#peter steinfels

Linking here to a great article in 2001 by Peter Steinfels at the New York Times, discussing the renewed popularity of W.H. Auden’s “September 1, 1939″ after 9/11.

I knew the poem was controversial, and that it arguably could have been quoted out of context, as it references the events preceding World War II.  But I had no idea how controversial.  I can’t believe the famous piece was later so…

“Shortly after Jesus was executed, his followers were suddenly galvanized from a baffled and cowering group into people whose message about a living Jesus and a coming kingdom, preached at the risk of their lives, eventually changed an empire. Something happened ... But exactly what?”

That’s the question we have to answer with an investigation into the facts.