Candychism

Years ago Leonard Coppes wrote an essay in the OPC magazine, New Horizons, on catechizing children. He called it “candychism.” In it he advocated rewarding children who memorize a catechism question and answer. To anticipate a frequent objection: No this isn’t crass . . . Continue reading →

Parrot AND Poet

You may be aware of Dorothy Sayers’ wonderful talk (later turned into an essay), “The Lost Tools of Learning.” In that essay she summarizes the medieval Christian understanding of the stages of childhood development. She argues that, according to the medievals, we . . . Continue reading →

A Simple Curriculum for Parrots, Perts, and Poets

I get occasional questions about a curriculum for Christian education programs. It’s probably more complicated than it seems—things usually are. Typically I agree to a project on the premise that, “Well, this seems straightforward” and then, of course, it isn’t. Nevertheless, I . . . Continue reading →

Sayers On The Disillusionment Of Our Time

Or—and this commonly happens in periods of disillusionment like our own, when philosophies are bankrupt and life appears without hope—men and women may turn to lust in sheer boredom and discontent, trying to find in it some stimulus which is not provided . . . Continue reading →

Sayers Knew What Time It Is

Something is happening to us today which has not happened for a very long time. We are waging a war of religion. Not a civil war between adherents of the same religion, but a life-and-death struggle between Christian and pagan. The Christians . . . Continue reading →