Author: Mark Vernon

What is the meaning of the disenchantment of our age? Is the ego a clue to a way forward, not a hindrance? What might the next steps in the evolution of human consciousness look like? These questions, and more, were explored by Owen Barfield. He was a member of the famous Oxford literary group, the… Continue reading Talk at Watkins Books online

A Secret History of Christianity seems to have had a good first day in the world. I hope it opens up the genius insights of Owen Barfield for readers. I’ve also written an article published in The Tablet outlining his take on Christianity. And there’s a discussion with Jules Evans on the Church Times podcast… Continue reading A Secret History of Christianity out today!

In this new episode of The Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and I discuss Big Histories – the books that present long range narratives of cosmic and human evolution. They are big sellers. Noah Yuval Harari, David Christian and Felipe Fernández-Armesto are among the authors attempting to tell a deep story of the universe and humanity.… Continue reading Big histories and the new need for meaning

Nicholas Colloff reviews A Secret History of Christianity at Golgonooza. “Mark Vernon, in this beautifully written and artfully constructed book, uses Barfield’s key insights and amplifying historical and literary scholarship, to trace the development of Christianity’s two founding traditions – Athens and Jerusalem – articulating how they embarked on similar journeys from original participation to… Continue reading “Beautifully written and artfully constructed”

Michael Leighty asks me, Mark Vernon, a range of questions from Barfield’s attitudes towards postmodernism to his understanding of the power of story. We explore how language is an embodied activity and what Barfield meant by final participation. We ask what he has to say to readers of Plato and what he has to say… Continue reading From postmodernity to final participation: talking Owen Barfield

Malcolm Guite and I join Justin Brierley on Justin’s Unbelievable radio show to talk about how the Inklings, the group of Oxford intellectuals including CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien and Owen Barfield, made sense of Christian faith. Mark Vernon shares how he draws on Barfield’s approach in his new book ‘A secret history of Christianity’. Theologian-poet… Continue reading The faith of the Inklings, with Malcolm Guite

“Without soul, there would be no tools,” I write at the Perspectiva blog. “The human niche is one marked by an openness to the transcendent.” Narrative accounts of human evolution are big right now. You may well have read Noah Yuval Harari’s Sapiens and its follow up, Homo Deus. And there are others, such as… Continue reading Human evolution and soul

This piece was published at Christian Today. Pascal’s Wager has become a notorious reason to believe in God. The French mathematician and philosopher proposed that it’s rational to believe in God because if you’re wrong it won’t make any difference, but if you’re right it might make every difference as to where you spend eternity.… Continue reading Was Pascal right about belief?

Human consciousness has shifted dramatically over the last 5000 years. Evidence as diverse as prehistoric archeology, ancient social structures and the history of words suggests as much. In particular, it looks as if our sense of being individual selves is a relatively recent perception. It changes our relationship to nature, the cosmos and gods. In… Continue reading The evolution of the self

The words of the last Inkling himself open this discussion I had on Barfield’s thought with the editor of the Barfield Literary Estate website, Rory O’Connor. It was a pleasure to talk about thinking and imagining, rainbows and spirit, climate change and the future. For our conversation, click here.