Research On Religion » poetry

Anthony Esolen on Timeless Hymns

tonygill — Sun, 14 Jan 2018 09:00:02 +0000

St. Augustine once said, “He who sings, prays twice.” Music has been a powerful component of Christian worship for its entire existence, and Prof. Anthony Esolen, a faculty fellow at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, joins us to discuss the nature and importance of the truly timeless hymns. We begin as we usually do with a chat about our guest’s personal background. Dr. Esolen enlightens us about Thomas More College (in Merrimack, New Hampshire), a new program he is setting up, and why he decided to translate a work of literature that had already been translated (Dante’s Inferno). Following that brief discussion, we dive into the world of religious music and start off with a wonderful thought by St. Augustine who said, “He who sings, prays twice.” Prof. Esolen explains the importance of music in worship and observes that the first element to go in a church on the verge of decline is the music. We then discuss “timeless hymns” and Tony (Esolen) lays out a list of characteristics that make such music so enduring including the fact that they are passed down over generations, but also other aspects such as logical progressions from stanza to stanza, proper word choice and imagery, and the meter of the song. Esolen notes how much of contemporary Christian music is too maudlin, prompting Tony (Gill) to make an odd reference to Seals & Croft from the 1970s.

Our conversation also covers why some periods in history tended to create a great flourishing of hymns, and Dr. Esolen makes an argument that we are in the doldrums now (and have been for the past century) as our culture has lost its connection to poetry. Noting the importance of poetry throughout all cultures and eras, he explains this loss as the result of academics making poetry too esoteric and cut off from common people (who have used poetry to tell stories throughout the ages). He also warns of the dangers of making poetry to overtly political. Later in the interview, we also discuss why Protestants did so well in crafting timeless hymns in the 18th and 19th centuries, noting that they had a mission to take the Scriptures to the average person in the pews. He sings the praises of folks such as the Wesleys and Robert Bridges.

The second half of our discussion walks through a series of themes that are found in hymns, starting with their origins in the Psalms. Prof. Esolen points out that Jesus prayed the Psalms and that music was important from the earliest stages of Christianity, as noted by St. Paul. We also discuss the difficulty in translating Hebrew, which is a much more “concentrated” language, into English in a way that preserved the meter, meaning, and poetry of the original verses written in the Old Testament. It is at this point where we feature a clip from the CD included with Real Music, Prof. Esolen’s book. The first one is “The King of Love My Shepherd Is,” written by Henry Baker (1868) and performed by the St. Cecilia Choir at St. John Cantius Church in Chicago, Illinois. (All music clips are from the same choir.) Another important theme within the great hymns examines the divine nature of Jesus. Here we listen to and discuss “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” by Gerard Moultrie (1864). Other themes include the importance of the Nativity, which although we frequently attribute to a time of great merriment in our Christmas carols, was a time of great tribulations for people in Judea. Dr. Esolen helps us understand the critical difference between “joy” and “pleasure,” noting that joy and sorrow are two emotions that are often linked together as they were at the birth of Jesus. The hymn illustrating the Nativity is “Of the Father’s Love Begotten” (John Mason Neale’s 1854 translation of a 4th century hymn). We also discuss the music teaching us of the Crucifixion and Resurrection (with “Ah, Holy Jesus,” by Robert Bridges) and “the Church militant,” a set of songs that encourage congregants to take their faith forward into the world. Here Dr. Esolen explains how our culture has done itself a disservice recently by downplaying the martial energy of young men that could be brought to bear for the promotion of Christianity. He notes that “battle themes” are common in the Bible and religious music over time. We listen to Charles Wesley’s “Soldiers of Christ, Arise” and Tony (Esolen) points out the powerful nature of such music.

We finish our discussion by asking our guest what he would tell a young Tony Esolen some 30 or 40 years ago at the outset of his career. Tony, the RoR host, presses Tony, the guest, to talk about some of the things he has learned over the decades and Prof. Esolen cautions us on the decay of culture over this period and how we must trust the Word of God. Recorded: December 29, 2017.

(Note: Copyright permission for music clips provided by TAN Books and Fr. Scott Haynes of St. Cecilia Choir. Documents on file with host.)

Real Music: A Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church, by Anthony Esolen.

Ironies of Faith: The Laughter at the Heart of Christian Literature, by Anthony Esolen.

Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding America’s Culture, by Anthony Esolen.

Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child, by Anthony Esolen.

Angels, Barbarians, and Nincompoops and a Lot of Other Words You Thought You Knew, by Anthony Esolen.

Anthony Esolen’s Amazon page (with other books and translations).

Touchstone (magazine where Anthony Esolen is a Senior Editor).

St. John Cantius Church (Chicago), home of the St. Cecilia Choir.

RELATED PODCASTS

Robert Coote on the 27 Most Popular Hymns and Amazing Grace.

Mark Lawson-Jones on Christmas Carols.

Ryan Habig on Music Ministry and “With Us” (an original song).

Jim Houser on the Christian Music Industry.

Louis Markos on the Poetry of Heaven & Hell (Encore Presentation)

tonygill — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 15:29:42 +0000

C.S. Lewis once noted that humans are the only species to fear their own dead. Not surprisingly, visions of the afterlife — or of heaven and hell — loom large within literature. Prof. Louis Markos, the Robert H. Ray Chair in the Humanities at Houston Baptist University, explains how these visions have changed over time, starting back with pre-Christian pagan writers such as Plato, and all the way through our contemporary period with an emphasis on C.S. Lewis. The interview also mingles in a variety of insights about how the great texts of Western Civilization are being taught today.

We begin the discussion with Dr. Markos making a case for why studying the classics is important. Tony admits that literature was never one of his favorite topics in school, and also has Lou explain to him the difference between poetry and prose. Poetry, we discover, does not necessarily mean words that rhyme, but rather a genre of writing where every word counts and there is extensive and deep use of metaphor, simile, and cadence. Lou proposes that while there is not merely one “correct reading” of poetry, there can be “wrong answers.” Tony reveals that his skepticism of literature emanated from a college course that seemingly read too much Freudian psychology into The Odyssey, which then launches Dr. Markos into a discussion of how poorly literature is often taught today.

The discussion of contemporary education in the area of literature then takes us to Dr. Markos’s book Heaven and Hell: Visions of the Afterlife in the Western Poetic Tradition. He notes that his goal is to bring Athens and Jerusalem together. Lou explains the difference between general revelation, wherein God speaks to all humans throughout history, and special revelation, wherein God specifically speaks through Jesus Christ. Christianity, he asserts, is not the only truth, but is the only complete truth. This allows him to note the importance of early pagan writers and the foundational influence they had on later writers such as Dante, Milton, and Lewis. It is at this point where Prof. Markos also explains why C.S. Lewis wrote that humans are the only species that fear the dead and what the difference is between fear of an imminent danger and fear of the unknown. It is the latter, in the form of what comes after life, that has motivated great literature throughout the ages.

The last half of our interview walks (or perhaps jogs) through nearly three millennia of literary history. Lou starts us with Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, which deals directly with Odysseus having to face death (though it is not clear in this epic work if the hero actually ventures into the afterlife or merely stands at its gates). Plato is next up, and although Plato banished the poets, Lou observes that this great Greek philosopher plants himself firmly in the poetic tradition as he tends to “lose himself” in myth after introducing a philosophic principle. Here we also see how the afterlife becomes a place of judgment, not just a destination, which in turn helps Plato to wrestle with the concept of justice. Moving to Rome we briefly pick up the work of Virgil who becomes a major influence on the likes of Dante. What is introduced here is that we are introduced into the souls of the great Romans who act out an eternal drama. It is no wonder, Lou mentions, that Dante then picks up on Virgil who Prof. Markos considers to be the climax of general revelation. Dante infuses this vision with the specific revelation of Christianity and develops the notion that hell is not just punishment for a sin, but that it is the sinner becoming sin — an explanation of what sin does to humans.

Time constraints forbid us from examining a number of other authors that Prof. Markos discusses in his work (e.g., Milton), and so we jump up to the (relatively) contemporary period and C.S. Lewis where Lou reveals that his favorite work of that author is The Great Divorce. Lou discusses how Lewis builds upon Dante and gives us a psychology of sin by using the story of the grumbling old lady on the bus from hell. He points out that “the grumbler” really is nothing more than a “grumble” herself, leaving little to save on the road to heaven. The intellectual challenge of that work is how all but one of the characters, when offered a choice of heaven and hell, choose the latter revealing how the process of sin is really the hell we face; hell is not just a single destination. We finish with an interesting observation about how evangelical Christians, who used to be very skeptical of reading non-Christian authors, are once again embracing these classics at a time when The Academy may be abandoning them. Lou offers the analogy of building a bridge between the pre-Christian and Christian eras and its important for general and special revelation. Recorded: July 6, 2015.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Louis Markos’ website over at The City Online, a website hosted by Houston Baptist University.

Lou Markos’ bio at HBU’s Department of English and Modern Languages.

Heaven & Hell: Visions of the Afterlife in the Western Poetic Tradition, by Louis Markos.

From Achilles to Christ: Why Christians Should Read the Pagan Classics, by Louis Markos.

The Eye of the Beholder: How to See the World Like a Romantic Poet, by Louis Markos.

On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue in Tolkien and Lewis, by Louis Markos.

C.S. Lewis: An Apologist for Education, by Louis Markos.

The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis (mentioned in podcast).

RELATED PODCASTS

John Mark Reynolds on A Christmas Carol.

Jason Jewell on Why Christians Should Read the Great Books.

Pamela Edwards on Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Corey Olsen on J.R.R. Tolkien, Religion, and the Hobbit.

Hunter Baker on the Future of Higher Education.

Billie Livingston on Religion, Writing Fiction, Crooked Hearts, and Mercy

tonygill — Sun, 15 May 2016 08:00:59 +0000

In a bit of a departure from our regularly programmed social scientific discussion of religion, we invite Billie Livingston — independent novelist and poet — to discuss her life and the role of religious faith in the process of writing fictional works of literature. This free flowing discussion takes us from Billie’s early days in foster care and filling milk coolers, through the process of discovering a love of writing, and through several of her novels. Our discussion covers what religious themes have developed throughout her works, and how spiritual themes such as guilt, mercy, and redemption are woven into the characters and plots. The books written by Ms. Livingston are not meant as religious novels per se, but rather reflect upon the real life struggles of individuals and how faith plays a role. She reveals where a number of her stories and characters came from, including her own history as well as from meeting people in her travels, including an interesting Pentecostal family living in Northern California, and some of her husband’s fellow students during his time in seminary. We also explore the concept of “mercy” in her latest novel, The Crooked Heart of Mercy. Whereas mercy is typically thought as being forgiving or kind, Billie discusses the Greek origins of the term (eleos) and how it connotes steadfast love and immersive healing. Billie shares a number of insights from the publishing world and what it is like to be an author throughout our conversation. Recorded: April 28, 2016.

RELATED LINKS

Billie Livingston’s personal website (including various novels and other works).

The Crooked Heart of Mercy, by Billie Livingston.

The Chick in the Back of the Church, by Billie Livingston.

The Trouble with Marlene, by Billie Livingston (and cinematic version).

Going Down Swinging, by Billie Livingston.

Cease to Blush, by Billie Livingston.

Greedy Little Eyes, by Billie Livingston.

One Good Hustle, by Billie Livingston.

RELATED PODCASTS

Tim Kelleher on The Nicene Creed and Hollywood.

John Mark Reynolds on Dickens and “A Christmas Carol.”

Louis Markos on the Poetry of Heaven and Hell.

Corey Olson on J.R.R. Tolkien and “The Hobbit.”

Pamela Edwards on Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Louis Markos on the Poetry of Heaven & Hell

tonygill — Sun, 19 Jul 2015 08:00:43 +0000

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Louis Markos’ website over at The City Online, a website hosted by Houston Baptist University.

Lou Markos’ bio at HBU’s Department of English and Modern Languages.

Heaven & Hell: Visions of the Afterlife in the Western Poetic Tradition, by Louis Markos.

From Achilles to Christ: Why Christians Should Read the Pagan Classics, by Louis Markos.

The Eye of the Beholder: How to See the World Like a Romantic Poet, by Louis Markos.

On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue in Tolkien and Lewis, by Louis Markos.

C.S. Lewis: An Apologist for Education, by Louis Markos.

The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis (mentioned in podcast).

RELATED PODCASTS

John Mark Reynolds on A Christmas Carol.

Jason Jewell on Why Christians Should Read the Great Books.

Pamela Edwards on Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Corey Olsen on J.R.R. Tolkien, Religion, and the Hobbit.

Hunter Baker on the Future of Higher Education.

Pamela Edwards on Samuel Taylor Coleridge

tonygill — Sun, 22 Feb 2015 09:00:50 +0000

While best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) also was a philosopher, historian, and theologian who had a great deal to say about the politics of his day. Dr. Pamela Edwards, an expert on Coleridge’s thought and the director of academic programs at the Jack Miller Center, discusses the life and times of this interesting figure.

Our conversation begins with a biography of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, including his youth as one of 13 children to an Anglican minister and his education in Christ’s Hospital, a school dispossessed children of clergy. We follow him through a period of turbulence at Cambridge University, where he never completed his degree and toyed around with a number of different theological and political ideas. Dr. Edwards then explains how Coleridge made his living after leaving Cambridge, finding friends and patrons that would sponsor his work and serving as a writer in various formats including poetry, journalism, and pamphlet writing. We discuss his various influences, including Edmund Burke, and how the unfolding of events of the era, namely the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, had an impact on him. As the podcast progresses, we note his unique historical position of straddling the very tail end of the feudal aristocratic period and the emergence of the Industrial Revolution.

Pamela then walks us through the development of Coleridge’s thinking on politics and how it blended his philosophical thoughts on Christianity and history. This journey begins with The Statemen’s Manual; or The Bible, the Best Guide to Political Skill and Foresight. Pamela makes note that the full titles of all his work are very important to understanding the content of his writing. This Lay Sermon, was aimed at educating politicians and diplomats about good governance. We discuss how much of this was rooted in the ideas of covenant and contracts in the Old Testament.

Our discussion then takes a look at On the Constitution of Church and State According to the Idea of Each. Again, Pamela notes the importance of the full title of the work and how it mattered that the term “Idea” was capitalized throughout the work. Here we dip into Coleridge’s view of history as an emanation of the divine and the living memory of the nation. Coleridge argues that the Church is a fulcrum point in history balancing the permanence of history (represented by the landed gentry) and progress (the coming commercial age). Coleridge’s political philosophy was to infuse an aristocratic spirit into an increasingly democratic world.

The interview finishes with some of Pamela’s reflections on how Coleridge would view our world today, noting that the fragmentation that we tend to have amongst specialized departments in modern universities would be unsettling to him, as he saw things in a much more holistic light. Dr. Edwards also discusses the importance of having a moral foundation for both “experts and amateurs” that helps to anchor our increasingly technical world. Recorded: February 11, 2015.

The Statesman’s Science: History, Nature, and Law in the Political Thought of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, by Pamela Edwards.

The Oxford Handbook on Samuel Taylor Coleridge, edited by Frederick Burwick.

The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce, by Deidre McCloskey (mentioned in podcast).

RELATED PODCASTS

John Mark Reynolds on Dickens and “A Christmas Carol.”

Jason Jewell on John Locke and Religious Toleration.

Jason Jewell on Why Christians Should Read the “Great Books.”