On Dante

A Poem by the British poet Elizabeth Jennings.


It is not possible to say how much
We owe to him, because his splendour blinds
Our eyes. Simpler it is to blame those minds
Too small to honour him, to sense his touch.

He did not fear to plumb to places where
Failure alone survives. But this was done
For our example. Only his country dared to shun

His greatness. Her ingratitude at last
Turned on herself. As proof of this, observe
How always to the perfect sorrows fall

Most painfully. To those who are the best
Most ill occurs. Dante did not deserve
Exile; his equal never lived at all.

Guide to the Dark

In Peter Hitchens' new book The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith, readers get a whirlwind tour of how and why Christianity broke down so quickly in England during the last century. Hitchens actually covers more than that in this small book, but along the way he outlines the how and why of the breakdown of the Christian church after WWI. The path to an atheistic culture will probably work differently in America since somewhat different cultural forces are at work, but Hitchens' book is a dark study of why it might be possible that Christianity will remain a minority faith in Europe for the foreseeable future--and that means perhaps centuries.

One thing that Hitchens all too briefly discusses is the complicity of the Church in its own demise--first by becoming merely a chaplain to secular political forces and then by becoming a sentimental, theologically woozy suitor to all worldly trends. We have seen this latter hunger to be deemed "relevant" by American churches, first in the older liberal mainline denominations and now increasingly in various Evangelical bodies. Instead of standing with the hard truths of the Faith, Christians want to be liked and to be seen as "relevant," and so they make various concordats with secular culture, the latter never responding to the pitiful suasions of Christians who just want to be liked.

Hitchens is a clean, classical writer, and his emphasis on rational discussion demands a hard look at truth. I heartily urge the reading of this book by anyone interested in the contemporary state of Christianity and culture. The English context of Hitchens' experience doesn't fit neatly with the American situation, but his analyses still illuminate much that is happening today throughout the world.

Speaking of Classical

Jay Heinrichs' book Thank You For Arguing is a nice introduction to how classical rhetoric can be repackaged for life in the 21st Century. The subtitle of the book, "What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion," points to the wide-ranging nature of the book. Heinrichs sometimes comes off a bit too cute here and there, but the book as a whole is a superb introduction to the power of classical rhetoric.

The book is broken up into numerous chapters, each of which explains a piece of classical rhetoric, supplying examples and summaries. It's a very useful tool either to gain an introduction to the discipline or to refresh one's familiarity with the nuts and bolts of how rhetoric can work in daily life.

Here in this season of political upheaval, it is also a good handbook on how bad some arguments can get, even while those arguments persuade people who don't know how to think through arguments.

Return of the Classical

Although it ultimately simplifies too much, it is still useful to think of the history of Western culture as a pendulem swinging between classical values and romantic values. Right now, we are in sort of a postmodern romantic mode for the most part. Television, movies, music, advertisements, even comic books generally promote a subjectivist individualism ("just listen to your heart!").

But the classical impulse never entirely disappears, even if it has not had much traction lately in the larger culture. This article on recent classical architecture is a case in point. Here and there, artists rediscover the value of classical ideals, with good results. It is possible that classical attitudes will never again become dominant, but they won't entirely die out.

A question about all this: what is the Christian response to embracing the classical vision for the postmodern world? The classical mind is not inherently Christian, but is there something in the classical mind that comports well with certain elements of the Christian faith? Christians thoughout the ages, both Catholic and Protestant, have thought so. But Christians for the most part today do not now see much value in the virtues of the classical orientation.