Antiquitopia

A few days ago, I posted on definitions of faith from the NYTimes from Hebrews to the most skeptical to everything in the middle. Here is a reflection on faith by Emily Dickinson: Faith is a fine invention For gentlemen who see; But microscopes are prudent In an emergency. This is the entirety of a very short (four-lined!) poem. Like all of her poems, it is atitular. It is a nice rhythm and rhyme, making, like a great many of her poems, only the second and fourth lines rhyme. I thought the term "invention" striking here. Invented suggests constructed, created, perhaps even contrived, but nonetheless "fine." But it is only fine within certain bounds, fenced in by "gentlemen who see" and "emergency." The first is inclusive and the second exclusive: it is fine for those who see, but not in an emergency. Who are "those who see"? Are they the "pure in heart" (for they shall see God)? Perhaps an allusion to the (false) et...

The NYTimes has asked readers to submit a short, pithy definition of "faith." It begins with the famous definition from Hebrews 11, moves to a skeptical view, and then ends with sort of a middle-of-the-road definition. Read, and, if you are interested enough, respond: June 26, 2009, 11:00 AM Weekend Competition: Define Faith Hundreds of co-vocabularists offered their definitions of “Money” in April, and “America” in May. This weekend, Schott’s Vocab is soliciting definitions of faith. Faith is described in the Bible as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” H. L. Mencken called faith “an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable.” And, Samuel Butler said of faith, “You can do very little with it, but you can do nothing without it.” Co-vocabularists are invited to submit their own definitions of faith, the pithier the better, by appending a comment to this post. Respond here . Of if you would like to respond on this blog, that might ...