Thomas Ward, “Middle-Earth Heroes.” (Plough)

“Modern storytelling focuses on characters overcoming their own inner conflicts, even as they overcome the conflict that drives the main plot. There’s nothing wrong with this except when, as a kind of storytelling orthodoxy, it eradicates other compelling ways to depict character. Tolkien gave us a few characters who were simply excellent, not without grief or doubt but with no moral weaknesses to prevent them from acting well in the extremely difficult circumstances the book describes. Faramir, Aragorn, Gandalf, Treebeard, even poor Sam: in the films these are all less excellent than they really are.”

Todd Bates, “Why Knowledge of the Humanities Is Important. . . And Why Christians Should Care.” (Land Center for Cultural Engagement)

“For Christians, the humanities do not cover neutral terrain. Christ changes everything! From the incarnation to the resurrection, reality has been redeemed, and learning has been forever transformed—see Colossians 1:15-23. Inherited from classical antiquity, the studia humanitatis were seen as confirmation of God’s good creation. The ‘creational truths’ found in the great thinkers of antiquity—Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero—is exactly what we would expect to find given passages like Psalm 19 and Romans 1. Further, through Christ, all reality is transformed, and, for Christians, our approach to learning is re-framed in relation to the one by whom, through whom, and in whom all things were created and held together.”

David Montgomery, “54% of Americans Read a Book this Year.” (YouGov)

“Just over half of all Americans said they read at least one book in 2023. Most of them read just a few books this year: 82% of Americans read 10 or fewer books.

Book-reading is strongly associated with college education. 44% of U.S. adult citizens without a college degree said they read at least one book in 2023, compared to 73% of those with a college degree.”