News from the Front Porch Republic
Greetings from the Porch,
The University of Notre Dame Press has put together a virtual book exhibit for FPR readers. Browse at your own risk: books are 40% off, and they are offering free shipping.
In this week's Water Dipper, I recommend essays about digging in the dirt, fostering a Republic of Letters, and the people killing newspapers.
T. David Gordon considers the links between theology and aesthetics: "The question, of course, is not whether some Protestant individuals have under-developed aesthetic sensibilities; the question is whether Protestant principles logically or consistently contribute to an under-developed aesthetic sensibility."
Reflecting on his COVID-19 experiences, Alex Sosler compares online and in-person education. Paradoxically, when we embrace the limits of our embodied existence and learn with and from particular classmates in a particular place from a particular teacher, affections develop. Imagination stirs.
Emily Wenneborg reviews You are Not Your Own, by Alan Noble. Noble confronts the lie of autonomy that shapes Western society and counsels radical dependence on God’s grace.
Alan Cornett has a new episode of Cultural Debris. He talks with bibliophile Stuart Kells about libraries, books, and Shakespeare.
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to read FPR contributor David Heddendorf's new novel, The Wrestler, in manuscript. It's quite good, and it has now been published. Here's the blurb I wrote: “The Wrestler is a brief novel, but it packs a punch. It is a religious novel, but one that isn’t sentimental or cynical. It is a searingly honest account of two friends who undertake the strenuous, joyous labor of seeking God’s face. Read this book—grapple with it—and it will surely bless you.” I'll leave you with the publisher's description, but I'd encourage you to read the book for yourself:
One day during his high school gym class, Matt Lindley must wrestle a new student named Ben Cameron. Matt holds his own in the hard-fought bout, then learns that Cameron is a star on the school wrestling team. Over a year later, during college, Matt is even more astonished to discover that Ben has become a Christian like himself. In the ensuing years of visits and letter-writing, Ben inspires Matthew's faith while upending his ideas about the Bible, church, and spiritual experience. Told with honesty, compassion, and humor, The Wrestler is the story of a young man's post-evangelical faith journey and the unlikely friendship that pushes him to grapple with God.