The Pugcast

The guys are back in the seventeenth century again, looking at the beginnings of challenges to biblical authority. Progressive thinkers of the day starting with the Jewish philosopher Spinoza attacked Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch as a way of undermining orthodox Christianity: since Jesus referred to Moses as the human author of the Law, if Moses didn’t write it, then either Jesus lied or he didn’t know. Either answer would challenge the idea that he was God incarnate. After discussing Spinoza, the guys turned to a debate on Mosaic authorship between French Catholic scholar Richard Simon and Remonstrant scholar Jean LeClerc. This debate, largely forgotten today, triggered a sharp movement away from historic Christian theology into liberal Christianity by thinkers such as John Locke.

How emancipatory views of history draw upon yet distort Christian views of teleology in history. The guys discuss Hegel, Marx, Wokeness, liberation theology and more.

In this episode the Pugsters return to Tolkien’s essay “On Fairy Stories,” focusing particularly on the legitimacy of escape as a function of fantasy literature. Tolkien pointed out that “escape” is a positive term in all contexts except literary criticism, which points to a problem with the critics’ use of the word. The guys also get into discussions of the metaphysics of fantasy building off of Tolkien’s comments in the essay.

Tom introduces an article by Louis Markos entitled: Detectives of Significance. This article addresses an earlier time in Christian history which had a much deeper and wider view of reality and meaning. Part of the task of theology was to interpret such deeper meanings guided by the richly layered meanings communicated in the Bible and in creation. Markos then turns to detective stories, Sherlock Holmes and The Name of the Rose, to show how even rationalist characters desire something more than a narrow reading of reality. Chris and Glenn jump in with many insights into the rich web of meaning Christianity offers when seen in light of its engagement with truth, beauty, and goodness.

Article Referenced: https://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=25-05-030-f

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!

This week, the Pugsters turn to another Touchstone article by Louis Markos, this one on Owen Barfield. Barfield was one of the Inklings along with C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and helped nudge Lewis toward Christianity. He also was heavily influenced by Rudolph Steiner’s esoteric thought and tried to Christianize it. In this episode, the Pugsters discuss Barfield’s ideas about the relationship of human beings and the natural world, which argued that in the past people had a simple, spiritual relationship with the natural world but lost it with the Scientific Revolution. The goal, according to Barfield, is to bring the two together. On the way, the guys talk about Francis Bacon, Galileo, and whether you can keep the benefits of science and technology while losing their downsides.

Article Referenced: https://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=34-06-027-f

In today's show Chris presents an article that was published by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI), entitled, Darwinian Conservatism Versus Metaphysical Conservatism. The article is something of a departure for ISI, but it addresses a significant debate within conservative circles--can Darwin's evolutionary theories be used to support conservative social ethics, and conservative politics. The author, Larry Arnhart, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Northern Illinois University says yes--the Pugsters--as you probably can imagine--say, No! Chris, Tom, and Glenn are strong advocates of Metaphysical Conservatism, and they endeavor to defend it during the course of the show.

Find the article here:

This week, the guys look at the idea of heroes. Back in Homer’s day, “hero” was almost synonymous with the heavily armed and armored warriors that were the subjects of the Iliad, and not just the big names like Odysseus, Achilles, or Ajax. They exemplified the warrior virtues: prowess, toughness, courage, loyalty, and honor, understood as recognition and deference by others. The Middle Ages saw a major change in this largely under the influence of Christianity: humility, generosity, protection of the weak, and the like became part of chivalry, the warrior code. Today, in films ranging from The Lord of the Rings to Game of Thrones and The Green Knight, these virtues are ignored, inverted, or deliberately downplayed or distorted as unrealistic and untrustworthy. The guys reflect on what this means about our culture and the loss of nobility of character even as an ideal in our cultural imagination.

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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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Today Chris introduces the "Metaverse"--what's that? you may ask. According to Wikipedia it is: "...the sum of all virtual worlds, augmented reality, and the Internet." Or as Robin Phillips in a recent blog post at Salvo put it, "Imagine that the relationship between the real world and the internet becomes so porous that it is impossible to tell which is which." Regardless of whether or not the masters of the universe in Silicon Valley can pull it off, the very idea that something that further blurs the distinction between Reality and virtual reality would be a good thing says a lot about the people who make the technology that we rely on everyday. It also says something about our society as well, and the philosophical undercurrents that are moving beneath it. As you can imagine the guys have a lot to say about it--and their big concern is idolatry.

Article referenced:

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