Depths of Hell, Heights of English
Paradise Lost: A Primer by Michael Cavanagh. Catholic University of America Press, 2020. Paperback, 256 pages, $30. Reviewed by Casey Chalk There’s great value in reading fictional literature that imagines hell, devils, and the origin of evil—and it’s not just because...
Hey Buddy, Can You Spare an Enthymeme?
Logic as a Liberal Art: An Introduction to Rhetoric and Reasoning by R. E. Houser. The Catholic University of America Press, 2020. Paperback, 488 pages, $35. Reviewed by Casey Chalk We love to talk about logic. Or, more precisely, we love to project ourselves as being...
The Secular Myth
Western Culture Today and Tomorrow: Addressing the Fundamental Issues by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Ignatius Press, 2019. Paperback, 170 pages, $17. Reviewed by Casey Chalk An old friend of mine recently declared that individual American citizens cannot advocate...
An Invaluable Bit of Aquinas
The Human Person: A Beginner’s Thomistic Psychology by Steven J. Jensen. The Catholic University of America Press, 2018. Paperback, 296 pages, $35. Reviewed by Casey Chalk How would our society be different if all Americans had just a little bit of Thomas Aquinas?...
A New Apologetic
Steadfast in Faith: Catholicism and the Challenges of Secularism by David G. Bonagura, Jr. Cluny Media, 2019. Paperback, 308 pages, $19.95. Reviewed by Casey Chalk “When the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?” This question, asked by Jesus and recorded in...
Create Your Own Tradition?
The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction by Justin Whitmel Earley. IVP Books, 2019. Paperback, 204 pages, $18. Reviewed by Casey Chalk “There is nothing new except what has been forgotten,” observed Marie Antoinette. Many such forgotten things that...
Citizens of the World
The Sand Pebbles by Richard McKenna. Naval Institute Press, [1962] 2001. Paper, 624 pages, $26. Reviewed by Casey Chalk This October marked the one-year anniversary of the release of Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle, an American/Canadian couple captured by the Taliban...
More than Regime Change, We Need a New Cosmological Vision