Review: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Let me make things simple. If you love C.S. Lewis—specifically, if you love the Narnia books—I think you will very much like Susanna Clarke’s novel Piranesi. If you need a break from our dreary-yet-furious present and want to think about things that are true, honourable, just, pure, lovely, commendable and excellent (c.f. Phil 4:8) then this is the book for you.…
The Power: Book Review
Please note that this is a (very) secular novel which contains some explicit and potentially upsetting material. It is discussed here, not so much for the purpose of recommendation, but as a useful representative of one important contemporary viewpoint. In Naomi Alderman’s speculative fiction novel (and now, TV series) The Power, women have achieved dominance. It’s a feminist’s dream—and nightmare.…
Pixar’s Soul: Jazz Under the Sun
Warning: Spoilers for Pixar’s latest movie, Soul follow. Pixar takes many years to develop their movie projects, so it is impossible that they could have made their latest production with the COVID crisis in mind. But their latest movie, Soul could scarcely have come out at a better time. Soul tells the story of Joe Gardner, a high-school music teacher whose…
Happy Halloween!
Christianity commits every Christian to believing that ‘the Devil is (in the long run) an ass.’ (C.S. Lewis, “A Preface to Paradise Lost”) The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn. (Martin Luther, Table Talk) In Book 2 of Milton’s…
Postcards from the Ineffable
What part does imagination play in your spiritual life? You might think it should have no place at all. We should be about truth. Many of us know people who cook up all kinds of funny ideas about God and his will for their lives using their imaginations—exactly the kind of thing that the Bible specifically denounces in places such…
Child Sacrifice – From Moriah to Peru
Archaeologists in Peru recently discovered a terrible instance of child sacrifice: 140 children killed at once—their ribcages still bearing the trauma of the brutal removal of their hearts. It’s a horror that reminds us that religions are not all the same, not always benign—and that there is no limit to human depravity. But, before we’re too quick to claim the…
Surviving the Age of Apostasy
In recent days, evangelical Christianity has been disturbed by a series of defections and deconversions. Many prominent writers and leaders have given up on orthodox Christianity. Here are seven things to remember and do in the new age of apostasy: 1. We shouldn’t be surprised. In Matthew 24, when his disciples ask him about the signs of the end of…
Seven Signs that Easter Happened
Scholars and apologists often point to the Easter resurrection as the most important piece of historical evidence for the truth of Christianity. That of course, is right and proper—Paul himself uses it (1Cor 15:5-7). But I think there are some other little bits of evidence in the Easter story that are persuasive in other ways. Here are seven odd and…
The Case for Awe
“A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading.” writes C.S. Lewis in Surprised by Joy. “There are traps everywhere … millions of surprises.” In recent years atheists have become alerted to another trap: the majesty of creation itself. According to a number of recent studies, simply watching awe-inspiring nature documentaries can…
Hell of a Kiss
Down here in Melbourne, bus-stop advertisements are telling us that the Art Gallery of NSW is currently hosting an exhibition of iconic nudes from the London Tate collection. “Nude” exclaim the posters over a photograph of Rodin’s “The Kiss.” Apparently, this is the first time that iconic sculpture has left Europe, and it’s a centrepiece of the exhibition. “It’s a…
