Owen Barfield agreed with the other Inklings, like JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis, that the life of Jesus marked a pivot point in history. But he had a particularly powerful way of capturing the truth… Reading from History in English Words by Owen Barfield. For more on his understanding of Christianity, and genius worldview, try… Continue reading The Meaning of Christmas by Owen Barfield
Posts
Artificial Intelligence – conversation with Rupert Sheldrake
Artificial intelligence is rarely out of the news. But what is it? In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon take a lead from the breakthrough by Google in the prediction of protein folding, which Rupert has studied for decades. Whether this success reveals any deeper understanding of nature leads to… Continue reading Artificial Intelligence – conversation with Rupert Sheldrake
Beyond Flatland – the talks and a report
Beyond Flatland, A Day on Transformative Ways of Knowing, was on Saturday 28th November 2020. Full details of the idea for the day, the programme and recordings of the talks are online. This is a report of the day written by Nicholas Colloff. Edwin Abbott’s satirical novella, which gave this day its title, imagines the… Continue reading Beyond Flatland – the talks and a report
The genius of Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
I hugely enjoyed the new novel by Susanna Clarke, prompted to read it in part because I knew of her interest in Owen Barfield. It did not disappoint and I wanted to share why by talking about it in relation to four levels of meaning: the literal, moral, tropological and anagogic. I’d go so far… Continue reading The genius of Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
A conversation on the New Abnormal Podcast
Why hope rests on perceptions, community on being yourself, and resilience on questioning. Good talking with @SeanPdeC at The New Abnormal podcast.
The tricky parable of the talents
The story of the master giving 5, 2 and 1 talent to slaves trips up those who see the parables as moral or justice tales. But there is another way of understanding them, asking us whether we have the eyes to see, the ears to hear of an entirely different economy and kingdom. Reading from… Continue reading The tricky parable of the talents
Dante’s Divine Comedy. The boxset
I’ve just completed the last of 100 YouTubes/podcasts, one for each of the 100 cantos of Dante’s masterpiece, The Divine Comedy. The complete YouTubes series is here. The complete podcast series is here, and on other podcast platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. This year, 2020, marks the 700th anniversary of its completion. Next year,… Continue reading Dante’s Divine Comedy. The boxset
Love in a time of crisis
Our times are shaped by infantile forms of love, and even those who talk of love rarely seem to have more nuanced perceptions of it. But understanding love as linked to loss, and as a developmental path, can help us personally and culturally today. Love can then be known to grow through loss and struggle,… Continue reading Love in a time of crisis
The Day of the Dead, a discussion with Rupert Sheldrake
Most, perhaps all, cultures have moments of the year for fostering links with those who have died. In the western Christian world, the days of the dead are Halloween, All Saints and All Souls Day. In this Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogue, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon ask about the significance of this time. They take a lead… Continue reading The Day of the Dead, a discussion with Rupert Sheldrake
Mark on The Sacred Podcast
I talk with Elizabeth Oldfield on The Sacred Podcast about breakdowns, the power of psychotherapy, the emergence of Christianity, the imagination, the future of science, sensing the divine. Amongst other things…. ‘Ultimately what you want people to do is realise they are far bigger than they realise and to become more aligned with the biggest,… Continue reading Mark on The Sacred Podcast