The Narthex

These are frightening times. Sizable numbers of our population, including apparently most of our political leaders, are clearly terrified of COVID. This is becoming increasingly obvious in public places, where the mood is subtly changing: people are afraid of each other and show their fear not only by their avoidance of contact…

Healthy human culture is inextricably linked to religion. Christopher Dawson and others have argued that ethical systems are unsustainable in the long term apart from a trust in the immanence of a good God:

Human nature always retains its spiritual character—its bond with the transcendent and the divine. If…

I cannot confirm this story, try as I might, but I recall that decades ago there occurred one of those sex scandals in the Australian Federal Parliament in which the alleged offender was turned on and savaged from all sides by his virtuous fellows. Until a venerable senior politician (I think…

The destruction of Edward Colston's statue in the English city of Bristol is perfectly understandable in one sense: slavery is a disgusting institution and the involvement and enrichment of Englishmen in that vile trade was utterly reprehensible. To their credit the British later led the world in the virtual eradication…

Everybody has heard of Socrates, the Greek philosopher who was put to death by his own people in 399 BC. The charge against him was that he had “corrupted the youth,” but in reality it was his profound intellectual humility that killed him. He was as honest a man as…

On April 25 we celebrated ANZAC Day, the annual commemoration of Australia’s and New Zealand’s participation in the Gallipoli campaign of the First World War. The campaign failed in its objectives and our troops withdrew having suffered terrible losses over several bitter months of struggle. There can’t be many countries whose…

If you ask people what they think was the most important thing that ever happened in the world, they’ll come up with some fascinating answers. Some will tell you it was the invention of the wheel. Others will plump for the telephone. Others perhaps the discovery of anesthetics. Few will…

On May 4, 1940, my father embarked on the first voyage of the Queen Mary, since her conversion to a troop ship, to sail to the Middle East to fight the Axis powers. On board were 5,000 other members of the AIF – the Australian Imperial Force. My mother, like…

Anyone who has ever been a teacher will recall conversations with students that went something like this: “Do you believe in God?” “No, not really. I believe in Science, so I haven’t got much time for religion.” Once young people have got it into their heads that there is a…

We need to remind ourselves sometimes that Christianity is a very materialistic and earthly religion. In our faith there is no necessary conflict between body and spirit; they were not created to be at odds with each other. G.K. Chesterton put it like this:

There are no bad…

Every generation complains about the shortcomings of its successors. Grievances about the state of “the world today” have filled the thoughts of the grumpy (aged and ageing) since time began. But there’s never been a time when all was well. Dickens said it so nicely: “It was the best of…

I once wrote an article claiming that the Incarnation of Christ had been the central and pivotal event in world history. A good friend, a professor of mathematics and certainly no fool, thought my view “curious” but said that he would prefer to award the title to the Invention of…