdom where all our selfish dreams come to pass. We want someone . . . . Continue Reading »
Evdokimov again, explaining how each of the Karamazov brothers presents a particular ideal of the good. For Mitya, the good is known immediately by sentiment that is prior to any reflection. The problem is that this instinctive response is unstable, and Dostoevsky makes this clear by showing Mitya . . . . Continue Reading »
Toward the end of his Gogol et Dostoievsky , Paul Evdokimov asks whether Dostoevsky’s views on nature, grace, creation, humanity were consistent with Orthodoxy. He answers with a ringing affirmative, and has some intriguing things to say along the way. Dostoevsky’s claim that the . . . . Continue Reading »
In his discussion of the Grand Inquisitor poem, Konstantin Mochulsky ( Dostoevsky ) examines how Dostoevsky depicts the slippage from humanitarianism to despotism. He sees it first in Ivan, the “author” of the poem: “The keenness of Ivan’s reasoning lies in that he renounces . . . . Continue Reading »
A well-duh moment: Yahweh rides on the wings of the wing (2 Samuel 22:11; Psalm 18:10). He makes clouds His chariot, and walks (or “goes”) on the wings of the wind as well (Psalm 104:3). That seems to be the same image: He is standing in His wind-cloud chariot as it flies along. But of . . . . Continue Reading »
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