I recently came across a fascinating discussion about the role of literature in understanding the human condition. James Hillman, a pyschologist who had grown dissatisfied in his old age with the state of the discipline, said: Before there was psychology .. we had novels. All through the nineteenth century Jane Austen, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Balzac wrote … Continue reading Celebrating Black Stories
The most recent post in this series on tradition talked about different conceptions of orthodoxy, and why I think orthodoxy (that is, correct belief and practice) is a helpful concept. But we cannot deny that a lot of evil has been done in the world in the name of ‘right belief’. Today, I’d like to … Continue reading Tradition(ed): Religious Violence and the Shadow Side of ‘Orthodoxy’
"Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” “For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle” "Go away from me, Lord, for I … Continue reading On Wonder, Humility, and Vocation: A Reflection on Luke 5, Isaiah 6, and 1 Corinthians 15
Every February, we commemorate Black History Month, and — sadly — every year, it seems we are given more proof of just how pervasive and stubborn anti-Black racism continues to be, and therefore why remembering Black history and promoting the stories of Black people in North America and beyond is so important. Over the past … Continue reading A Few Resources for Black History Month
So far in this series thinking about tradition, I’ve introduced a simple definition of the term and drawn some implications from that definition, and looked at how the major cultural movements of the past few centuries impact how we understand the idea of receiving a tradition ‘faithfully’. But any discussion of faithfulness to a religious … Continue reading Tradition(ed): Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Matthew Root 