The Theology Pugcast

Early postmodern promoters argued that the end of metanarratives like Christianity and the Enlightenment would lead to a peaceful plurality of group narratives, without the aim of any to dominate. This would lead to an end of oppressive worldviews with totalitarian aims. But mutations in postmodern thinking, those connected with Critical Theory, have taken a totalitarian turn, positing new absolutes along with a dominating aim. Tom leads the topic and Chris and Glenn contribute much to the discussion.

In an earlier episode, the Pugsters talked about Tolkien’s ideas of the value of pagan myth and the need to Christianize it. In this episode, Glenn picks up on that and applies it not to mythology but to culture, specifically, the religion of pre-Christian Ireland and what happened when it was Christianized. In pagan Ireland, the Druids were walking encyclopedias of everything related to the culture—religion, rituals, magic, law, history, music, …. When Ireland converted to Christianity, they assumed that religious leaders similarly had to learn everything there was to know about Christianity and culture. Along with tangents on the history of monasticism and martyrdom, the guys talked about a number of saints’ lives and the contributions of Irish Christianity to civilization.

In today’s show, Chris introduces an important study of individualism that was published back in 1985 by Robert Bellah and a team of sociologists, entitled: Habits of the Heart–Individualism and Commitment in American Life”. A best-seller at the time, the book is almost forgotten today, which is a shame since the world we live in is the world they warned us about and hoped we’d avoid. The team, through field research identified four forms individualism can take in the American tradition–two of which support healthy community life, and two which undermine it. The healthy forms of individualism were in decline in 1985, and the situation is worse today. Of course, the subject gives Tom and Glenn a lot to talk about. Join the discussion and see what sort of individual you are!

Celebratory fun highlights this Pugcast. As the gang records on St Patrick’s day, Tom thought it would be great to share in the celebrations by highlighting some fun-filled facts from Stephen Mansfield’s book In Search for God and Guinness. The book is far more than a story of the relation of Christianity and the Guinness family and beer. It also covers the long history of beer and the divine, and the way in which Christianity transformed and renewed the relation, as can be seen by the devout Guinness family and business and the beer sharing their name. Especially insightful is the way in which the Guinness family treated its employees. Glenn and Chris share in the discussion with wide-ranging facts and insights. This allows the conversation to lead where it may (one of the great aspects of the Pugcast), ending with Glenn sharing some rich insights on St. Patrick, Christianity in Ireland, and the Celtic Circle Cross.

Working off the introduction to Bradley Birzer’s J.R.R. Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth, the Pugsters talk about Tolkien, Lewis, and Chesterton and their ideas about myth and faerie. Tolkien believed that just like pagan philosophers grasped truths that were most perfectly expressed in the Gospel, the stories of myth and faerie were bits of “splintered light” that pointed beyond themselves to deeper reality. For Tolkien, pagan myths presented an almost sacramental vision of the world, though the myths need to be “sanctified” by Christian truth to avoid the dangers of paganism. The guys bring their own unique perspectives to these and related themes about the value of myth to us today.