“Manifest Propensity” Explained

“Manifest Destiny”

This painting (circa 1872) by John Gast called American Progress, is an allegorical representation of the modernization of the new west. Here Columbia, a personification of the United States, leads civilization westward with American settlers, stringing telegraph wire as she sweeps west; she holds a school book. The different stages of economic activity of the pioneers are highlighted and, especially, the changing forms of transportation.

The purpose of this post is to explain why this blog is called “Manifest Propensity.” I have said a few things in this regard, but have never offered a full explanation. The name comes from two sources. The first source you may have guessed due to the verbal similarity.

What’s Wrong With the World? – G. K. Chesterton and T Bone Burnett

A newspaper had posed the question, ‘What’s Wrong with the World?’ G. K. Chesterton, the ever witty “prince of paradox,” replied with the following letter:

Soren Kierkegaard’s “Works of Love” 4 (Self-love: part 1)

In 1847 the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard publish his “Christian reflections” on “the works of love.” I have come to believe that Kierkegaard has been largely misunderstood, misrepresented, and therefore ignored by many Christians, to their own detriment. So for these reasons, and due to my own interest in what he has to teach about the “works of love,” I will be presenting a series of meditations as I read through this book.