There are some valuable lessons to be learned from the Romantic reaction against the Enlightenment and the various neo-medievalist movements which were its fruits. The most important is that society is not progressing inexorably in one “progressive” rationalist direction. The eighteenth century was a time of religious skepticism which seemed to foreshadow the eclipse of [...]
Impression: Sunrise What are we to make of impressionism? According to Chesterton it was “another name for that final scepticism which can find no floor to the universe”. These are damning words, which will not be accepted very readily by those who admire impressionist art. One does not look at a painting by [...]
The world is always at war with Christ and His Church, and the worldly within the Church are always in an unholy alliance with the world. The world is a vale of tears and a land of exile. There was no golden age and there will be no golden age of Christendom. How, then, might [...]
It is only by freeing ourselves from our possessiveness of others that we can avoid being possessed by the false “loves” that keep us from True Love. In his adult fiction, as in his children’s fiction and his non-fiction, C.S. Lewis teaches this priceless lesson, the learning of which is necessary if adults want to [...]
A friend of Christendom and of civilization in an age of decadence and barbarism, Hilaire Belloc thundered against the heresies of his age and defied the storms of war and secularism. Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953) is not as well-known as he and his talent deserve. From the last years of the reign of Queen Victoria until [...]
“What have the Romans ever done for us?” A famous Monty Python sketch begins with this question. Let’s rephrase it in the Age of Woke: What has Western civilization ever done for us? And let’s allow the woke spokesperson to respond. “What have the Romans ever done for us?” Those of my generation will probably [...]
Each nation, however small, is called to be a new David. It is through the small and beautiful power of local cultures that the globalist Goliath will be defeated. There are two types of nationalism. There is the “nationalism” of the great nations which all too often manifests itself in the imposition of the nation’s [...]
In the dark days in which we find ourselves, it is helpful to be reminded of even darker days in the past. We should rejoice, therefore, that the works of Robert Hugh Benson are once more seeing the light of day because they are themselves beacons of light. Robert Hugh Benson was one of the [...]
Having buried the shade or shadow of Bela Lugosi with the many other ghosts of my past, I have found myself once again haunted by his undead presence in the pages of the recently-published novel, "This Thing of Darkness." Many full moons ago, during the decadent days and daze of my youth, I enjoyed dabbling [...]
True poetry can only edify those who seek edification. In a culture succumbing to the narcissism of Pride, people seek self-gratification, not edification. In such a culture, the works of the poets will be enjoyed by only a few noble souls in the cultural desert which T.S. Eliot correctly called the Waste Land. The following [...]
A true, life-giving education is an education that recognizes and embraces a world filled with goodness, truth, and beauty. It is also an education that requires virtue from those who undertake it. Editor's Note: The following is an abridged version of the commencement address that Joseph Pearce gave to the graduating class of 2018 at [...]
Art and technology are both forms of sub-creation. They reflect an aspect of what it is to be human which we call the imago Dei. Like the God in whose image he is made, man is creative. He uses his imagination to make new things from other things that already exist. Laughter has its place [...]
Perceiving metaphysical reality requires being spiritually alive to its presence. It is the virtue of humility which opens the heart in gratitude and the eyes in wonder. A very thoughtful and thought-provoking comment on my recent essay “Tolkien on Reality” merits a response. Here’s the comment in question: The conflation of “real” and “alive” isn’t [...]
What does Tolkien mean by insinuating that centaurs and dragons are more “alive” than cars? Well, he is referring to the fact that centaurs and dragons are animate creatures, albeit animated only by the imagination. He seems also to be saying that subcreation in the service of goodness, truth and beauty is better than subcreation [...]