"Man is obviously made for thinking.  Therein lies all his dignity and his merit; and his whole duty is to think as he ought.  Now the order of thought is to begin with ourselves, and with our author and our end.”

-- Blaise Pascal, Pensées

Political theory is a branch of the theory of how to live.  If God is our greatest good, then of course the truth about Him will make a difference to how to live.

The expression “self-deception” is not to be taken literally; what happens is that I try not to think about certain things, and I try not to think about the fact that I am trying not to think about them.

Every honest college teacher – at least every one who has been around long enough to judge -- knows that teaching, really teaching, is getting more and more difficult.  One reason is the prolongation of adolescence, which I discussed yesterday.  But there are others.

Mondays are for letters from students.  This one is a doctoral candidate in Dallas.

Question

You may have noticed that animals have a sense of fun, but not a sense of humor.  James V. Schall, S.J., explains why:

Interviewer:  “Universally and necessarily we cannot affirm and deny the same thing at the same time and in the same way.  What is wrong with that?”

Cornelius Van Til:  “My concern is that the demand for non-contradiction when carried to its logical conclusion reduces God's truth to man's truth.”