Glenn introduces consumer-choice as a kind of worldview in today's show.

Consumer choice is a fine thing when it comes to fast-food and designer clothing, but where does it end? Should we get to choose everything? Is consumer choice the apogee of freedom, or in some paradoxical way its denial and a form of slavery?

Glenn dares to say that people shouldn't get to chose certain things--their family members for instance, or their religion. When it comes to the most important things we are choosers, we're receivers. And that entails an entirely different logic.

Join the Pugcast crew today as they discuss how Christians should think about the relationship between various kinds of reality.

Working off the introduction to Bradley Birzer’s J.R.R. Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth, the Pugsters talk about Tolkien, Lewis, and Chesterton and their ideas about myth and faerie. Tolkien believed that just like pagan philosophers grasped truths that were most perfectly expressed in the Gospel, the stories of myth and faerie were bits of “splintered light” that pointed beyond themselves to deeper reality. For Tolkien, pagan myths presented an almost sacramental vision of the world, though the myths need to be “sanctified” by Christian truth to avoid the dangers of paganism. The guys bring their own unique perspectives to these and related themes about the value of myth to us today.

Today Glenn rises to defend a holiday that some pagans and certain Christians love to hate: Christmas. 

Who could hate Christmas? It is puzzling. There are the folks who claim that there is no justification for December 25th--or January 6th for that matter--so it must have been some sort of appropriation of a pagan holiday. Then there are the folks who just don't think any Christian holidays can be justified, period. 

Glenn challenges these conceits and more. You can depend on Tom and Chris to egg him on.

The Pugcast Pacific Northwest Tour continues in Vancouver, Washington! In today’s show the Pugcast crew address the cultural crisis the church finds itself in. It seems like the proverbial curse, “May you live in interesting times!” applies to Reformed Christians today. To meet the challenges of our time the guys look to the resources of the Reformation and the broader Christian tradition. Enjoy!

Jokes about the uselessness of a liberal arts education are cliche--they also evidence the absence of a liberal arts education.

The whole point of a liberal arts education is the study of things that are good in themselves, not good as a means to enjoying something else. Arts of that sort are servile--they serve a higher good.

Today Chris introduces listeners to the book, Leisure the Basis of Culture by the late German philosopher Joseph Pieper.

Of course Tom and Glenn have a lot to add. The conversation gets into the parallel between Sabbath observance and leisure, social class and freedom, and many other matters.

Enjoy!

Here's a link to the book on Amazon.

Tom introduces a classic debate between Truth, reality, and language and the removal of language from truth and reality (sophistry). He engages the ancient debate and sees similarities between it and today's deconstructive tendencies and political use of language to manipulate people. Chris and Glenn bring into the conversation many insights which help illuminate the sinister aspects of sophistry and their ever present danger in undermining the relation of truth and language.

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Jumping off another suggested topic from our faithful listeners, the Pugsters talk about the medieval guild system. The guilds were a way to protect customers and, with export goods, the reputation of the city by guaranteeing the quality of products. They also guaranteed a level playing field for producers. Along with their economic role, the guilds performed social and spiritual functions, with the process of mastering your craft seen as a metaphor for the process of spiritual growth. Glenn clears up a lot of misconceptions about the guilds and the Middle Ages in general, and the guys talk about the quality of medieval craftsmanship vs. the disposable world created by industrialization and consumerism.

In today's show, Glenn raises the subject of neopagan and heathen movements in the western world. Just what is going on with these movements, are they genuine revivals, or are they merely role-playing diversions? And what does any of this have to do with the alt-right, and Norse-myths in particular? Tune in for a lively discussion as usual!

Today the Pug is joined by Dr. Matthew T. Dickerson, professor at Middlebury College, in Vermont, and author of many books, among them: Ents, Elves, and Eriador: The Environmental Vision of J. R. R. Tolkien. The conversation did get around to Ents (a fascinating part of the discussion), and it even included the environment, but it also wandered into many other matters--some far afield. (Surprise, surprise.) If you like the Inklings, you'll enjoy this episode.