David Ligare, Still Life with Grape Juice and Sandwiches (Xenia), 1989
OK folks, here’s my review of (the first half of) my friend Jennifer Woodruff Tait’s University of Alabama Press book, The Poisoned Chalice: Eucharistic Grape Juice and Common-Sense Realism in Victorian Methodism (2011). Dr. Woodruff Tait is (I say it frequently) the best writer I know, hands-down. She has 18th-century clarity and 19th-century passion for her topic.
True confession: This blog tour has hit me at an extraordinarily busy time. I did read Jenn’s dissertation all the way through several years ago—and not just because she cited my dissertation several times in her first chapter. I was fascinated by the story she tells. I can say that this time around, I read 69 of her 129 pages, and I remembered why I appreciate her historical scholarship so much, and why I hope she will research and write again, to our edification.
Without further ado, then: Continue reading
Medieval Wisdom for Modern Christians
Grateful to the dead 