Reading Group Winter 2025
Archive
On February 13, we discussed Paul Kingsnorth, Against Christian Civilisation. You can also read it here. Paul Kingsnorth is a novelist and essayist living in Ireland, a recovering environmentalist and a reluctant convert. For more context, read about his conversion here (The Cross and the Machine) and his vision of a Wild Christianity.
On February 27, we discussed the work of Stratford Caldecott (1953-2014) of a ministry called Second Spring. Caldecott was the director of a Centre for Faith and Culture, which housed the Chesterton Library. He published widely on Tolkien and Lewis. This article gives an account of his life and impact. In his work, he often discussed education: what do we teach the next generation? how do we do that? and why? In Beauty for Truth's Sake, Caldecott explores the role of beauty and the imagination in education. The book is worth reading or re-reading, but for the sake of time, we will focus on the first 35 pages, included in this pdf document.
On March 13, we discussed the work of Zena Hitz, who wrote What Is Time For? Because everyone is too busy. How would we spend our time if we weren’t? Perhaps like Ambrose and others who found the way to leisure. Zena Hitz teaches at a Liberal Arts College and in this article, she explains why: Human fundamentals. The case for great-books programs. She also wrote a book which is an invitation to readers from every walk of life to rediscover the impractical splendours of a life of learning. In this autobiographical chapter, she discusses 'How washing dishes restored my intellectual life.'