In recent centuries the novel idea has entered the thought of many religious people that natural law is a Western pagan invention, unsupported by Scripture or by Christian tradition. To illustrate how far this notion falsifies history, I offer the following remark about Scripture from an unimpeachable traditional authority, one of the greatest Eastern F
The following story was passed on to me by a friend, who was quoting from a letter from his brother, a Japanese linguistics professor who had received it from his own friend, an American linguistics professor. The “he” in the anecdote is the American.
“The tests put upon candidates for the [Druidical] priesthood are immensely severe. For example, there is a test of poetical composition. The candidate must lie naked all night in a coffin-like box, only his nostrils protruding above the icy water with which it is filled, and with heavy stones laid on his chest. In this position he must compose a poem of considerable l
Doctoral Prelims: It Could Be Worse
Atheism, capital “A,” the denial of the creator God, capital “G,” always defaults to some form of theism, small “t” – I mean the embrace of a false god, small “g.” It doesn’t even seem to be possible to deny every unconditional commitment. Everyone bends the knee to something, whether or not he knows what it is.
Anscombe Society, Stanford University, 2014
Before the lovely Augustine passage, a quick note: Two links have just been added to my Listen to Talks page. You can hear highlights from my recent talk to the Stanford University Anscombe Society on the meaning of the sexual powers
Professor:
“The parent seeking to be the friend of the child necessarily forfeits authority. As this egalitarian drive works itself out, indeed, children of quite a young age come increasingly under the jurisdiction of the state, exercising its suasion through social workers, and they acquire rights which make it increasingly difficult for either teachers or parents to exercise aut
Query: