Veterans of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Regiment, more commonly known simply as the “Ox and Bucks,” hosted our small US military contingent. The locus for the day’s ceremony was the gravesite of Major John Howard, commander of D Company of the Ox and Bucks.

While Lewis and Tolkien’s faith and contributions are well-known, most do not realize they both fought in the First World War as young men. Even fewer recognize how their time in the western front’s trenches influenced their faith and later works. However, in A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and a Great War, Providence senior editor Joseph Loconte explains in his typical, approachable prose how the war affected these two men deeply and how those experiences influenced their writings and faith.

It is sad to grow up and realize you’ve become a monster. The awareness does not change the fact that you are now a monster.

Tonight people will gather for Burns Night to remember one of Scotland’s national heroes. But should this man’s flaws cause us to rethink his place in national mythmaking and nationalism in general?

Works by C.S. Lewis and Tim Keller can help us understand the outlines of a healthy Christian patriotism—a righteous love of one’s imperfect country and home, including the people there and much more.

Christ’s sacrifice helps us to reflect on Divine glory and individual and national vocations.

Christian pacifism became untenable for me because the God who punished, killed, and destroyed in the Old Testament remains the God of the New Testament.

Contrary to detractors like George R.R. Martin who say that Tolkien’s works are simplistic with a black and white view of morality, Tolkien wasn’t oblivious to how terrible the world can be, having been on the front line of the First World War.