J.S. Bach was born in 1685 into a quite renowned musical family, so it shouldn’t be too surprising that he spent his 65 years…
Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant? (Preston Jones, 2006)
In 2006 Preston Jones, a contributing editor to Critique, published a book with Greg Graffin called Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant?…
Rickie Lee Jones, The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard (2007)
Back in the Eighties, film writer, director, and producer Robert Lee Cantalon decided to “write the words of Jesus in modern language, and publish…
Spoon, Ga, Ga, Ga, Ga, Ga (2007)
Many years back now when a site called epitonic was "the" place to go for indie music I stumbled across spoon with catchy songs…
Interpol, Our Love to Admire (2007)
Recorded at the infamous Electric Lady Studios this is the third album from the New York based Interpol; the first on Capitol (a departure…
Atonement (Joe Wright, 2008)
In The Death of Satan: How Americans have lost the sense of evil Andrew Delbanco puts a new spin on an old problem: A…
Wearing Out on Purpose
Deliberate obsolescence in all its forms—technological, psychological, or planned-is a uniquely American invention. Not only did we invent disposable products, ranging from diapers to…
Christmas 2008 Gift Suggestions from Toad Hall
Books / Hospitality / Ordinary Life
A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie, Fireside Edition, 1949. (devotional) Teach us to pray. If this has ever been a desire of…
Love and Loss Amidst the Dunes: a review of the novel The Maytrees by Annie Dillard
Annie Dillard has an uncanny ability to see—to observe things, creatures, people, and life with a beguiling simplicity and clarity. More remarkably, she is…
Resources for Understanding Scripture
Christian discernment is not the process of applying minds and imaginations to issues of life and culture. It is, rather, applying minds and imaginations…