J.R.R. Tolkien’s legacy-defining book The Lord of the Rings is not an explicitly Christian work. In fact, Tolkien disliked on-the-nose allegory, when a story contains a one-to-one function to some exterior idea and permits a message to lead the story. Nonetheless, in a 1953 letter responding to a Father Robert Murray, Tolkien admitted the followingContinue reading “Christianity in The Lord of the Rings (Part I): The Threefold Office”
Author Archives: Christian Poole
The Importance of Fairy Tales for Children
For the past year, I’ve been reading stories from classic children’s anthologies (many printed in the 1940s – 1960s era) to my kids before bed. One such collection of stories is from a series called Childcraft, which I find so aptly named since reading good stories is so critical in “crafting” children to be virtuous,Continue reading “The Importance of Fairy Tales for Children”
The Four Domains of War: From Self to Spiritual
Wherever there are people, there is war. Taken in its most general interpretation, bellum or war is a constant in the human condition. War was waged among the first men thousands of years ago; war is waged today; and war will be waged far into the future. Though war is constant, it is not necessarilyContinue reading “The Four Domains of War: From Self to Spiritual”
The Benefits of Reading the Great Books
Why read the great books? Apart from fulfilling some antiquarian dream or feeding an ego pining for intellectual praise, these books serve a useful purpose. That the books are (usually) old is of little consequence except in evidence that these books are important enough to have survived so long. Hence, we do not read theseContinue reading “The Benefits of Reading the Great Books”
A Year of Reading: Books I Read in 2021
As is customary, let’s take a look at the books I read in 2021. My reading heavily favored nonfiction and has begun leaning toward histories. Overall, my time spent reading declined from 2020 as the last year was busier than ever. My reading of the Great Books especially slowed down since I had little timeContinue reading “A Year of Reading: Books I Read in 2021”
Are Humans Natural?: The Contradictory Ideas of How We Think About Our Species
Humanity is a strange thing. It cannot decide whether it is part of nature or apart from nature. Mankind’s identity crisis has emerged from the clashing of naturalist and theistic philosophies, with political, religious, and philosophical fallout on how we treat ourselves. The Scope of Scientific Inquiry No matter how good the science is, itContinue reading “Are Humans Natural?: The Contradictory Ideas of How We Think About Our Species”
New Year’s Resolution for 2022: Resolve To Keep Your Resolve
What does it mean to resolve? According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, the type of resolve relevant to our New Year’s lists means “to make a definite and serious decision to do something”. Contrast that definition to the common trope and truth of the New Year’s resolution: something everyone makes big promises about in the firstContinue reading “New Year’s Resolution for 2022: Resolve To Keep Your Resolve”
The 12 Book Classical Education
A true classical education is a lifelong pursuit of wisdom and understanding with no demonstrable end. The end of the classical education is played out in real time, in parallel to its pursuit in everyday life. When confronting a claim, one might turn to principles put forth by Aristotle or Bacon to find their veracity;Continue reading “The 12 Book Classical Education”
How I Read the Bible Cover to Cover
A week ago I finished a two year journey of reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelations. The Bible is a long and difficult book; yet, it is the most widely printed book in history. As any book publisher would know, “long and difficult” is rarely a promising description of a book that will receiveContinue reading “How I Read the Bible Cover to Cover”
The Virtualization of Man
The 2020 show Upload describes a fictional world where, when near to death, one can choose to have one’s mind uploaded into a digital universe, where it enables immortality with the added bonus of continual interaction with people in the real world. The upload is man’s great panacea for its long-standing enemy called Death. MankindContinue reading “The Virtualization of Man”