A Thinking Reed

"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed" – Blaise Pascal

Jame Alison

  • 2008: The year in book blogging

    I’m not going to provide a best books of the year list, but here’s a sampling of those that got their hooks into me enough to generate some more or less in-depth blogging (needless to say, most of these weren’t published in 2008): Andrew Bacevich, The Limits of Power “Empire of dysfunction” Evelyn Pluhar, Beyond Read more

  • The sacrifice to end all sacrifices

    Here’s a very thoughtful post on the Atonement from the fine blog Sub Ratione Dei. I wouldn’t call myself a “Girardian,” but I’ve definitely learned from the Girardian perspective, especially via James Alison‘s work. I’m hoping to get my hands on a copy of Mark Heim’s Saved from Sacrifice soon too. Read more

  • An end to sacrifices

    I just finished reading James Alison’s Undergoing God, and the more I read of him the more I like him and think he’s onto something important. Alison, to recap, is a student of anthropologist/literary theorist Rene Girard, who has proposed a rather daring new interpretation of Jesus’ death on the cross. For Girard human selves Read more