Third Places and the Horizons of Male Friendships
“I want you to read this article and tell me what you think,” my wife texted me. She had sent me an article published in Harper’s Bazaar entitled, “Men Have No Friends and Women Bear the Burden.” The article details...
COVID-19, One Year On, Pt. I: Threnody for a Buried Nation
One year ago tonight, I sat in the bar of the Hotel George in downtown Washington, DC, waiting for my friend to arrive. The TV in the corner was tuned to ESPN, but for once there was no game on....
When Time Isn’t Time: Augustine on Tenet
The greatest living movie maker (Christopher Nolan), director of the greatest movie ever (The Prestige – we will have to discuss it another time), has done it again, though you would not know it if you relied on the popular...
Book Review: Reading While Black by Esau McCaulley
“It is precisely because the Christian faith is the recognition of a work of God—a work that began in the dawn of time and continues in this era—that its essence is a fruit of the ages, while its form is...
‘God of All Things,’ with Andrew Wilson
Mere Fidelity’s own Andrew Wilson (teaching pastor at King’s Church London) has written a stunning book, devotional in nature, but premised on examining things as Things, theologically. So in this episode Andrew gets to be both guest and host as...
‘Passages,’ Chapter 1
(originally published on “Passages”) Who wrote the Nicene Creed? Why did the estimated 300 bishops present at the Council of Nicaea use terms such as “Light of Light… consubstantial… proceeding…” and more to describe God? Is the creed even intelligible...
Contemplative Pedagogy: Notes on Educating Screen-Addled Students
Not long ago I taught a summer class in creative writing to middle schoolers. On one sun-drenched day, I took the class outside to wander through our campus and down to our stretch of shoreline on Narragansett Bay. Their task...
‘Turning of Days,’ with Hannah Anderson
Hannah Anderson is captivated by Genesis chapters 1 and 2. Her writing comes from that deep wonder at God’s creation, and she approaches practical-theological issues in a poetic-devotional mode. This is a delightful conversation with the entire Mere Fidelity team....
Announcing “Passages”: A New Podcast from Mere Orthodoxy
(originally published on the Passages podcast home page) “O gladsome light, pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven, O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed! Now as we come to the setting of the sun, and our eyes behold the...
Beatitudes: “Poor in Spirit”
In the second part of the Mere Fidelity discussion of the Beatitudes, Matt, Alastair, and Derek tackle the first bombshell that Jesus drops: Blessed are the poor in spirit. There’s a strong urge in most of us to spiritualize the...