Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Owen Barfield was the genius Inkling, said CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien. But why does he so much matter today?
They consider how Owen Barfield addresses the idea of secularism developed by Charles
Taylor and why that might matter in a cultural moment that feels like a fork in the road.
They speak personally of how Barfield touched them and why his insights might matter to the psychedelic renaissance.
A central idea is that of polarity - moving beyond the dualisms that trap people, on the left and on the right, in a flatland mentality.
They ask how Barfield’s vision of final participation can be understood, even experienced, in language, in nature, with Indigenous traditions, in sacrament. They also consider how Rudolf Steiner, so important to Barfield, might be appreciated critically.
Fundamental is the Christian insight that the transcendent is also immanent, the many are reflections of the one, and that humanity shares in divine purposes.
For more on Mark, including his book on Barfield’s understanding of Christianity - markvernon.com
For more on Ashton - https://ciis.academia.edu/ashtonkohlarnoldy and youtube.com/@micr0k0sm
0:00 Barfield's relevance today
06:47 Monotheism and the singular self
12:02 Encountering worlds of spirit
20:26 The task of integration
27:49 The ongoing Christian revelation
32:34 Steiner and politics today
44:03 The experience of polarity
49:22 Barfield and ecology
53:03 Taylor's interspace and imagination
56: 29 The divine power of language
01:01:08 Poetry and the evolution of consciousness
01:06:54 The past in the present and the future
01:11:09 Questions of identity
01:16:44 The future orientation of Christianity
01:21:09 Residual unprocessed positivism
01:25:38 Critical readings of Steiner
01:30:42 Concluding remarks
Owen Barfield was the genius Inkling, said CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien. But why does he so much matter today?
They consider how Owen Barfield addresses the idea of secularism developed by Charles
Taylor and why that might matter in a cultural moment that feels like a fork in the road.
They speak personally of how Barfield touched them and why his insights might matter to the psychedelic renaissance.
A central idea is that of polarity - moving beyond the dualisms that trap people, on the left and on the right, in a flatland mentality.
They ask how Barfield’s vision of final participation can be understood, even experienced, in language, in nature, with Indigenous traditions, in sacrament. They also consider how Rudolf Steiner, so important to Barfield, might be appreciated critically.
Fundamental is the Christian insight that the transcendent is also immanent, the many are reflections of the one, and that humanity shares in divine purposes.
For more on Mark, including his book on Barfield’s understanding of Christianity - markvernon.com
For more on Ashton - https://ciis.academia.edu/ashtonkohlarnoldy and youtube.com/@micr0k0sm
0:00 Barfield's relevance today
06:47 Monotheism and the singular self
12:02 Encountering worlds of spirit
20:26 The task of integration
27:49 The ongoing Christian revelation
32:34 Steiner and politics today
44:03 The experience of polarity
49:22 Barfield and ecology
53:03 Taylor's interspace and imagination
56: 29 The divine power of language
01:01:08 Poetry and the evolution of consciousness
01:06:54 The past in the present and the future
01:11:09 Questions of identity
01:16:44 The future orientation of Christianity
01:21:09 Residual unprocessed positivism
01:25:38 Critical readings of Steiner
01:30:42 Concluding remarks
