Russell Kirk & Pope St. John Paul II on the Redemption of Man

By |2023-10-22T07:38:12-05:00October 21st, 2023|Categories: Catholicism, Christianity, Conservatism, Faith, Featured, Hope, Imagination, Russell Kirk, St. John Paul II, The Imaginative Conservative, Timeless Essays, Truth|

Pope St. John Paul II and Russell Kirk defended freedom within the limits of truth and its authentic or right use. They knew it was crucial to distinguish license and liberty. But they have different approaches to truth. As we discussed the work of Russell Kirk, written in 1954, revised in 1962 and 1988, I [...]

The Tragedy of Despair

By |2023-09-04T15:36:18-05:00September 5th, 2023|Categories: Evil, Hope, J.R.R. Tolkien, Western Civilization, Western Tradition|

My heart breaks for Tolkien's Denethor, whose life ended unnecessarily, as bitterness, anger, and hopelessness in the face of evil consumed him. Let our prayer be that, even as we observe the darkness at the doorstep of Western Civilization, we imaginative conservatives stand at our posts and look to the Heavenly Father as our protector. [...]

Mysticism & Optimism: On the Life & Work of Julian of Norwich

By |2023-05-17T19:33:17-05:00May 17th, 2023|Categories: Culture, Dwight Longenecker, Hope, Religion, Timeless Essays|

In our own age, threatened by plague, economic uncertainty, barbarism, religious wars and corruption, the quiet optimism and faith of Julian of Norwich are a sweet tonic which brings re-assurance, hope, and a quiet confidence. In the English city of Norwich there are two Gothic cathedrals: one medieval and Anglican, the other neo-Gothic and Catholic. [...]

The Harrowing of Hell

By |2023-04-07T20:13:30-05:00April 7th, 2023|Categories: Catholicism, Christianity, Easter, Gospel Reflection, Hope, St. Thomas Aquinas, Timeless Essays|

Christ descended into hell to deliver His loved ones from their exile. He came to reward those who, from our first father, Adam, to His own foster-father, St. Joseph, had fought the good fight and had finished the race. The second reading from the Office of Readings for Holy Saturday is taken from an ancient homily on Christ’s [...]

Liberalism as Heresy

By |2023-08-14T15:35:40-05:00March 21st, 2023|Categories: Christianity, Hope, Liberalism, New Polity|

Even in this darkness, there is hope. Because liberalism is a Christian heresy, it has held and still does hold the breach between the peace and the coming darkness, when anti-Christian technocratic power will be all in all. And in this time that liberalism has bought us, we can act, pray, and by the power [...]

The End of Modernity

By |2023-02-23T18:35:31-06:00February 23rd, 2023|Categories: Catholicism, Christendom, Culture, History, Hope, Modernity, Pope Benedict XVI, Timeless Essays, Wyoming Catholic College|

Modernity, by God’s grace, may be the site of a new synthesis, the transcending of stale categories of thought and practice, in which a new Christendom can emerge, one in which the reign of God in His glory and love emerges side-by-side with the full dignity and flourishing of man. The Immanent Frame and Great [...]

“The Speech”: Maintaining Sanity in an Insane World

By |2022-08-24T18:52:57-05:00August 24th, 2022|Categories: Civilization, Culture, Forrest McDonald, Hope, Imagination, Timeless Essays, Wisdom|

I propose to address the question, how does one survive—and I mean survive as something—in a world that may not? How does one remain sane in a world that is insane; how does one live without fear in a world in which the only certainty is that nothing is certain? As the new year arrives, [...]

Give the Devil Enough Rope

By |2023-01-24T18:34:45-06:00January 3rd, 2021|Categories: Christianity, Death, Evil, Hope, Joseph Pearce, Senior Contributors, Timeless Essays|

The end of the world is nigh. It is this ultimate reality which should animate and motivate us. The devil might be able to hang us before he hangs himself, but he can’t deprive us of the resurrection which will separate us from his clutches forever. Give the devil enough rope and he’ll hang himself. [...]

Death and Transfiguration

By |2020-10-05T12:00:21-05:00November 1st, 2020|Categories: Books, Christianity, Death, Hope, Michael De Sapio, Philosophy, Senior Contributors|

Dealing with the topic of death, Dietrich von Hildebrand’s consoling book “Jaws of Death: Gate of Heaven” shines both in its “dark” and “light” halves, illuminating the eternal duality of human life and helping to reconcile its painful contradictions. Life is not a journey of diminishing returns, ending in darkness and the grave, but a [...]

Memory & Hope: Restoring the Teaching of American History

By |2020-08-31T16:56:46-05:00August 31st, 2020|Categories: American Republic, Conservatism, Education, History, Hope, Liberalism, Progressivism|

The currently pervading approach to American history presents America in the worst possible light, distorting the full truth of our past and damaging our political health. Our K-12 schools need a restoration of temporal continuity, the key to revitalizing history and civics education that forms young people who both appreciate the gifts of the past [...]

Positive and Negative Morality

By |2020-08-09T17:36:56-05:00August 9th, 2020|Categories: Christianity, Civilization, Conservatism, G.K. Chesterton, Hope, Modernity|

When our hopes for the coming time seem disturbed or doubtful, and peace chaotic, let us remember that it is really our disappointment that is an illusion. It is our rescue that is a reality. A vast amount of nonsense is talked against negative and destructive things. The silliest sort of progressive complains of negative [...]

A Decade of Hope-Filled Conservatism

By |2020-12-23T00:12:05-06:00July 9th, 2020|Categories: Christianity, Cicero, Conservatism, Essential, Hope, Russell Kirk, Timeless Essays, W. Winston Elliott III|

I pray that The Imaginative Conservative offers a conservatism of thought and imagination in the hope of preserving the best of the Western tradition and restoring the virtue of our Republic. After a decade of faithful effort we continue to persevere and pray. […]

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