Tag Archives: Theology of Culture

I Am Legend: Book vs. Film(s)

Posted on March 28, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

I am preaching tomorrow on the topic, “It is not Good for Man to be Alone” (Gen 2:18). I have decided to use Robert Neville from I Am Legend as the starting point. I Am Legend took on a new … Continue reading →

Posted in Thoughtful Essays | Tagged Bob Marley, books, COVID-19, film adaptation, H1N1, I Am Legend, Middle Earth, Night of the Living Dead, Peter Jackson, pop culture, Reading, Recovery, Redemption Song, Richard Matheson, Theology of Culture, vampires, Will Smith, zombies | 13 Comments

Why the Logic of Prevention will Always Fail for Some: Steady Thoughts in Response to COVID-19

Posted on March 16, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

I awoke early this morning, before the alarm, thinking about teaching. Over the weekend, leaders in our largest colleges and universities and in our government have taken steps to limit the spread of COVID-19. It is not yet a state … Continue reading →

Posted in Thoughtful Essays | Tagged American politics, C.S. Lewis, Canadian Politics, conspiracy theory, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Fear, Fox News, Letters to Malcolm, online teaching, social media, Teaching, Theology of Culture | 24 Comments

Celebrations of Life: 30 Years, 4 Years, Today

Posted on February 4, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

Today is the 30th anniversary of the death of my father and baby brother. I saw them perish in a fire when I was a boy–an event that has shaped not just my family life, but my entire understanding of … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Death, heaven, Remembering Heaven, theology, Theology of Culture | 21 Comments

The Gift (and Curse) of Asher Lev

Posted on October 28, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

The Gift of Asher Lev by Chaim Potok My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Gift of Asher Lev is a lovely, evocative book. It is my first time reading the sequel to My Name is Asher Lev, which I … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged art, Chaim Potok, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, Fyodor Dostoevsky, holocaust, Jane Austen, Judaism, My Name is Asher Lev, New York City, Shoah, The Gift of Asher Lev, Theology of Culture, vocation | 19 Comments

Why Most of Us Will be Disappointed After the Election

Posted on October 17, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

Throwback Thursdays are where I find a blog post from the past–raiding either my own blog-hoard or someone else’s–and throw it back out into the digital world. This might be an idea or book that is now relevant again, or … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Canada, Canadian Politics, Donald Trump, Election 2015, Election 2016, environment, evangelicalism, Mordor, Occupy Wall Street, Politics, religion, Tea Party, Theology of Culture, UK Politics, US Politics, worldviews | 1 Comment

On the Critical Missing Piece from the Best Part of Gary Selby’s Earthy Spirituality: C. S. Lewis and Incarnational Faith

Posted on August 26, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

I am about to defend my Ph.D. thesis on the “spiritual theology” of C.S. Lewis as part of a larger research project on Lewis and the spiritual life. I am on the lookout, then, for books and articles about Lewis … Continue reading →

Posted in Original Research, Reviews, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged A Fellowship of Differents, A Life Observed, American evangelicalism, Christian spirituality, Devin Brown, Earthy Spirituality: C. S. Lewis and Incarnational Faith, evangelicalism, Gary Selby, Joe Rigney, John Bowen, Lewis on Christian Life, Martin Luther King, PhD Research, Scot McKnight, spiritual theology, spirituality, The Hidden Story of Narnia, The Spirituality of Narnia, Theology of Culture, Will Vaus | 14 Comments

Alan Jacobs’ Experiment in 1943: Christian Intellectual Foundations with Lewis, Maritain, Auden, Eliot, and Weil

Posted on February 5, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

The Year of Our Lord 1943: Christian Humanism in an Age of Crisis by Alan Jacobs My rating: 5 of 5 stars In 2012 I was at a dinner table at my first C.S. Lewis conference, the biannual Lewis & … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged 1943, Alan Jacobs, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, Christian intellectuals, Jacques Maritain, Public Intellectual, Reinhold Niebuhr, T.S. Eliot, technocracy, The Year of Our Lord 1943: Christian Humanism in an Age of Crisis, Theology of Culture, W.H. Auden, WWII | 27 Comments

Reading and the Cultural Moment, with C.S. Lewis

Posted on December 4, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

So much of C.S. Lewis’ uniqueness comes down to his sheer love of diversity. He loved variability, colour, the exchange, the alienation of encounter and unity with others. His weird dystopia That Hideous Strength was, in many ways, a protest against … Continue reading →

Posted in Original Research, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged books, C.S. Lewis, On the Reading of Old Books, Plato, Reading, Sr. Penelope, That Hideous Strength, The Screwtape Letters, The Symposium, Theology of Culture | 48 Comments

On Being a Digital Leopard Frog, or Living Among the Digital Natives (Throwback Thursday)

Posted on August 16, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

This summer I introduced an occasional feature I call “Throwback Thursday.” This is where I find a blog post from the past–raiding either my own vault or someone else’s–and throw it back out into the digital world. This might be an … Continue reading →

Posted in Thoughtful Essays, Throwback Thursdays | Tagged culture, digital immigrants, digital natives, frogs, leopard frog, luddites, philosophy, social media, technology, Theology of Culture | 7 Comments

Turn Off CNN and Talk to Actual Americans: On Division in the United? States of America

Posted on August 14, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

Are you ready for a shock? As I sat down to write this, CNN had on the front page of its website an article putting Donald Trump in a dim light. Hard to believe, I know. And–are you ready for … Continue reading →