The Narthex

The top three questions New Oxford Review gets from our subscribers are 1) "Why can't I access online articles?"; 2) "How can I add online access to my print subscription?"; and 3) "Why does the website say my subscription is 'inactive'?" If you've ever asked yourself one of these, read…

One of the definitions of topsy-turvy is the “inversion of the natural order.” This is what we are experiencing in our culture, from the top down. As a recent article by Victor Davis Hanson states, “the Establishment Is the Revolution” (see link below). It is not the protestor in the street…

Life is a mystery to live, not a problem to solve. And metaphysics is rich in mystery! Here’s a contrast. Science often advances by resolution and replacement. For example, Galileo resolves Ptolemy’s puzzles, and heliocentrism emerges. Einstein resolves Newton’s puzzles, and the theory of relativity replaces classical physics. Closer to…

U.S. conservatives are now able to openly voice criticism of Washington's continued pro-war stance in Ukraine -- able to openly voice meaning they can do so without being accused of being pro-Putin. The Overton window on discussing the Ukraine war has moved, making room for intelligent discussion and views that…

The first few decades of Gothic Revival master Augustus Pugin's life were filled with activity and strain, and there would be more obstacles and tribulations. Pugin had periods of blindness. His second wife died. (He remarried. His third wife not only cared for his six children by his two previous…

Augustus Welby Pugin is in the news these days in the United Kingdom because he designed Big Ben, icon for the British nation, whose scaffolding has now come down after two years and will reopen this spring. Pugin (1812-1852; his French name is pronounced “PEW-jin”) was THE Gothic Revivalist. A…

Good politics calls for building bridges and forming coalitions. The American Solidarity Party gets it. Here in California, as elsewhere, the powerbrokers, whether Democrat or Republican, have a vested interest in blocking new parties from getting ballot access. The “duopoly” has an effective strategy for shoring up the status quo.…

The demise of a nation at the hand of its enemy is comprehensible. The demise of a nation by the aggregated poor choices of its own prosperous people is strange indeed. Christ warns of the pitfalls of wealth, of hearts set on money and not God. He says, in the…

I have a confession to make. For me and for many feeble Catholics like myself Lent nowadays is marked by little more than a cardboard money box on the kitchen windowsill and perhaps an intention to drink a little less wine and give up something nice like chocolate for six…

Let us familiarize ourselves with the titles accorded these Cappadocian bishops we have studied: Basil, Gregory, and Gregory of Nyssa. St. Gregory of Nyssa is considered the philosopher and mystic; he wrote less than the other two but perhaps more deeply. An ecumenical council in 787 pronounced him “Father of…

A new cartoon, courtesy of Harry Bliss, shows a fellow chatting with The Grim Reaper. The Reaper, sensitive to the chap’s feelings, tells him not to worry overmuch -- it’s just a preliminary interview. But should we believe Mr. Reaper? Or should we be worried, very worried? The latest report…

Following the council of 381, Gregory returned to Nazianzus. For Lent, he gave up speaking! (Newman, Historical Sketches, p. 86) In his autobiographical poem, Gregory used some harsh words to describe his relationship with Basil. Yet, at the same time that he wrote the poem, he delivered a funeral oration…

The cost of an uncomplicated birth, even for parents with employer-provided health insurance, has gotten way out of hand. The situation screams for proposed solutions, and so the leaders of two pro-life organizations have offered one. Catherine Glenn Foster, President & CEO of Americans United for Life, and Kristen Day,…

Until Gregory’s father’s death in 374, Gregory stayed in Nazianzus. Despite the rupture between Gregory and Basil, Basil attended Gregory’s father’s funeral. (Gregory’s father had always supported making Basil a bishop; see Funeral Orations, p. 154.) Gregory, his father’s auxiliary bishop, did not want to succeed his father. Because nothing…

A Civil Rights activist turned thug named H. Rap Brown was right. “Violence,” he said, “is as American as cherry pie.” Violence is also pluriform, and it includes the violence we do to language when we turn that violence on ourselves. Here’s an example. Last week in Atlanta police shot…