Author Archives: VJM

“[In]the medieval situation …. Europe was regarded as Christ’s kingdom–Christendom.  Thus, Christian baptism was not only spiritually but socially and politically significant: it denoted entrance into society.  Only a baptized person was a fully accepted member of European society.  A Jew was a nonperson in this sense… But if the church baptized or consecrated theContinue reading “The Demise of Christendom, 3”

Christendom: 1. Christians worldwide, regarded as a collective body. 2. the countries occupied by Christians, especially in the Middle Ages.  Canadian Oxford Compact Dictionary, 2002 As we pick up the story of the Demise of Christendom, it would be well to review how construct of ‘Christendom’ came into being in the first place.  Constantine theContinue reading “The Demise of Christendom, 2”

The Demise of Christendom, 1 “Political society is instituted for no other end, but only to secure every man’s possession of the things of this life.  The care of every man’s soul, and of the things of heaven, which neither belongs to the commonwealth nor can be subjected to it, is left entirely to man’sContinue reading “The Demise of Christendom, Part 1”

Heroes and Anti-Heroes “Hero: a person distinguished by courage, noble deeds, outstanding achievements, etc.”  Canadian Oxford Compact Dictionary, 2002. On November 11, 2018, Canadians commemorated the 100th anniversary of the end of ‘The Great War’, ‘the War to End All Wars’.  Solemn ceremonies took place throughout Europe and in many other nations such as Canada,Continue reading “Heroes and Anti-heroes”

Progress The Ideology of Progress subsumes all Progressive thinking as we find it in the 21st Century West.  It is a peculiarly Western invention.  It depends on the foundational construct that time is basically linear, having a beginning and an end, however distant in the past and future, and moving ‘forward’.  It also assumes thatContinue reading “Progress”

Utopia In the early 16th Century, before the Reformation[1] came to England and King Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church, Sir Thomas More penned his timeless masterpiece, Utopia.  More was considered perhaps the greatest Renaissance[2] scholar in England at the time.  He also happened to be a close personal friend of the King,Continue reading “Utopia”

Thanks for joining me! Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton