Be Not Deceived
It’s been called the greatest hoax ever played on the classical music recording industry. Several years ago, a British pianist that hardly anyone had even heard of, and who had recently died, Joyce Hatto by name, had, so we were…
Tag Christianity and Culture
The Freudom of the Christian
Christians often strike me as the most Freudian of people. Say what you like, I have a sneaking suspicion that Freud, rather than Augustine, Luther, or Calvin, probably offers the best insights into the way that Christians really think and…
Questionable Creatures: A Bestiary
Bestiaries are fascinating things–part fact and observation; part fiction and superstition. From Herodotus, Pliny, and Aristotle through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, these descriptions of animals, birds, serpents, and fanciful beasts provide a rich tapestry to understand the mind…
Naustalgia
As a historian who is paid to look at the past, I find myself frequently indulging in rants about how we live in an anti-historical age, where history is not taken seriously. Typically, of course, I am referring to those…
Sex, Marriage, and Family in John Calvin’s Geneva, Volume 1: Courtship, Engagement, and Marriage
‘Calvin had no taste or stomach for things outside his particular calling. For him social pleasures were nonexistent. He never mentions domestic joys or woes in his letters. The beauties of nature left him cold. Art, poetry and music seem…
Theatre of the Absurd
One of the questions I have been asked with some frequency over the last month or so is why my contributions to the Reformation 21 blog tend to have something of a facetious edge to them. I am tempted to…
Zen Calvinism
Returning home late one night in the early summer, I found that my van’s transmission had died. Fortunately, it happened on my driveway; unfortunately I needed to be at the airport at 6am the following morning, which meant that I…
Aesthetics, Alcatraz and Jerry Lee Lewis
Recently, I had occasion to fly to Korea via San Francisco. Flying across the US on a clear day is one of those rare pleasures which really allows you to get the geographical measure of the place: how flat much…
Baseball Blues and Recreation
The Braves are playing poorly. Not that I’d notice too much. You see, it’s my wife’s love–baseball that is, not mine. And she has lost something of her joie de vivre. I try to console, but when those guys swing…
Art For God’s Sake
I have quite a collection of books on the arts from a Christian perspective, but I was so eager for Dr. Ryken’s new book, that I have had it on backorder since last December. The subtitle of the book is…