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Spring 2012 |Volume 30, Issue 1
Legacies
Our culture does not know how to deal with legacies. We either treat the dead with some combination of awe and fear, or we think of our forebears as unworthy of remembrance, to be cast behind our own pursuits and discoveries.
In this issue of Comment, we reject both our tendencies to ignore and to idolize the past. Instead, we seek to draw the good out of legacies, as we acknowledge that all legacies east of Eden will always be, at best, mixed.
- 01
- Poem: Planting a Sequoia
- 02
- Editorial: Mixed Reviews
Looking graciously back on the giants before us.
- 06
- Footprints in the Snow
"Men and women resist believing that they follow beaten paths. But they really become insufferably proud when they look around and think they leave no tracks."
- 14
- Switchfoot and St. Augustine
"There's got to be something more than what I'm living for."
- 24
- Jonathan Edwards and Life's Adverbial Questions
God himself is the "what." Edwards spent his life studying the "where," "when," "why," and "how."
- 33
- Marilynne Robinson and Hymns to the Miracle of Existence
Her fiction occupies an odd space, resuscitating the nerve-endings of our souls.
- 38
- Skepticism and Witching Worries: Twin Legacies of the Fifteenth Century
Millennia of tension in Christian materiality can be instructive as we move past modernist narratives of science at war with religion.
- 44
- Michael Polanyi: Unknown and Untapped
His legacy holds hope for returning the Western tradition to wonder, to adventure, to anticipation.
- 50
- To Play Well With Others: A Letter of Gratitude to Jim Henson
"Who knows? You could make millions of people happy."
- 57
- Jacques Ellul and Technology's Trade-off
When did "hard-working, successful, creative" become our virtues of choice?
- 63
- Suburban Origins, Suburban Legacies
We cannot afford the infrastructure and living arrangements we have built to centre our lives around the automobile.
- 69
- For a Great Door is Opened
The legacy of Charlotte Mason, prolific educational pioneer.
- 75
- The Liberty She Won for Others
Hannah More used her pen to effect great reform.
- 81
- Something Beautiful for God: The Gift of Jean Vanier
Vanier and the L'Arche communities exemplify the "journey inward" funding the "journey outward."
- 86
- Erasmus is an Eel: Renaissance Humanist Hero
His passion and networking skills could make him the patron saint of the twenty-first century.
- 91
- Loving Liz: Andy Warhol's Sacramental Vision
"When I look at Warhol, what I feel is maximum redemption of lost material. He puts meaning back where there was deadness." —Wayne Koestenbaum
- 98
- The Political Legacy of Superheroes
The world, including the political world, will always need saints to imitate.
- 106
- The Dignity and Priority of Labour
Studying John Paul II's Laborem Exercens as not the "last word," but the "first word" on economics, human rights, and justice.
- 111
- What's Under the Apple?
Products become obsolete; people grow. Which legacy of leadership is likely to stand the test of time?
- 121
- The Art of Passing on Wonts
The true measure of our legacy is the depth of our gratitude, not the shimmer of our moral and technical excellence.
Contributors to this Issue
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Adam Barkman Adam Barkman (PhD, Free University of Amsterdam) is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Redeemer University College. Bio -
Alissa Wilkinson Alissa Wilkinson is assistant professor of English and humanities at The King's College in NYC, and chief film critic at Christianity Today. Bio -
Brian Dijkema Brian Dijkema is the Vice President of External Affairs with Cardus, and an editor of Comment. Bio -
Calvin Seerveld Calvin G. Seerveld is Professor Emeritus in Philosophical Aesthetics at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto. Bio -
Craig Bartholomew Craig Bartholomew is the director of the Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics in Cambridge, UK. Bio -
Dana Gioia Dana Gioia is a poet and critic who served for six years as the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. Bio -
David K. Naugle Dr. David K. Naugle is chair and professor of philosophy at Dallas Baptist University. Bio -
David W. Gill David W. Gill (Ph.D., USC) is on the faculty of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (South Hamilton, Mass.). Bio -
Deani Van Pelt Deani Van Pelt is a Cardus Senior Fellow, the President of Edvance Christian Schools Association, and a Senior Fellow at the Fraser Institute, where she formerly served as the Director of the Barbara Mitchell Centre for Improvement in Education. Bio -
Esther Meek Esther L. Meek is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Geneva College. This year she received the College's Excellence in Scholarship award. Bio -
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Gregory Wolfe Gregory Wolfe is the publisher and editor of Image and director of the MFA in Creative Writing program at Seattle Pacific University. Bio -
James Romaine Dr. James Romaine is a New York City based art historian who is an Associate Professor of Art History at Nyack College. Bio -
Jeffrey Overstreet Jeffrey Overstreet has too many jobs. He's the author of a four-book fantasy series, and a popular textbook on movies, faith, and culture. Bio -
Karen Swallow Prior Karen Swallow Prior, PhD, is Research Professor of English and Christianity and Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Bio -
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Philip Bess Philip Bess is Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at the School of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame. Bio -
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Richard Oosterhoff Richard Oosterhoff is finishing a dissertation in the History & Philosophy of Science at the University of Notre Dame. Bio -
Walter C. Wright Jr. Walter Wright was the Executive Director of the Max De Pree Center for Leadership, and sits on the board of Cardus. Bio
