Backward Mutters

  • The Greatest Problem the Universe Has Ever Known

    “But above all—and here is the real crux of the problem—you cannot find God. You can improve your life, you can decide to be more moral, and you may feel a sense of satisfaction that you are doing very well, but that is not the problem. No; the problem is…

  • On adult fairy tales

    When a the movie is better than a book “This grew out of a conversation I had yesterday with a student over lunch. He was talking about why the books are nearly always better than the movies that are made based on them. I said that this is true, but…

  • Of dragons and stories

    “Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.” G.K. Chesteron

  • How can right belief be maintained…?

    Michael Ward on C.S. Lewis’ The Silver Chair: “How can right belief be maintained in a hostile environment? It is not through superior insight that the heroes win the day, but through corage, through sacrifice. Philosophizing and rhetoric cannot settle this dispute because the Witch’s logic is impeccable — only…

  • Of Magicians and Mad Scientists

    “The serious magical endeavour and the serious scientific endeavor are twins: one was sickly and died, the other strong and throve. But they were twins. They were born of the same impulse. I allow that some (certainly not all) of the early scientists were actuated by a pure love of…