The Lies of Our Time
By Anthony Esolen
(Sophia Institute Press, 224 pages, $19)
Catholic scholar Anthony Esolen refutes the lie that there is no God and disproves seven other popular falsehoods widely disseminated by today’s progressive ideology in his latest book, The Lies of Our Time.
The God whom we meet in Genesis, Esolen posits, has several unique characteristics: He has no beginning, no end, and, by definition, no progenitors. He is associated neither with any theogony nor with the establishment of a city or empire, and he lacks any connection to the natural world. As Esolen writes:
He is not a sun god, because He made the sun. He is not a corn god, because He made the earth and every living thing in it. Everywhere you go in the world, wherever you investigate the myths of mankind, you will find a theogony, entangled with cities and the vines that give the people their food, smudged with soil and soaked in blood. But God is, and that is all.
Propagating the notion that God does not exist and that the practice of organized Judeo-Christian religion is the stuff of mythology endangers society, Esolen argues, because those who eschew God and the Judeo-Christian tradition must still seek guidance and redemption elsewhere, despite their protestations to the contrary — and they often do so through political structures. The state thus becomes the god to whom they metaphorically bow their heads while unwittingly sacrificing their liberties. (READ MORE by Anthony Esolen: The Classical Education Reformers Have a Chance)
Esolen writes in a lyrically beautiful manner, peppering his pages with biblical and literary references. He buttresses his argument with an analysis of the Ten Commandments in which he systematically illustrates society’s present-day defiance of them. For example, the Fourth Commandment, “Honor the father and mother,” has been trivialized, Esolen argues, through the breakdown of the traditional familial relationships of husband and wife and parent and child. It’s also been damaged by the disappearance of regular multigenerational family activities in which children would spend time with their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
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Sunday or Saturday, depending on one’s faith, used to be used to be the time when families would gather not only to worship God but also to enjoy a communal meal, walk, or sporting event. Furthermore, factories, stores, and offices would close for the Lord’s Day. Now, stores are open seven days a week. Parents are constantly working, and children are either attending scheduled playdates or playing electronic games. Even if families are gathered for a group activity, they are not fully engaged. Everyone is on their cell phones or iPads. Esolen is concerned that if children do not fully bond with their parents during their childhood, they will not be as devoted to them fifty years later when the roles are reversed, and the children become the caregivers. (READ MORE by Anthony Esolen: Self-Expression and Stupidity)
He also reiterates the central argument of his 2022 book No Apologies: Why Civilization Depends on the Strength of Men: that society’s, and the family’s, survival is contingent upon the participation of husbands and fathers who are both intellectually and physically powerful. Society needs those men to step up to protect “the million children snuffed out by abortion in the United States each year,” as Esolen writes, to fight back against a society that lives in violation of the Fifth Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.” Esolen emphasizes that culture of death by referencing the rise in deaths from violent crimes, and he strongly denounces the euthanasia advocates who “peddle death as a comfortable way out of your despair.”
Lastly, Esolen dissects the lie that “cultural progress is inevitable” by arguing that technological advances, cross-cultural pollination, and wealth have neither reduced suffering nor advanced moral virtue. The author allows that society has benefited from some of the technical innovations of the last two hundred years, such as “the steam engine, the combustion engine, refrigeration, electric power, the automobile, the train, the airplane, the camera in all its many forms, radio, television and now the high-speed computer,” alongside the scientific research that has eradicated so many childhood diseases. However, he argues that the mere possession of transformational tools is insufficient and even dangerous in the wrong hands. (READ MORE: The Surprising Life of Joseph Epstein)
Anthony Esolen’s The Lies of Our Time demonstrates once again that its author is a marvelous, provocative writer who consistently stands up for traditional values in the face of an increasingly large and angry mob. He possesses an intimate understanding of not only the joy that a relationship with God brings but also the dangers of a world that seeks to replace Him with the golden calf du jour. Although Esolen understands the precarious composition of our contemporary landscape, he remains ever-hopeful of divine intervention. All is not lost. And The Lies of Our Time can serve as a dependable beacon to guide you through the wilderness we face.
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