The Broken Binnacle

Who Are We? We are fellow sojourners in this life with you. "Fides quaerens intellectum," that is, “Faith seeking understanding,” in the words of St. Anselm, is the essential driving force of our endeavor here at The Broken Binnacle. We are not here simply to give lip-service to truth, but to seek the truth along with you as we strive to live out our Christian principles of faith and tradition in the mixed and mired scenarios of life, whether this be through philosophy, history, literature, art, or the practice of virtues. As St. John Henry Newman believes, ideas truly exist not on the printed page but in “the play of lively minds,” where they develop and grow through cultivating dialogue and the shared pursuit of truth in humility and love. This blog is not a ceiling, but the floor to a cathedral, the first pebble of a landslide, the soil of a forest, and the humble spring of a great river on its way to the sea. We would love for you to join us in this adventure! All of us are young professionals in our early twenties with educational backgrounds in the liberal arts from Christendom College. Inspired by our Christendom education and community, we are eager to learn and to share the great truths and beauties found and discovered in history, life, and our Catholic faith. Additionally, we just want to improve our writing capabilities and confidence as well! Yes, we are fellow sojourners in this life with you. Yet, while our understanding of the truth is limited and always seeking deeper understanding, we are fully convicted of this: Jesus Christ is “the Son of the living God,” the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, and He is our Teacher, our Lord, and our Savior. We hope you enjoy! Why the name? The word “binnacle” is generally defined as, “a case or box placed near the helmsman, containing the compass of a ship, and a light to show it at night.” As such, the compass for us at The Broken Binnacle is our Catholic faith, yet we, the authors who hold and contain this faith within us, are broken, limited people. Despite this, however, we have boldly set our course, guided by our faith and the grace of God, as we seek to navigate the typhoons and doldrums of this life in our journey to our heavenly homeland. (Don’t worry, and believe us, we’re very much invested in the present world too). Our Models? We do indeed stand on the shoulders of giants. Some of our favorite giants include: St. Thomas Aquinas, St. John Henry Newman, G.K. Chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jacques Maritain, Flannery O'Connor, and Pope St. John Paul II. To stay up to date on all of our content, please subscribe to our blog by following the "sign up" button in our bio here or by clicking on the link below! https://lnkd.in/ez5T5Un5

Read the first essay of our April series on St. Augustine of Hippo by Peter Cermak. In his essay, Peter explores Augustine's philosophy of will and how it interacts will man's intellect. We may know the good, but we do not always choose it. Why? “Augustine observes a true dissonance between the intellect and will. He even describes himself as having two wills. One should not make the mistake of interpreting him to mean by this that he has a human will and disordered animal passions. He really seems to mean that he is divided against himself within his will, which, having been habituated by years of sinful behavior, pushes him toward evil out of a kind of inertia, despite the simultaneous inclination toward good.” Read the full essay by clicking the link below or by following the link in our bio!

Be sure to read our latest article at The Broken Binnacle by Matthew McShurley! Titled "Tiny Step into a Minefield," Matthew explores some of the historical dynamics before the Protestant Reformation and the retrospective tendency of Catholics to blame Franciscan philosophy for the rise of Martin Luther, which, he argues, is originally a Protestant analysis of history. “There has undoubtedly been a strand of interpretation that has engaged in what can be called “blaming the Franciscans” (meaning Scotus and Ockham). Reconsiderations of this kind of narrative have revealed that, ironically, the narrative’s roots lie in 16th century Protestant historians of philosophy. I would argue that Catholics who perpetuate the narrative shoot their own tradition in the foot.” Read the full article by following the link in our bio or by clicking on the link here: https://lnkd.in/enxGmKGy

During February here at The Broken Binnacle, our writers focused on the theme of mythology. As a part of this series, James O'Reilly wrote on mythic violence through the lens of the French philosopher René Girard's anthropological theories. In his essay, James asks, "Are myths just allegorical and symbolic? Are the Gospels simply mythical? And should we read the Gospels in light of mythology or the myths in light of the Gospels?" Read the full article to see how these questions are answered! You can access the essay by following the link in our bio or by clicking on the link just below. https://lnkd.in/eimmBC4x

What can we learn from Jung's interpretation of mythology? Read the latest essay at The Broken Binnacle by Joseph O'Reilly, MSB as he explores this question. "The symbolic nature of mythology is not to explain physical processes, however, but to express the deeper processes of the human psyche." Read Joe's full article by following the link in our bio or by clicking on the link below ⬇ https://lnkd.in/emDYrPTC

"Icarus' flying higher and higher symbolizes a yearning for something that is an improper aspiration. His ambition drives him to desire something that he should not seek to attain." John Jakubisin, CSM, CSPO writes the latest piece for The Broken Binnacle and shares what we can learn from the mythological tale of Icarus. John's article marks the first of this month's series of essays on the topic of mythology. Please be sure to like and share our content and subscribe to our online Substack blog for free!

Read John Jakubisin, CSM, CSPO's latest post at The Broken Binnacle! Join John as he explores Jesus' parable of the laborers in the vineyard and why it breaks the paradigm of pragmatism by means of Christ's mercy (i.e., if gaining eternal life in Christ is simply a matter of justice, of or fairness, then no one is worthy of heaven). "I have sat in church internally grumbling like the jealous laborer about how unfair it is for the late-hour laborers to be paid equally to those who had worked all day. Does it not seem unfair? When viewed through the lense of pragmatism, yes, it does seem unfair to the laborers who toiled all day. However, the parable is not concerned with the fairness of wages, although some commenters have tried to use the parable in this sense. The parable is concerned with, as it begins, what 'The kingdom of heaven is like.'" Read the full article by clicking on the link below or by following the link in our bio. Please like, subscribe, and share! https://lnkd.in/eBThhbgh