Saturday Good Reads

Yes, it’s outrageous, but G.K. Chesterton made no apology for believing – really believing – in Santa Claus. Olivia Rutigliano at CrimeReads (Chesterton did write the Father Brown mystery stories) has the story, including a link to his original essay published in 1935. 

COVID-19 vaccines are in the news, an event for which we’re all thankful. Pfizer and Modern have two vaccines that are relatively close, especially in terms of how they actually work. Astra-Zeneca/Oxford University’s vaccine works differently, and Astra-Zeneca is having to repeat some trials after problems were found with the test data. How it works is of some controversy. Rory Carter at Creation News explains how the various vaccines actually work.

 

In 1976, our church in Houston, Texas, showed a film series (with an accompanying discussion) of a newly published book called How Shall We Then Live? It was written by theologian Francis Schaeffer, who had a ministry at L’Abri in Switzerland that attracted a large number of mostly young people looking for answers to life’s questions. His writings were popular well into the 1990s.  David Steele at Veritas et Lux explains why Francis Schaeffer still matters.

 

More Good Reads

 

Writing and Literature

 

In a Home in Oxford There Lived a Hobbit – J.G. Duesing at Footnotes. 

 

A Friend Who Sticks Closer than…a Hobbit? What the Inklings Teach Us about Friendship – 

Carissa Jones at Historical Theology.

 

On James Dickey and the Truths That Matter – Paul Hendrickson at Literary Hub.

 

From MacDonald to Magical Realism: Faith and Fantasy with the Romantics, Marquez, Murakami, and Van Halen – Seth Myers at An Unexpected Journal.

 

Life and Culture

 

Against Obsolescence – Rory Groves at Front Porch Republic.

 

The Age of Cant – Theodore Dalrynple at CityJournal.

 

A Young Farmer’s Journey Toward Conservatism – Malcolm Salovaara at Front Porch Republic.

 

Faith

 

Goodnight Till Then – Tim Challies.

 

My White Privilege Didn’t Save Me. But God Did – Edie Wyatt at Quillette. 

 

Poetry

 

Poetry and the News – James Matthew Wilson at Theopolis Institute.

 

Our spired unicorn – Paul Brookes at Sarah writes poems.

 

The Night Before Christmas 2020 – Seth Lewis.

 

The Secret History of T.S. Eliot’s Muse – Michelle Taylor at The New Yorker. 

 

Art

 

Subcreating with Tolkien: Artist Emily Austin – Christine Norvell at Story Warren.

 

British Stuff

 

St. John’s Gate, Clerkenwell - A Brief Introduction – A London Inheritance.

 

Discovering Nine of London’s Commons – London Wlogger.

 

News Media

 

Why Speech Platforms Can Never Escape Politics – Jon Askonas & Ari Schulman at National Affairs.

 

The dehumanizing danger of social media – Josephine Bartosch at The Critic Magazine.

 

Can Substack CEO Chris Best Build a New Model for Journalism? – Nilay Patel at The Verge.

 

History

 

Modern Maccabees: UK exhibit highlights Jews’ overlooked resistance to the Nazis – Robert Philpott at The Times of Israel.

 

Thank You, Lord – Chris Tomlin with Florida Georgia Line and Thomas Rhett 

Painting: Woman Reading a Letter, oil on canvas by Franz Xavier Winterhalter (1805-1873); Augustinermuseum, Breisgau, Germany.