Addenda
A monthly e-mail newsletter from MARS HILL AUDIO
December 15, 2006 v Number 34
"Why is it that a world dedicated to the pursuit of leisure and of
machines that save labour is chiefly marked by its levels of rush,
frenetic busyness and stress? . . . The paradox of modernity . . . is
that however successful the understanding of time and space, the
modern is less at home in the actual time and space of daily living
than peoples less touched by [modern] changes. . . . Whatever the
integration of space and time in science, in modern life there is at
once cultural stagnation and febrile change, a restless movement from
place to place, experience to experience, revealing little evidence
of a serene dwelling in the body and on the good earth."
-- Colin Gunton, The One, the Three and the Many: God, Creation and
the Culture of Modernity (Cambridge University Press, 1993)
New on our desks
Happiness Has a History
On Volume 82 of the MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, professor Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn discusses the work of the late Philip Rieff and how people become increasingly dissatisfied the more obsessively they pursue satisfaction and fulfillment. In a recent publication of The Trinity Forum, professor Wilfred McClay—also a guest on Volume 82—says much the same thing about happiness: when pursued as an end in itself, happiness is elusive. [Read more on Happiness]
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Before 2006 gives way to the New Year, Books & Culture is taking one last opportunity to pay homage to the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's birth. The November/December issue of the periodical offers "The Triumph of Genius: Celebrating Mozart" by Jon Pott. [Read more on Mozart]
Not Quite Newsprint, Not Quite Commonplace Book
John McWhorter, Dana Gioia, and Daniel Ritchie are a few of the guests who have talked about language and its use on the MARS HILL AUDIO Journal. Adding to the discussion from another corner is editor and writer Joseph Rago. Rago reflects on blogs and how their writers use and abuse language in a piece published in the December 20, 2006, issue of The Wall Street Journal. [Read more on blogs]
Choice or a Voice?
In 2001, I had the privilege of interviewing A. J. Conyers about his book, The Long Truce: How Toleration Made the World Safe for Power and Profit (Spence, 2001). As the subtitle of that volume suggests, Dr. Conyers's assessment of the disordering patterns of modernity focused on the modern preoccupation with power, control, and choice, and on the influence of commercial institutions in encouraging those preoccupations.
Before his death from cancer on July 18, 2004, A. J. Conyers was a professor at the George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Just before his death, he finished the manuscript of his last book, which has just been published by Spence Books. In The Listening Heart: Vocation and the Crisis of Modern Culture, Conyers advances the argument that behind or beneath many other cultural pathologies of modernity is the loss of a sense of vocation. Conyers understands vocation in the largest sense possible. "More than 'work' and more than a 'religious identity' or membership in a religious community, it is the notion that being human means one is drawn toward a destiny—and not simply as a worker or as a religionist, but as a soul that properly belongs to that which is yet dimly seen, but which already lays claim to one's very existence."
Conyers was clearly eager to contrast this sense of being divinely (and hence authoritatively) directed with the modern obsession with self-definition and self-determination, an obsession which claims to exhaust the meaning of freedom. We are all so shaped and tempted by this thin and idolatrous idea of freedom that it requires a massive effort of imagination to envision human life and social experience ordered, by contrast, by the deep assumption of Creation and Providence. Conyers served us all magnificently in leaving us a book with the express intent of "reconstruct[ing] in the mind of a careful and considerate reader what it means to live in a society dominated by vocation, rather than one dominated by the will and the notion of 'choice'."
Michael Polanyi, Again
Listeners who want a good basic introduction to the ideas of Michael Polanyi (which have been discussed in a number of MARS HILL AUDIO features as well as our documentary, "Tacit Knowing, Truthful Knowing") will want to take note of a recent book by Mark T. Mitchell called Michael Polanyi: the Art of Knowing (ISI Press). In addition to brief surveys of the key concepts in Polanyi's thought, Mitchell's book includes a chapter comparing Polanyi's ideas with those of Michael Oakeshott, Eric Voegelin, and Alasdair MacIntyre. (And just in case you missed the announcement earlier, "Tacit Knowing, Truthful Knowing" is now available in MP3 download form; see here for details.)
More Material for Skeptical Protestants
On volume 76 of the MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, we heard from patristic scholar D. H. Williams about the Christian necessity of attending to Christian tradition, specifically about why Protestants need to recognize more deliberately the debt they owe to the Church of the post-apostolic period through the fifth century. Williams makes that duty a bit easier to fulfill in his latest book, Tradition, Scripture, and Interpretation: A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church (Baker Academic). The book introduces readers to the convictions of some of the major theological voices of the early Church on fundamental issues of how and where the Church is to locate its organizing beliefs, with brief excerpts arranged thematically (e.g., "The Interplay of Scripture and Tradition," "The Rule of Faith," "Formation of Scripture as Canon").
By the way, for those who may have missed it originally, volume 76 is now (newly) available in our MP3 download format. In addition to an extended discussion (over 30 minutes) with D. H. Williams about the Church and the Tradition, this volume also features sculptor Ted Prescott talking about beauty and the human figure; biographer Martin X. Molesky on Michael Polanyi; literary historian Stephen Prickett on George MacDonald; and film critic Barrett Fisher on the challenges of adapting books into movies. Click here for more information.
Reading with Your Ears
On the last issue of our podcast, Audition, we featured Ralph C. Wood talking about P. D. James, whose novel The Children of Men has now been adapted for film. In 1994, Dr. Wood (now University Professor of Theology and Literature at Baylor University) wrote an essay for Theology Today in which he examined in great detail the spiritual and social concerns James explores in this fascinating book, concerns which apparently (we haven't seen it yet) are absent from the film. We have just released an MP3 download of a reading of that essay as part of our Audio Reprint series. The 40-minute Reprint (read by Ken Myers) sells for $3.00. In case you missed the podcast, Alan Jacobs was also featured, in a 1993 interview discussing The Children of Men. Audition is free, so let your friends know about this issue, especially if the subject of the movie comes up. Although a new issue of Audition will be released this coming weekend, the old issue will still be available for download at mhadigital.org.
Speaking of Audio Reprints, we were pleased to see David Brooks's December 14 New York Times column, in which he cited Matthew Crawford's essay, "Shop Class as Soulcraft," as one of the best articles published anywhere in 2006. The article, originally published in The New Atlantis, was one of the first articles we identified as a candidate for an Audio Reprint, and is also available for $3.00.
After the Partridge Arrives
Christmas has, as the song reminds us, twelve days, which means it's not too late to purchase a gift subscription for a friend or loved one (or even a perfect stranger in need of a faithful intellectual stimulant). If you call us (1-800-331-6407) or order online (www.marshillaudio.org/Xmas), you can still use the Promotional Code "XMAS06" to get special rates. Although we originally announced those rates expiring on December 31st, it seems meet and right to extend those rates until January 5th, the day of the deafening din of the dozen drummer delivery. Merry Christmas!
The IRS isn't quite as flexible as we are, however, so if you want to make a tax-deductible year-end donation to MARS HILL AUDIO and claim the deduction on your next tax return, you need to pick up the pace. Donations must be postmarked no later than December 31. We would be extremely grateful for any and all gifts, even those sent after the ball drops in Times Square. And Happy New Year!
Getting Bach for Christmas
Since it's still Christmas (despite the fact that department stores are putting up their Valentine’s Day displays), you may like to listen to a wonderful series produced by the BBC on Bach's music for Christmas. It ran on Radio 3 all this week (Monday-Friday), and featured conductor and Bach interpreter Sir John Eliot Gardiner introducing recordings of the various works Bach left us to celebrate the season. If you have broadband internet access, and can arrange to listen for 85 to 105 minutes at a time, go to the BBC's Radio Player page at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/, select Radio 3 and look for the 5 links to "A Bach Christmas."
Subscriber Update
Volume 83 (Nov./Dec. 2006) of the MARS HILL AUDIO Journal will be shipped next week. This issue's guestlist comprises: Barrett Fisher discussing film noir; Dick Keyes discussing cynicism; Richard Lints on theology and human identity; Paul McHugh on the discipline of psychiatry; Paul Weston on theologian Lesslie Newbigin; and Paul Walker on Renaissance choral music and the theology it communicates.
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Copyright 2006 MARS HILL AUDIO, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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