Anyone who has been around the CiRCE website or social media long enough knows that one of our most prolific and popular and controversial writers is the inimitable Joshua Gibbs, the man whose beard is an emblem of his writing. His beard is as long as a list of his contributions, and his contributions are—often—as […]
This post is a follow-up to the previous post: The Creation of Snowflakes, Part 1. If excessive and too rapid change leads to an unlinking of generations and the severing of community and cultural institution continuity, how can that link be re-established? How can we rebuild what was destroyed by that change? What things ought
The 21st Century and 16th Century are more alike than one might think: both are times of unprecedented change. Change is a good thing, but too much of a good thing can be problematic. It can have a whirlwind of unintended consequences that do more harm than good. And that harm isn’t always attributable to
A liberal education, sometimes equated with a classical education, is an education for all. It is, to borrow David Hick’s phrase in Norms and Nobility, an education that can “ennoble the masses.” While long being accused (and in some instances rightly so) of being elitist, it is not an education that is for the elite,
In a blog post about sports, let me first begin by quoting C.S. Lewis on textbooks. “The very power of [textbook authors] depends on the fact that they are dealing with a boy: a boy who thinks he is ‘doing’ his ‘English prep’ and has no notion that ethics, theology, and politics are all at
The tyrannizing image—what is it? To put it simply, the tyrannizing image is that image that points us toward what we ought to be. It may be found in another person, a character in a story, the subject of a painting, etc. It is an image that reminds us of our true nature, our true
A Socratic dialogue between St. Athanasius and a Socrates stand-in (Matthew), to discern whether it is possible for God to condescend and incarnate himself on behalf of humans.
“By gazing on and contemplating things in a regular arrangement and always in the same condition, that neither do nor suffer injustice among themselves, all disposed in order in accord with reason, they imitate these things and take on their likeness as much as possible. Or do you imagine there’s another way for anyone not
“The Fighting Bulls and the Frog” by Aesop Two Bulls were fighting furiously in a field, at one side of which was a marsh. An old Frog living in the marsh, trembled as he watched the fierce battle. “What are you afraid of?” asked a young Frog. “Do you not see,” replied the old Frog,
“The Kid and the Wolf” by Aesop A frisky young Kid had been left by the herdsman on the thatched roof of a sheep shelter to keep him out of harm’s way. The Kid was browsing near the edge of the roof, when he spied a Wolf and began to jeer at him, making faces
