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Harmonizing knowledge
R.C. Jebb supplies a counter-argument in his same 1899 address to yesterday’s somewhat pessimistic riffing: “The ideal of humanism has thus been reinforced in a manner which brings back to us something of the spirit which animated the Renaissance when it was largest and most vigorous. For the enthusiasm of the Renaissance was nourished by the monuments […]
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Humanism in education
R.C. Jebb writes on the problem that advocates of the classics created for themselves in exaggerating the value of classical study: “Thus one eminent scholar said, ‘If the old classical literature were swept away, the moderns would in many cases become unintelligible, and in all cases lose most of their characteristic charms.’ Others averred that…
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Pater and pietas
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput writes: The word “patriotism” comes from the Latin pater (father) and patria (homeland, native soil). As with any human father, the nation-state is not a little godling. It can never require our worship. It can never demand that we violate our religious identity and beliefs. But properly understood, patriotism is a…
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Chris Stefanick in Philadelphia
I hadn’t heard of Chris Stefanick’s EWTN program “Real Life Catholic” until I saw the episode below with Archbishop Charles J. Chaput in Philadelphia. It’s a great episode for understanding +Chaput’s distinctive pastoral spirit as much as it is for encountering “real life” Catholics and some of Philadelphia’s culture. Chris Stefanick’s in the City of…
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Bill Buckley on skeptics
William F. Buckley, Jr.’s 2005 contribution to NPR’s “This I Believe” is one of my favorites: “How Is It Possible To Believe In A God?” It’s a good example of fides et ratio—faith and reason working together to point toward truth: I’ve always liked the exchange featuring the excited young Darwinian at the end of the…