Fasting is far more than just an obligation or even a discipline; it is connected with the very mystery of life and death, of salvation and damnation. “Fasting is a medicine.” — St. John Chrysostom “The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” — Matthew 9:15 [...]
It is a bright note of hope, set against the present daunting darkness, that shines throughout Samuel Gregg’s “Reason, Faith, and the Struggle for Western Civilization,” both illuminating the past and shedding much-needed light on the present situation. Reason, Faith, and the Struggle for Western Civilization, by Samuel Gregg (256 pages, Gateway Editions, 2019) “The [...]
Here are my ten recommendations for reading, from Augustine’s “Confessions,” to Shakespeare’s Sonnets, to Eliot’s “Four Quartets.” 1. The Bible. It is one of the first books I read (not cover-to-cover, at first, of course), and the first book I memorized passages from as a child. I cannot imagine trying to think about or comprehend the [...]
In his new book, Michael Ward demonstrates the validity of his reputation as a preeminent guide to Lewis, with a nimble combination of deep scholarship, bright prose, and a deep respect for Lewis that never falls into undue adulation or unquestioning blindness. After Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis's "The Abolition of Man" by Michael [...]
Christianity and the Western tradition insist that true unity is rooted in complimentarity, self-gift, and ordered relationship. Trinitarian love is creative, but not coercive; it is a mystery, but it is not irrational; it is personal, but it is not subjective. These are essential truths that James Schall returned to again and again in his [...]
How much of one’s desperation comes from apparently having it all, according to the precepts of secular humanism—the great false religion of our time—and yet having nothing at all to get through an ordinary Wednesday afternoon? Growing up in a small Montana town the 1980s—no stop lights, no fast food, plenty of guns—I was mostly [...]
My six gift ideas are all recently published books, if only because I will always take books under the Christmas tree over socks, ties, and video games, no matter how trendy the latter might be. The Complete Thinker: The Marvelous Mind of G. K. Chesterton (Ignatius Press, 2012) by Dale Ahlquist. If there is a better [...]
Chilton Williamson, Jr. is a prolific author of both fiction and non-fiction who has worked as an editor for St. Martin’s Press, National Review, and, since 1989, Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture, published by the Rockford Institute. His most recent book is After Tocqueville: The Promise and Failure of Democracy(ISI, 2012), which John Willson, professor [...]
In the mid-twentieth century, English historian Christopher Dawson (1889-1970) was widely considered to be one of the finest Catholic scholars in the English-speaking world. Today his name and work is largely unknown, even among Catholics. But that is beginning to change as Dawson is being discovered and recovered by a number of writers and historians. One [...]