My latest: Christmas (in CT) and Kingsnorth (in Commonweal)

Merry Christmas Eve!

I’ve got two final pieces to share for the year 2025. The first is a reflection in Christianity Today on what the birth of Christ reveals to us about God; the second is a review in Commonweal of Paul Kingsnorth’s new book Against the Machine.

The former, in more detail, is a meditation on how the incarnation, especially in Bethlehem, shows us the classical divine attributes, rather than their converse. The latter is an appreciation of Kingsnorth’s thought, work, and writing over the years, proposing his particular combination of essays, poems, and fiction as a worthy successor to Wendell Berry—before concluding with a negative verdict on the book itself. I love Kingsnorth, but in the end the book doesn’t work. I’ll read the next one though. And I’m glad it’s expanded his reach to a new and wider audience. I’m especially excited for a new novel, should it come.