Western Heritage Lecture 4: Hebrews and Covenant
A Hollywood depiction.
Lecture 4, if you’re keeping count. This one, a focus on Genesis 17 and Exodus 3. The relationship of Adam to Abraham to Moses. Or, why God never changes but man’s understanding of Him does.
The previous lectures
Lecture 1:
Lecture 2:
Lecture 3:
Western Heritage Lecture 3: Genesis 2-3
Ok, so, I’m getting a little behind, and it’s only the third day of MWF classes! Here’s lecture 3, if you’re keeping count. This one focuses (after a bit of housekeeping) specifically on chapters 2 and 3 of Genesis. Not theological, but literary and historical.
Enjoy.
Francois Mauriac, GOD AND MAMMON (Full book)
Francois Mauriac
One of the most important Christian Humanists of the 20th century, Francois Mauriac is largely now forgotten. Here’s the book Mauriac wrote for Christopher Dawson’s edited series, ESSAYS IN ORDER. It would be, technically, vol. 15, though it’s listed as “New Series: No. I” Sheed and Ward published a total of 16 ESSAYS. Each is meant to be read in a single sitting.
It’s also worth remembering that Mauriac was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1952, back when it meant quite a bit to win such a thing.
Enjoy.
Term Chaser: For THE WESTERN HERITAGE by Kagan, Ozment, and Turner
For my freshmen students in H104, sections 7 and 8, Fall 2016. Term chaser for the secondary text.
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Secondary text for H104.
Term Chaser, Autumn 2016; Birzer
For Kagan, Ozment, and Turner: THE WESTERN HERITAGE
Chapters 1-5
Culture
Code of Hammurabi
Persian Empire
Cyrus
Darius
Monotheism
Mycenaeans
Polis
Agora
Hoplite
Sparta
Western Heritage, Lecture 2: The West and Genesis
My praise of the four iconographic cities of the West: Jerusalem; Athens; Rome; and London–culminating, of course, in Philadelphia.
Full, unedited lecture–September 2, 2016. Warts and all.
TIC: Definitive Biography
The founder of modern conservatism, Russell Kirk.
I’m so honored that The Imaginative Conservative thinks so well of RUSSELL KIRK: AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE. Thank you proudly to Winston, Steve, and Co.
The Imaginative Conservative‘s co-founder and editor-at-large, Bradley J. Birzer, has received another award for his outstanding, new biography of seminal conservative thinker, Russell Kirk. Following on the heels of The Imaginative Conservative‘s own 2015 Book of the Year Award, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) has announced that Dr. Birzer has won the 2016 Henry and Anne Paolucci Book Award for Russell Kirk: American Conservative. According to ISI, “a distinguished panel of judges chose this masterful biography from among five impressive finalists. The Paolucci Book Award is an annual honor recognizing the best book that advances conservative principles. The award is named in memory of Henry and Anne Paolucci, distinguished scholars, teachers, and writers who exemplified the ideal of the public intellectual.”
To read the full piece by Winston Elliott, please go here: http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2016/09/russell-kirk-american-conservative-bradley-birzer.html
At TAC: Life in Hawkins, Indiana, 1983
Official Neflix poster of the best show of 2016
STRANGER THINGS is bloody and gruesome and, strangely, quite heroic and beautiful. There’s definitely no gloss on any thing. What appears good is really just apathy and conformity and what is broken must overcome brokenness to find heroism and grace.
This TAC piece is a thank you note to my 12-16 year old self.
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/i-once-lived-in-hawkins-indiana/
Join Libery Classroom Today!
As many of you probably know (after all, I talk about it all the time!), Tom Woods created a virtual academy several years ago with his excellent website, Liberty Classroom. As the traditional university continues to decay, drowning in its own subjective and swampy morass, Liberty Classroom offers a serious alternative–featuring lectures on economics, politics, constitutionalism, history, and literature.
The courses are offered by some of our greatest living scholars: Tom Woods; Kevin Gutzman; Jason Jewell; Jonathan Bean; and Brion McClanahan.
Timeline, Jacksonian America
Early Republic Timeline, 1807-1848; Birzer
John Taylor of Caroline
1807 Jefferson Embargo
1809 James Madison becomes president
Jefferson Embargo repealed
1810 Henry Clay elected Speaker of the House
Fletcher v. Peck
1811 Battle of Tippecanoe
1812 War of 1812 begins
Western Heritage: Intro Lecture
No relation to the lecture, except the use of chalk.
If you’re interested, here’s my first lecture of the Autumn 2016 semester–Western Heritage, an Introduction, looking at the questions: what is man; what is God; and what is man’s relationship to man?
Western Heritage Core Syllabus 2016
M.T. Cicero, the greatest of Roman republicans
Course: Western Heritage, H104-7; H104-8
Autumn 2016, meets in LANE 233
Professor Bradley J. Birzer; office: Delp 403; bbirzer@hillsdale.edu
Required Readings
- Hillsdale College History Department, ed., Western Heritage Reader (provided)
- Secondary text (available in HC Bookstore)
- handouts/readings
Grading: There will be three papers, a number of pop (that is, temporally random) quizzes, two midterms, and a blistering final. Each of the exams will be based on lectures, discussions, and readings.
Grading structure in sum: Participation: 15%; papers (3 total): 30%; midterms (2 total): 30%; final: 25%
Papers. Each paper should be roughly 700 to 1,000 words in length. Please double-space your paper and use one-inch margins on each side. At the end of the paper, please state the word count. No source page or bibliography required unless you go beyond the Western Heritage Reader.
- Paper 1. Using the various writings from the Old Testament in the Western Heritage Reader, define the Hebraic understanding of the human person and his relation to God.
- Paper 2. “What Has Athens to Do with Jerusalem?”: Explore the ways in which Christianity is Hellenic and (especially) Hellenistic.
- Paper 3. What is the best leader? Compare the political views of Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin.
Significant dates for the semester
Week 1: August 31-September 2
Week 2: September 5-9
Week 3: September 12-16
Week 4: September 26-30 (Paper 1 due: September 30, 6pm)
Week 5: October 3-7 (Midterm 1: October 5)
Week 6: October 10-12
Fall Break: October 13-16
Week 7: October 17-21
Parents: October 22
Week 8: October 24-28 (Paper 2 due: October 28, 6pm)
Week 9: October 31-November 4 (Midterm 2: November 4)
Week 10: November 7-11
Week 11: November 14-18
Week 12: November 21-22
Week 13: November 28-December 2
Week 14: December 5-9 (Paper 3 due: December 9, 6pm)
Final examinations
- H104-7: December 15, 1-3pm
- H104-8: December 13, 8-10am
Paolucci Book Prize, 2016: Russell Kirk, American Conservative
I am deeply honored to have won this year’s Paolucci Prize from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. Overwhelmed might be a better work than honored! Well, both, actually. Thank you, ISI, and thank you, Russell Kirk!
Here are the past winners:
2015: Richard Brookhiser, Founders’ Son: A Life of Abraham Lincoln
2014: Daniel Hannan, Inventing Freedom
2013: Brad S. Gregory, The Unintended Reformation
2012: John Fonte, Sovereignty or Submission
2011: Pauline Maier, Ratification
2010: Angelo M. Codevilla, Advice to War Presidents
2009: Philip Hamburger, Law and Judicial Duty
2008: Charles Taylor, A Secular Age
2007: Andrew Roberts, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples since 1900
2006: William Daugherty, Executive Secrets
For more information on the Paolucci Award, please go here: https://home.isi.org/professors/paolucci-book-award
To order, RUSSELL KIRK: AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE, please go here: https://www.amazon.com/Russell-Kirk-Conservative-Bradley-Birzer/dp/0813166187/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1472419971&sr=1-1&keywords=russell+kirk+american+conservative
Stormfields 