It was Jodocus van Lodenstein, the Dutch reformer, who first coined epigram, ‘Ecclesia reformata semper reformanda est secundum Verbum Dei: the church is reformed and always being reformed according to the Word of God.’ Central to that ongoing reforming work in our day is the recovery . . . . Continue Reading »
I have generally used Leithart.com to share reading notes, engage in speculations in exploratory essays, record random thoughts and asides, occasionally to respond to critics. It’s not typically been a place for me to make personal announcements. This is an exception. For the past several . . . . Continue Reading »
Jacques Godbout ( The World of the Gift , 37 ) asks why we wrap presents only to discard the wrapping. It is a “potlatch” gesture, a gesture of excess, “an utterly gratuitous extra.” Further, “it hides what is in circulation, thus demonstrating that what counts is not . . . . Continue Reading »
When American mothers objected to the Barbie doll, Matelle got to work to convince them that it was OK: “A shrewd ad campaign overcame maternal resistance by suggesting that daughters who dressed and groomed Barbie, with her vast collection of accessories and outfits, would learn how to . . . . Continue Reading »
For all you readers of Bulgarian, there’s a translation of my book Against Christianity here: https://againstchristianity.wordpress.com/ . . . . Continue Reading »
That hint of a slightly canceled question mark at the end of sentences ? You know what I mean ? Seems pretty innocuous ? Milbank doesn’t think so ( The Future of Love: Essays in Political Theology ): “People who fondly imagine themselves the subjects of their ‘own’ choices . . . . Continue Reading »
A recent issue of the New Yorker had an intriguing profile of Paypal founder Peter Thiel. Thiel’s current obsession is education” “Thiel believes that education is the next bubble in the U.S. economy. He has compared university administrators to subprime-mortgage brokers, and . . . . Continue Reading »
Some reflections on the metaphysics and politics of marriage and pornography at http://www.firstthings.com/ . . . . Continue Reading »
My son Sheffield and some of his friends have launched a YouTube program. Also a dating service. You can find it here: http://www.youtube.com/user/greatgranduncletv . . . . Continue Reading »
We all know that the days of the week take their names from classical or Germanic gods. But why the order? The order of the week is not the order of the planets in the sky, which is, as we find in Dante: Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. The order of days starts in the middle, and . . . . Continue Reading »
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