Philip Porter

Unnatural Death: Creation, Sin, and the Angelic Fall Unnatural Death argues in favor of the Christian claim that death is an evil, caused by sin. To do so, it offers a theological grammar of scriptural interpretation, of voluntary and natural evil, and ...

If you've always wondered about the origins of death and have a penchant for thinking about angels, time and eternity, the building blocks of the cosmos, or natural and voluntary evils, I have good news. My book is available for preorder!
www.fortresspress.com/store/produc...

Read even more—if you end up teaching, you have many fewer hours per day for research. There’s absolutely nothing like the vast, unoccupied hours of the comps and dissertation phases. Truly the good old days.

It’s great that God is both the supreme good we ought to desire above all things and that God gives us that desire.

thinking about getting Schelling-pilled, where do I start friends?

Ignatius of Antioch

Get ready to convert that anti-Americanism into self-hatred, my friend.

reading about compatibilism, but i’ve been informed that i must go to a child’s birthday party, and i think this is what Aquinas means when he says the rei familiaris impede the contemplation of God

I like Coakley’s work, but I reread The New Asceticism as I was prepping and just didn’t think it would work well.

who wants to take my class on sex and asceticism?

Cry more. But it’s good.

War & Penance As we reflect on the end of the war in Afghanistan, the Church’s penitential practices can help us examine our consciences, individually and collectively.

If you enjoy this piece, let me also suggest something I wrote on the necessity of penance to heal the wounds of war.

I reviewed a book for this month’s Commonweal. In it, I argue that to unlearn our devotion to war we have to relearn our commitment to Christ. Let me know what you think.

Sacraments of War "Christians ought to oppose idolatry of the state and the military by being an alternative to the politics of war."

"Christians ought to oppose idolatry of the state and the military by being an alternative to the politics of war."

@philipgporter.bsky.social: Can Christianity offer an alternative to America’s military worship?
www.commonwealmagazine.org/sacraments-war

Hey @htcoolman.bsky.social, look what made it to Madrid!

Sacraments of War "Christians ought to oppose idolatry of the state and the military by being an alternative to the politics of war."

My latest is an article in @commonweal.bsky.social reviewing Robert Keeler's book, *Sacred Soldier.*

Ok, there are problems with the modern world, but one of them is not that I can examine this 12th century Cistercian manuscript of Gregory's Moralia in Job which is housed in the municipal library of Dijon from my living room in Madrid.

I would like a pair of less innovative shoes, I think.

"...in divine mercy alone should all rejoice, no one should presume on the basis of his own strength."

Gregory the Great, HEv, 38.16

"About himself, no one knows what will happen in the hidden judgment of God, because Many are called, but few are chosen. And because no one is sure whether he is chosen it stands to reason that all should tremble, about their deeds all should fear..."

How is it that all the running shoes I want to buy suddenly cost $200?

One of my contentions after a lot of close reading of Gregory the Great and the people he influenced greatly (Bede, Hugh of St. Victor, Bernard, Thomas Aquinas, Teresa of Ávila) is that we need to recover an otherworldly Christianity.

Do people who write still make websites, or is everyone just posting to substack? Thinking about a long term commentary project and considering venues.

I accidentally clicked the “books” button under interests when I was signing up for the butterfly site and now I am getting fed the cringiest book lovers posts. Make it stop. Where do I tell them I don’t like books anymore?

The zombie apocalypse truck we deserve.

What if Jesus meant what he said? What then?

I recommend listening to Kingsnorth’s Erasmus lecture. It’s a salutary chastening and a bold move to debut it with the First Things audience. www.youtube.com/live/Y3hMSZq...

Christ the King Readings: Daniel 7:13-14; Revelation 1:5-8; John 18:33b-37 The exchange between Jesus and Pilate  is one of the New Testament’s  most politi...

My homily for Christ the King, in which I quote the book of Esdras and seek to be an equal opportunity political offender: homileticdiakonia.blogspot.com/2024/11/chri...

finally reached St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press critical mass and decided to shelve them separately

“Nothing can so banish licentious habits from the soul and restrain memories which disturb and stir up troubling flames in the body as can avid devotion to the love of learning and searching investigation into the meanings of the passages of Scripture.” (St. Isaac if Nineveh)

I think the theme of my sex and asceticism class next semester is:

“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Gal 5:24)