Author Archives: Joshua Gibbs

Lecture Needs Discussion; Discussion Needs Lecture

The modern educator draws too neat and stiff a distinction between lecture and discussion. A good teacher lectures during discussion, discusses during lecture. The line which separates the two is not nearly as neat as we think. Lecture is the authority of the teacher; discussion is the autonomy of the student. Obviously, these things needContinue reading “Lecture Needs Discussion; Discussion Needs Lecture”

Some Art Warrants A Generous Audience And Some Does Not

“In the first few years I wrote for FilmFisher, I believed a position of lenience and generosity toward a work of art was necessary to truly understand it. However, while I was writing generous film reviews, I was also teaching Dante and Jane Austen, and eventually I came to the rather obvious conclusion that itContinue reading “Some Art Warrants A Generous Audience And Some Does Not”

Sentimentality Makes Life Harder For The Weak, Not Easier

Over the last twenty-five years, smoking rates are down and suicide rates are up. This must have something to do with the rules of discourse which surround either subject. If we spoke of suicide as bluntly as we speak of smoking, suicide rates might go own, as well. And yet, the more common suicide becomes,Continue reading “Sentimentality Makes Life Harder For The Weak, Not Easier”

Many Classical Christian Schools Have Their Own Sort Of Cancel Culture

“While somewhat awkward (and perhaps a little macabre), it would be worthwhile for any ecumenical school administration which fires an Orthodox or Catholic convert to ask in the exit interview, “What does it feel like to suffer such a huge loss for your convictions?” I suspect the answer would help the school deal in aContinue reading “Many Classical Christian Schools Have Their Own Sort Of Cancel Culture”

Heirlooms

“While progressives have great contempt for the past, they often have a more accurate sense of the past’s worth than conservatives do. Naïve and unrefined conservatives are sometimes willing to sell off huge tracts of the past at cut rates, but progressives who buy up the past never underestimate its worth. Because traditional things areContinue reading “Heirlooms”

Lecture: How Should Christians Watch Movies?

On the evening of Thursday, April 22nd, at 8:00pm EST, I will give a lecture entitled “How Should Christians Watch Movies?” The lecture will include readings from Love What Lasts, my forthcoming book from The CiRCE Institute. As per usual, the lecture will not be recorded. While there is a good deal of conversation amongContinue reading “Lecture: How Should Christians Watch Movies?”