Tag Archives: Christopher Hitchens

New Approaches to Academic Writing: An Unusual Marking Note for a Good Student

Posted on December 8, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

I am at that time of year when the marking pile on my desk is higher than my laptop screen. Like a fool, each year, I go into the marking expecting great things. So far, I have never had a … Continue reading →

Posted in On Writing, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged academic, Alice Walker, autoethnography, B.R. Myers, Christopher Hitchens, Corey Olsen, Dorothy L. Sayers, Flannery O'Connor, George Orwell, Harold Bloom, John Updike, literary criticism, Margaret Atwood, Marilynne Robinson, research, Roxane Gay, Slavoj Žižek, Stanley Fish, Teaching, Terry Eagleton, theology, Ursula K. Le Guin, Virginia Woolf, writing | 15 Comments

On Embracing my Inner Nerd, Or Erasing the Division between Head and Heart

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

The phrase, “doing your devotions,” still gives me the shivers. Early in my spiritual journey, my well-meaning leaders tried to instill a little religion in me. I was the Christian equivalent of Huckleberry Finn when it came to disciplines that … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged Albert Camus, Anne Lamott, Bart Ehrman, books, C.S. Lewis, Christian spirituality, Christopher Hitchens, Darwin, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, evangelicalism, Hans Kung, Margaret Atwood, Marilynne Robinson, Miroslav Volf, Old Books, richard dawkins, spiritual theology, St. Augustine, Stephen King, theology | 21 Comments

C.S. Lewis According to the New Atheists

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

“A common argument, attributed among others to C. S. Lewis (who should have known better), states that, since Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, he must have been either right or else insane or a liar: ‘Mad, Bad … Continue reading →

Posted in Lewis Biography, Memorable Quotes | Tagged apologetics, atheism, C.S. Lewis, Christopher Hitchens, Francis Collins, New Atheism, philosophy, richard dawkins, Sam Harris | 16 Comments

My Secret Hierarchy of Writing

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Brenton Dickieson

I have, I must admit, a sort of strange, secret hierarchy of writing. I don’t mean to. I believe the essence of good writing is not popularity or an elusive sense of the high brow. If I can put … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Writing, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged books, children's literature, Christopher Hitchens, fantasy, high art, J.R.R. Tolkien, literary fiction, literature, Madeleine L'Engle, Poetry, Reading, Running With Scissors, writing | 25 Comments

Theological Pantsing, or the Moral Problem of Hell (Hell Series Part 3)

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Brenton Dickieson

At the close of the 20th century Stephen King wrote that if he were a different kind of writer, “I might never have … gotten a letter from some helpful fundamentalist fellow who wants me to know that I’m going … Continue reading →