The Imaginative Conservative ~ The Imaginative Conservative

Much as Evelyn Waugh insisted that the theme of “Brideshead Revisited” was “the operation of divine grace”, J.R.R. Tolkien insisted in a letter to a friend that “’The Lord of the Rings’ is, of course, a fundamentally religious and Catholic work.”
In the fourth and final essay in this survey of liturgy and literature we will focus on two great novels, one of which is rightly considered a classic and the other of which is largely unknown, and then will conclude with Tolkien’s great prose epic,...

It is not common that a person would recommend a philosopher to help you stay sane, but with the writings of Josef Pieper, if you have ever read even one of his books, you are likely to agree with me.
Also, the range of his wisdom is most impressive.  Some of the titles I have read and re-read and actually use in classes include:...

Historical consciousness is to civilized society what memory is to individual identity. Without memory there are no workable rules of conduct, no standard of justice, no basis for restraining passions, no sense of the connection between an action and...

A certain tension between religion and society marks the higher stages of every civilization. Religion begins by offering magical aid to harassed and bewildered men; it culminates by giving to a people that unity of morals and belief which seem so favorable...