Thus Spoke the Platypus

Kev posted this on his blog a while back, but after reading Nietzsche's "Ecce Homo" this past week, I think it's time for a reappearance.

O God of earth and altar,
Bow down and hear our cry,
Our earthly rulers falter,
Our people drift and die;

The walls of gold entomb us,
The swords of scorn divide,
Take not thy thunder from us,
But take away our pride.

From all that terror teaches,
From lies of tongue and pen,
From all the easy speeches
That comfort cruel men,

From sale and profanation
Of honour and the sword,
From sleep and from damnation,
Deliver us, good Lord.

Tie in a living tether
The prince and priest and thrall,
Bind all our lives together,
Smite us and save us all;

In ire and exultation
Aflame with faith, and free,
Lift up a living nation,
A single sword to thee.

-G.K. Chesterton

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The Platypus Reads Part XXVII

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My wife and I were listening the other day to Dr. Fred Sanders give a paper of California Theological Localism. It was one of the more technical pieces we've heard from him, and it was fun to stretch our brains a little. If I understand it right, the main idea of Theological Localism is that place matters and will shape the theology of its inhabitants in certain ways. This could be seen as determinative, or merely as fodder for apologetic engagement, both of which Sanders rejects as insufficient or problematic. What exactly is wanted seems to be a theological engagement with place, specifically California, in a way that Sanders and company feel has been neglected. If that's not clear, the fault is mine as a listener or a writer. Of course, the idea of a theology of place caught my attention and my immediate response was "someone should do this for New England." New England, after all, is its own peculiar place with, by American standards, a long, va...

Platypus of Truth

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