Eager Hirelings
I recall a conversation among several faculty members in the small lounge of Moore Hall at Providence College, where we taught a course in the development of Western civilization. This was around 1994, and an adjunct professor in English—a devout Catholic, too, liberal-ish in her politics but not in her creed—was astonished to hear a Dominican priest say that he was by no means certain that Jesus rose from the dead. The Dominicans, even the elderly liberals, were usually better than that, at least in our eastern province.
She asked him what he did believe, and he gave the usual answers about a renewed consciousness among the apostles, a new way of life, and la-de-da. “But what does it all matter?” she persisted. And I ventured to ask, “How do you preach in church on Easter?” “Oh,” he said, “I don’t tell the people. I don’t want to disturb them.” “But if you believe that what you say is true, don’t you have a duty to tell
them?”
I am glad to say that the Dominicans sort of put him in a closet soon after that, away from students. He took it hard, but he was a serpent, he was; and I think he was swinging from the wrong side sexually, too, though that’s just an impression I got from his manner.
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
Anthony Esolen is Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Thales College and the author of over 30 books, including Real Music: A Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church (Tan, with a CD), Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture (Regnery), and The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord (Ignatius). He has also translated Dante’s Divine Comedy (Random House) and, with his wife Debra, publishes the web magazine Word and Song (anthonyesolen.substack.com). He is a senior editor of Touchstone.
Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more from the online archives
22.6—July/August 2009
on a Noble Defense Doomed by Darwinian Materialism by John G. West
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
