Ex Umbris

The hope of Hannah and demise of David: Lessons from the darkside of David Having spoken of Psalm 3 and the parallels between the life of Christ and David, we turn our attention to the darkside of David, gleaning lessons from how his negligence fails to halt the destructive atrocities of his sons Amnon and Absolom. Absolom, whose name means "peace of the father," and Amnon not only becom...

You need to know the whole story of the Bible to see how different sections comment on and illuminate each other, always with Jesus at the center. Psalm 3, for example, takes place during Absalom's rebellion against David, a story which itself anticipates many parts of the story of Jesus Christ. In this episode, Scholarch McLarney and Schoolman Fawcett go through Psalm 3 and explain how it tak...

St. Augustine famously designated St. Mark the “attendant and abbreviator” ( pedissequus et breviator ) of St. Matthew. As a result, the Gospel of Mark largely dwelt in the marvelous shadows of the New Testament up until the 20th century. In this episode, the Carpenter and Solar Pons (sic) discuss this fiercely brilliant and captivating Gospel, as the case is made for why Mark should be read as fi...

COULD a computer have a soul? And, if it did, where did it get it? Did we make it? Is it possessed by a demon? Or—just maybe—could God give a computer a soul? Using Pascal and Turing as their sources, Dr McLarney and Mr Fawcett discus these various possibilities on this episode of Ex Umbris. Dr. Gerard McLarney and Mr. Brett Fawcett are teachers at St. Isidore ONLINE Chesterton Academy in Sherwood...

Increasingly sophisticated displays of artificial intelligence such as CHATGPT have elicited variegated responses ranging from experts decrying the need for regulation to educators embracing new possibilities for lesson planning and student learning. While many marvel at the alacrity by which AI is transforming society, AI is forcing people to ask themselves questions such as “what exactly divides...

If you can read classical literature allegorically, morally, and analogically, what happens when you apply that lens to Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and Michael Crichton’s “Jurassic Park”—both stories about scientists creating new life and “playing God”? In this episode, Scholarch McLarney and Schoolman Fawcett analyze these two modern horror stories in the light of the story of the Fall and the...

Who exactly is Melchizedek, the King and Priest of Salem and why is he important? At the behest of a student, Schoolman Fawcett and Scholark McLarney investigate this mysterious figure, offering some background from Genesis, connections to the Letter to the Hebrews, as well as applicability to our daily lives. #classicaleducation #ChestertonAcademy #Catholiceducation #onlinelearning #onlineeducati...

Dr. Gerard McLarney and Mr. Brett Fawcett are teachers at St. Isidore ONLINE Chesterton Academy in Sherwood Park, AB Canada. SILC Chesterton Academy is a classical curriculum that combines a broad, liberal arts education with a strong emphasis on the development of Christian virtues and an appreciation of beauty. Through our Three Pillars Model, we form our students in: Intellect, Character and Sp...

Some people think being masculine means being aggressive and assertive--which sounds like the opposite of turning the other cheek. Is it possible to be a strong, masculine dude and still be a good Christian? In this episode, Dr. McLarney and Mr. Fawcett discuss how Shakespeare's Macbeth tells the story of someone who chooses toxic masculinity over Christlikeness, and how many other male charac...

Machiavelli advocates for an evil ethical system, yet wrote Christian devotional literature, received the last rites, and is buried in a basilica. Was he a genuine Catholic or a hypocrite? In this episode, Schoolman Fawcett shares his opinion about Machiavelli's religious beliefs with Scholarch McLarney. They also discuss whether his recommendations for politics--and life--actually "work....

In the inaugural episode of season 2, Scholarch McLarney and Schoolman Fawcett pick up where they left off, discussing Justice in Plato's  Republic  and Machiavelli's  Prince . Following a quick recap of Plato, they introduce Machiavelli, then delving into the vision of humanity, power, and freedom the  Prince  offers us such as the the cunning, callous, and calculating guidelines necessar...

Justice in Plato and Machiavelli: Part 1. Considering Plato's Republic in concert with Machiavelli's Prince, Scholark McLarney and Schoolman Fawcett delve into the how these thinkers approach the topic of justice. This episode focuses primarily on Plato, the context of the Republic, definitions of justice the interlocutors of Socrates offer, and the katabasis or descent into which this sem...

In this 20th Episode of Ex Umbris, our teachers explore Mary's motherhood as describe in the 4th Gospel of John. Dr. Gerard McLarney and Mr. Brett Fawcett are teachers at St. Isidore ONLINE Chesterton Academy in Sherwood Park, AB Canada. SILC Chesterton Academy is a classical curriculum that combines a broad, liberal arts education with a strong emphasis on the development of Christian virtues...

Dr. Gerard McLarney and Mr. Brett Fawcett are teachers at St. Isidore ONLINE Chesterton Academy in Sherwood Park, AB Canada. SILC Chesterton Academy is a classical curriculum that combines a broad, liberal arts education with a strong emphasis on the development of Christian virtues and an appreciation of beauty. Through our Three Pillars Model, we form our students in: Intellect, Character and Sp...

How do we make sense of violence in the Old Testament, such as warfare or wishing the worst for one's enemies? Should Christians excise those passages, write them off as nefarious interpolations, or otherwise ignore them? We discuss some weighty and perplexing topics, including genocide and infanticide while proffering various ways these have been read, particularly by the Church Fathers.   Dr...

June 24th we celebrate the birth of St. John the Baptist. Why is this such an important liturgical feast and why is he such an important figure? Dr. Gerard McLarney and Mr. Brett Fawcett are teachers at St. Isidore ONLINE Chesterton Academy in Sherwood Park, AB Canada. SILC Chesterton Academy is a classical curriculum that combines a broad, liberal arts education with a strong emphasis on the deve...

Ever stumble when trying to explain the Trinity? Perhaps you fall flat when elucidating the most central aspect of the Christian faith, that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? In this episode, we contemplate the beauty of the Trinity and explain why God is necessarily a Trinity. Yes, God may be mysterious, but classical theism insists God is not complex but simple. The same goes for the doctrine...

In Episode 15, Life Under Grace, Scholarch McLarney and Schoolman Fawcett, delve into the mystery of Pentecost while exploring how life infused by the Spirit of God is transformative. If you have a Bible handy, grab it, as we transverse salient Scriptural passages from the opening of Genesis, the Tower of Babel, Zephaniah, John’s Gospel and Acts of the Apostles in order to further grasp how life u...

This episode is inspired by the recent Coronation of King Charles and the connection to Catholic Theology Dr. Gerard McLarney and Mr. Brett Fawcett are teachers at St. Isidore ONLINE Chesterton Academy in Sherwood Park, AB Canada. SILC Chesterton Academy is a classical curriculum that combines a broad, liberal arts education with a strong emphasis on the development of Christian virtues and an app...

In this episode Scholarch McLarney and Schoolman Fawcett take on another request. We consider the Hunger Games trilogy and do so in light of the Book of Esther by contrasting the opulence of ancient Persia and Panem and the absurd decadence evident in their capital cities; the morally ambiguous mentorships of Mordecai and Haymitch Abernathy and the role that they, as societal insiders, play in lea...

How to Read a Pop Song (Classically): From Psalms to T Swift Dr. Gerard McLarney and Mr. Brett Fawcett are teachers at St. Isidore ONLINE Chesterton Academy in Sherwood Park, AB Canada. SILC Chesterton Academy is a classical curriculum that combines a broad, liberal arts education with a strong emphasis on the development of Christian virtues and an appreciation of beauty. Through our Three Pillar...

Is classical education all about reading the classics? If you’re worried about having to read Dostoevsky because most of what you consume is NetFlix–well, yes, be worried, because you’ll need to expand your horizons, BUT, that doesn’t mean you have to totally give up your favourite Hollywood films. In this episode, Schoolman Fawcett talks to Scholarch McLarney about what “grammar” means in a class...

At first blush, the philosophy of Plato and Marx seem diametrically opposed. The Republic speaks of the city made in speech and the eternal forms while the Communist Manifesto envisions an earthly utopia ushered in by proletarian revolution. Here in this episode Scholarch McLarney and Schoolman Fawcett highlight key differences in terms of their conceptions of Justice and human nature as well as s...

In honour of Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month, Schoolman Fawcett tells Scholarch McLarney about his own experience as someone on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum. He discusses how this impacted his education, how it influenced his youthful attraction to the cold logic of Calvinist Protestantism, how it has interacted with his faith, what advice he has for people on (and off) th...

08 "Honor in one eye and death i' th' other." Julius Caesar, Inception, Corruption and VirtueScholarch McLarney and Schoolman Fawcett, having discussed political realism, delve into Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, to see how the Bard looks at not just politics, but honor and the loss of virtue. We hone in on Cassius's corruption of Brutus and Anthony's manipulation of th...