Category: Beauty/Aesthetics
Against the Sterile Style
By Ryan Hammill I am not sure what other fathers-to-be think about as they sit in hospital waiting rooms. With a pregnant wife still a few months out from delivery, already I have found myself sitting here on a number...
The Tedium of Worldview Analysis
In an episode of “The Briefing,” yesterday Dr. Al Mohler of Southern Seminary reflected on the death of the renowned physicist Stephen Hawking. You can read a full transcript of the eight minute segment on Hawking using the link above.
The Good, the True, and the Beautiful and the Oscars
By Brewer Eberly Carl R. Trueman recently offered yet another characteristically surgical takedown of contemporary culture over at First Things—this time biting into the Oscars and Western aesthetics. It is worth reading here.
The Real Presence and the Presence of Reality: In Defense of Reformed Sacramentology
This lecture was originally delivered at Hillsdale College. A PDF version of this essay is also available. Last year, one of Hillsdale’s most famous alumni, Peter Leithart, wrote an essay called “Why Protestants Can’t Write” that began with the line...
Francis Schaeffer and the Arts: A Retrospective
I am delighted to be able to publish this guest feature from Dr. William Edgar of Westminster Theological Seminary. Dr. Edgar is the author of Francis Schaeffer on the Christian Life: Countercultural Spirituality published by Crossway.
An Interview with Laura Dunn, Director of “The Seer”
Tomorrow I hope to publish a brief review of Laura Dunn’s new film “The Seer.” It’s a unique film and a hard one to pin down because while it is a portrait of Wendell Berry, Berry himself is never actually...
Who says memorialism isn’t “sacramental”?
In the latest iteration of that interminable meme beloved by traditionalist conservatives everywhere, “Everything is terrible because of Protestantism” Peter Leithart has argued that Protestants cannot write because of our impoverished theology of the sacraments. His argument, particularly in part...
A World Where Love Can Be at Home–Josh Ritter and Francis Schaeffer
“Christianity should never give any onlooker the right to conclude that Christianity believes in the negation of life.” — Francis Schaeffer I’ve often wondered what might happen if Josh Ritter, one of my favorite modern songwriters, were ever to meet Francis...
Noah: A Theological-Aesthetic Rorschach Test
Last week saw the premiere of Darren Aronofsky’s Noah, and with it a (predictable) storm of controversy from the evangelical community. Reviews have ranged from predictably critical to outright disdain to hostile readings, and from strongly (though not unreservedly) positive...
Things I’ve Learned From C.S. Lewis
The world didn’t take much notice of C.S. Lewis on November 22, 1963, the day he died. It was too frenzied by the shocking assassination of John F. Kennedy, which occurred in Dallas about an hour after Lewis died in...