The Weight of Glory

In this episode, Kale and I discuss the final pages of The Abolition of Man. In a world allegedly without objective values, what conditions the conditioners? Chesterton’s idea of play and rules providing freedom; the reality that a value-free neutrality does not exist; trans-humanism and post-humanism; the dismembering of nature and disenchantment; the magician’s bargain: how t

Today, I'm posting a special episode on The Stations of the Cross. What follows is a Stations of the Cross text I wrote in 2004, reflecting on the images Mel Gibson provided in his movie The Passion of The Christ. Each mediation also includes a quote from one of my favorite spiritual writers.In the show notes, you'll find links to learn more about the Stations of the Cros

Today, we begin discussing the final chapter of The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis. Topics include: slavery and freedom; the conquest of man over man; the flight from the reality of death; the world state as a surrogate for the Tao; eugenics, trans-humanism and post-humanism; man as raw material for the post-human project; the impact of World War I on the thinking of Lewis; and wha

C.S. Lewis, “Xmas and Christmas: A Lost Chapter from Herodotus,,” God in the Dock (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1970), pp. 301-303.Barbara Nicolosi Harrington’s Mystagogy podcast (see mystagogy.net for supporting materials)It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, by Storyhill, from the album BethlehemThe music in the introduction of this podcast is provided b

My friend Kale Zelden and I finish discussing the second chapter of The Abolition of Man: “The Way.” We discuss the rebellion of the branch against the tree; whether authority can be interrogated from within or without the Tao; addressing moral relativity before making an apologia for faith; and how the end of this chapter of The Abolition of Man echoes the tower of Babel and T

My friend Kale Zelden and I begin discussing the second chapter of The Abolition of Man: "The Way." We discuss Innovators and Debunkers, the limits of instinct, and the indispensable role of the Tao.The Abolition of Man - C.S. LewisAfter Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man - Michael WardBishop Barron's conversation with evolutionary biologists

My friend Kale Zelden and I complete our conversation about the first chapter of The Abolition of Man: "Men Without Chests." We discuss debunking, the cultivation of just sentiments, the Tao, the poem Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen, and the chest as essential mediator between the head and the belly.The Abolition of Man - C.S. LewisAfter Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lew

My friend Kale Zelden returns to the podcast to discuss with me The Abolition of Man, a collection of lectures on ethics that C.S. Lewis first delivered in 1943 at the University of Durham. Today's episode contains our opening conversation about The Abolition of Man.The Abolition of Man - C.S. LewisAfter Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man - Michael War

The second season of this podcast will be focused on the theme of humanity: Specifically, the topic of how to ground our humanity within a truly ethical framework. It's something to which C.S. Lewis gave close attention in a book titled The Abolition of Man, first published in 1943. My friend Kale Zelden will return to discuss the book with me, as we have both appreciated the

In today's episode, Kale Zelden and I complete our discussion of Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical letter on Christian hope. In the last major section of the letter, Benedict XVI speaks of the experience of judgment as a setting for hope. We pick up our reading at paragraph 39.This episode concludes the first season of the podcast. I'd really appreciate your feedback on