Brandywine Books
Not Back Yet
To the readers who remember that this blog has two writers and wonder where the lesser of the two is, I offer this small explanation which I normally don't do, explain my absences, because while I want Brandywine Books to be a useful, helpful, wonderful literary blog, blogrolled by many, blogshared by the wealthy, read by editors, authors, publicists, publishers, nonetheless I realize this is a low commitment zone, a simple website free to the world whether or not the world cares, and I assume you don't care to hear about me really, maybe a little, but a lit-blog is about literature, books, and the like, not the blogger--at least, that's my take on it, and I don't mind the personal blogger so many other bloggers do. Maybe that's why they have more readers.
Anyway, I've been busy at work with big projects, at home with family and house improvement, and reading on deadline. I'd love to blog while I did these things, but I enjoy sleeping too. But enough about me. I hope to post soon a review of Jenkins' book,
Hedges, a strong book on married and single life (Thank you, Stacy of
Mind & Media Publicity) I also want to solidify some weekly features on this blog. I want to post something funny every Monday, though I suppose memes could work there too; and I want to post a Today post on Thursdays. What do you think?
Pray for the Lord's work in the Gulf Coast. Here's
one strong group, MNA, dedicated to
emergencies like this. But sincere prayer is most important for those of us far away from the New Orleans/Gulf Coast area. I may blog on this later.
Take a Risk on Variety
Welcome to the Lars' Norweigan Cruse Blog. I hope you've been enjoying the vicarious trip of our world-famous author. In a couple weeks, drop by to read about Lars' Round Up at the United Nations in which Ambassador John Bolton will say, "Now, we'll see some action!"
In the meantime, I want to pass on this comment from
a post today by soon-to-be-popular author Jared Wilson over at Thinklings.org. Jared talks a little about the reasons his first novel, a supernatural thriller, has been rejected, which drew this comment:
I'm a Christian woman and I would prefer sci-fi and fantasy novels. I love imagination. I don't buy much Christian fiction currently because I don't care for much of what they are selling. Some publisher needs to start taking some risks and discover that there are a whole bunch of us waiting for some variety.
I believe there are new imprints with editors who believe they are taking risks, but we will have to see how they define the risk. It's one thing to believe you are thinking outside the box; it's another to do something you fear is crazy. And we know what the critics will say. If an imprint takes risks and fails, the editors were stupid or reckless; if they do the same and succeed, they were geniuses.
Is Freedom in the Eye of the Beholder?
I learned of another comic book movie coming next March,
V for Vendetta. Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman are the leads, directed by
the Wachowshi Brothers. The trailer looks good. The original story may be strong. It's in Britain under the rule of fascists, because Hitler won WWII. The revolutionary, V, has taken a Zorro-like jester motif to fight the government. The movie synopsis says he blows up a couple London landmarks in sparking his revolt.
What leads me to this post is the response by the artist or illustrator of the book, David Lloyd, to an obvious question about this type of story following July 4 in London. At the most recent ComicCon, this question came during a panel discussion.
Question 16: David Lloyd, as a creator of the original story, and the rest of you making it, what are your feelings about the London bombing, and also present-day London with video cameras all over the place... which is kind of how the story of V FOR VENDETTA was.
David Lloyd: Yeah, that's very interesting about the CCTV cameras, because when we did that in the '80s, there weren't that many around. I mean, society has actually become a lot more like the one that we actually painted. The question about London and terrorism, and what's happened there -- I think it's important that we try and understand terrorists. I think there should be lots of movies made about terrorists, and politics generally, and one of the reasons I'm so happy about this film is that it does have a very strong and uncompromising political message, and there aren't many films made like that now. So, in terms of what's happening in London over the last week, I think it's going to be healthy to try and understand what leads a person to terrorism. There's that old cliche, isn't there - one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter - and if we try and understand that, then maybe we might be able to solve the problems that cause terrorism more easily.
V may be styled as a terrorist, but is freedom is the eye of beholder such that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter? Is that how he sees the Irish struggle against Britain in Northern Ireland (recent reports describe the IRA legitimately laying down their arms, thank God)? I can understand how the natural yearnings to be personally free and to rule over others conflict; but terrorism is not freedom fighting, not be today's definitions. And maybe the definition is the trouble.
We know who the Nazi were. If they ruled Europe, what would their resistance be called? If terrorists, would the label mean the same it does to us today in a world of real terrorists who kill anyone, even themselves, for a cause no one can agree to? Freedom fighters, which perhaps V is, fight for life and liberty in law. They fight for the people tilling their gardens, who want only to breathe clean air. They fight for children to be able to kick cans in the street without fear. They fight to worship God as they choose. Terrorists fight to intimidate, shock, and scrap down your will to resist them, so that they will become the dictators in the end. That isn't just another man's freedom fighter. No freedom is being defended there.
Briefly with Love
To reader who is asking when are you going to blog something substantive again: shut up.
- I've been enjoying impersonating superheros and famous personalities on this Thinklings thread. Feel free to join in and tell The Incredible Hulk what you think of his rampages.
- The group at World's Zeitgeist blog are nutsy fruit loops. Gideon Strauss is one of them, an admirable blogger here and on his own site. He notes the Camille Paglia interview on The Morning News, provoking some response.
- In other news, Westminster Abbey turned down the filmers of upcoming Tom Hanks' movie, The Da Vinci Code. Steve Bloomfield of The Independent reports, "Experts are warning that hordes of tourists are removing stone work, hymn books and other fittings, and could even carve their initials in the walls of churches featured in the novel." The Abbey, in which Britain's oldest door has been found, has already complained of vandalism.
- World's blog points out a church in Carlisle, Penn, that is using Harry Potter's Hogwarts as a vacation Bible school theme. Broomstick flying lessons? Give it up.
- Remind me again whether art imitates life or vice versa. From the Washington Post, a first-time novelist has his book on terrorism in London released July 7, the same day the London tubes were attacked.
"I wrote about something that could happen, and then it did happen, and now I feel that I'm fundamentally tied, probably for the rest of my life, to those events," he says. "Within 20 years' time, people will still be reviewing my book and saying, 'Chris Cleave, whose controversial debut was published in London the same day as the London attacks, comma, has written another book.' "
The novel is Incendiary.
Today
I found my two-year old in the recliner pretending to read one of her favorite books before breakfast.
Let me also say that there's something in Samuel Barber's "Overture to 'The School for Scandal' op. 5" that stirs me deeply. I love it.
So, what did you do today?
Treasure Hunt
Do you think modern publishers would go for a book written as a framework for clues to real treasure hidden by a self-made millionare? You're right. They didn't; but software engineer Michael Stadther caught a treasure hunting bug and decided to play mastermind with thousands of American readers.
His book,
A Treasure's Trove, holds clues to
twelve tokens which readers have found and will redeem for jewels, like a diamond, ruby, and garnet grasshopper.
Stadther told
the NY Times: "This is getting people out there, thinking and looking," he said, his clear blue eyes twinkling as a smile spread across his face. "This is something a lot of people can get excited about. It's not the money, it's the adventure."
I'm told that usually when someone says it isn't the money, it's the money--in this case, thousands. The more at stake, the greater the adventure, right? All this reminds me of the little story Jesus told. "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."
No hidden clues. No illustrations. Full adventure with a prize worth more than you can possibly imagine.
Briefly
- James and Margo Dolas at in Scotland today, meeting novelist Jasper Fforde and taking tourist photos. What fun.
- World's ZeitGeist blog is up. Praise to everyone involved. Here's a post by Dr. G.E. Vieth on beauty, entertainment, and Branson, MO. No, actually he likes Branson, but wonders why the Elvis impersonator is more popular than Ed Ames.
- In response the Branson post, John Mark Reynolds says, "I want Elvis impersonation! Not because it is good (is it ever?), true (see the definition of impersonation), or beautiful! I want it because it allows me to mock that pride spirit that cannot stand it."
- After the Zeitgeist team gets on their feet, I suggest the Thinklings challenge them to a smackdown. Have the Beerhead Tavern boys join in, if need be.
- Let me pause here to thank Alan, a newly enlisted Thinkling, for the beautiful illustration of marital faithfulness.
No virtuoso ever spurned an instrument because he had played every beautiful combination of notes and mastered everything that instrument had to offer (certainly for other reasons, beyond the scope of the analogy). A lot of amateurs, though, have turned aside instruments out of boredom, but that thing they call "boredom" is the dull, aching feeling you get when you don't want to do hard work.
- Kevin responds to a statement noted earlier on the purpose of novels. "At its basic nature I do think art is about transcendence and meaning; and therefore relationships," he says.
- For a strong magazine written by reformed Christians on life, thought, art, and culture, look into By Faith, a new publication from the Presbyterian Church of America. Note this article by Philip Ryken on the fascinating painter Makoto Fujimura.
Can a Christian Read Fantasy?
Shaun of Postscript Posthaste argues
in favor of fantasy in response to an article by Doug Phillips condemning it.
Books which engage our imagination with the occult may very well lead depraved minds astray. As J.K Rowling said in a recent interview, "It worries me that so many fans have identified with the evil characters in my books." The difficulty with Mr. Phillips' argument is not its bold condemnation of the evils of sorcery, but that if we follow his logic to its logical end we must reject the Imagined Story entirely, for the imagined story is by its very nature magical. It is this rejection of the "magical" in fantasy that I wish to address in this post.
- phil
New Release: Monkey Business
Authors Marvin Olasky and John Perry report that the current debate over teaching evolution is still overshadowed by the famous trial of John Scopes in Dayton, TN, in 1925. In
Monkey Business: The True Story of The Scopes Trial, they argue that making this trial a huge media event has influenced the public debate ever since.
In case you think
Inherit the Wind is generally accurate, which it isn't, let me give you the scoop. The ACLU wanted a case to test a new law in Tennessee which prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools. A couple businessmen in Dayton, TN, were feeling the pinch of an economic downturn and wanted to put the small town on the map, drawing new business. These men got together and hoped a media event focused on the ACLU suit against the state would spark the needed interest for business growth. Their plan failed, but they did make history with the trial.
If I remember correctly, the ACLU announced their intentions in a newspaper ad, soliciting a teacher willing to challenge the law. First year teacher John Scopes volunteered, but he didn't actually teach evolution. He only substituted for a biology teacher and used a book which addressed the theory. I don't think he taught the theory; he just taught from the book. The context was enough to condemn him, at least so that the media event could proceed.
Defense lawyer Clarence Darrow wanted to make prosecution counsel William J. Bryan and all Christians by extension look like fools. Bryan wanted to defend the merits of the Tennessee law. He believed evolutionary theory was unsound and endangered Christian faith. On the last day, he went to the stand to defend Christianity only because he believed the opposition was dealing fairly with him by agreeing to put Darrow on the stand for him to question. The opposition planned to have Scopes plead guilty after Bryan's testimony which would end the trial. If he had not pleaded guilty, I think Scopes would have been acquitted, because the question at trial was whether he taught evolution and he didn't. The sentence was $100 fine, which the Baltimore Evening Sun paid for him.
Read more of the history and aftermath for several of the players on the Bryan College website.
In addition to the trial history, Olasky and Perry discuss the conduct of the journalist and the spin of their stories, how the origins debate was effected in the following years, a little on Phillip E. Johnson, and "seven continuing stereotypes of Christians that emerged from the trial -- and carefully reasoned responses to each."
Happy Birthday, Fidel Castro
On this day in 1926, Fidel Castro was born. Warms the belly, doesn't it? Let's pause for a moment to reflect on Castro's legacy in the words of author, editor, and commentator
William F. Buckley:
Here we were, April 2003, and Fidel Castro reaches into corners of his country to round up 75 conspirators against the socialist health of the Castro regime, giving some of them prison sentences as heavy as 28 years. The trials were done in very fast motion, so that there was no opportunity to reflect on what it was that the defendants pleaded. But reports confirmed that no charges were leveled that suggested that any of them had blown up bridges or passed exploding cigars into Castro's dining quarters. What they did, simply, was to write and talk in favor of freedom of speech.
. . .
It is contended by many observers that precisely what moves Castro to his excesses is any movement that threatens mellowness. To permit free speech is to encourage the very idea that Castroite resolution is softening. Calls by Cuban Americans to end U.S. sanctions threaten his hold on Cuban life. Castro has disdained the glasnost and perestroika adopted by Gorbachev -- see what such things did to the Soviet Union! The challenge for the United States is to ignore his continued manhandling of freedom and to retaliate against it with the weapon he fears most, which is increased exposure to Western capitalism and Western practices.
In the spirit of Western freedom of speech, I want to draw your attention to a new blog by the Media Research Center, called
Newsbusters.
Mind & Media founder
Stacy Harp has joined that team of bloggers pointing out the misrepresentation and bias in mainstream media. Congratulations, Stacy!
Post-ponements
My wife and I started celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary yesterday and will carrying on with it, more or less, through next weekend. What with that and continuing a siding project on my house, I may not return to BwB today. Forecast for the next posts: early Monday morning with a high in mid 60s, scattered drizzling.
Since I'm here now, let me throw out a few links and comments.
- I love my wife. She is gracious, handsome, talented, an admirable mother to our three daughters, and fun. I am glad to have had ten years with her, and if the Lord gives us life, I will enjoy living with her another fifty.
- The Faith in Fiction blog will mine the gold and quartz out of the chief blogger's own book, Ezekial's Shadow. Buy it for one penny on Amazon.com. Dave Long writes:
My reasons on the surface for selecting Ezekiel's are easy.
1. It's out of print, OP, so BHP doesn't stand to lose anything.
2. I wrote it, so it's not like I'm attacking another author.
3. It's flawed.
Whether there are deeper, darker reasons for my choice (morbid exhibitionism, the desire for vain self-flagellation, masochistic narcissism) I'll leave to you armchair psychiatrists.
Author Eric Wilson's review on Amazon says, "If you're looking for Christian fiction that delivers a message without preaching, you'll love Ezekiel's Shadow." Reviewer Brian Reaves says, "This book starts out STRONG! Very few books catch you from the prologue, but this one does. Unfortunately, it starts to slow down in the middle and the ending is unsatisfying. Basically, it seems like Mr. Long just got tired of writing the book and decided to end it. The payoff you're waiting for never occurs." - Kevin of Collected Misc. asks what book reviews are for in light of an apology for a review in the Washington Post. He asks, "Aren't book sections in the newspaper in some important way there to help book buyers and readers make choices? Isn't a fair review of worthy books what these people are looking for?"
A short list, but I got to go. Thanks for dropping by.
Today
Today, I stopped after exiting my office building to stare at a blue butterfly crawling up the polished stone wall.
What did you do?
What Are You Searching For?
I'm pleased to report that Brandywine Books (BwB) pulls in high on the list of search results for "hallmark democratic party paper napkins." How handy is that? The wife said no one would want those napkins, but I said, "It'll be big, baby, BIG! They'll say how are we going to pull off the next national election without hallmark democratic party paper napkins; and I'll say I got your napkins right here, baby, yeah, yeah, cause I'm the evil midnight bomber what bombs at midnight!! Ah, ha, ha, ha!!"
-phil
Christian Carnival of Blogs
BwB is in this week's Christian Carnival at
"In the outer." It's uniquely presented and has links beaucoups. Last week's carnival links here as well, this time from
Dunmoose the Ageless. Thank you for the service, gentlemen.
Deconstructing Christian Fiction
Dave Long is a fiction acquisitions editor for Bethany House Publishers and leads interesting discussion on a blog called,
Faith in Fiction. Today,
he writes, "I'm wary about making any generalizations about craft however, because it seems to do no good. We're unhappy talking about "good writing" and "bad writing," even though I think at some level we all agree that there are objective standards. Not every novel, after all, by a Christian writer should be published." So he plans to get specific. Someday soon, he and
Mark Bertrand will take apart a CBA novel to praise the praiseworthy and acknowledge the problems.
"The point isn't to tear apart this novel for kicks but to learn from it," and to attempt to understand other CBA fiction in light of it. This could be must-read blogging, folks. I'll try to watch it and comment on it. You feel free to do the same. (I hope the author will feel served after this examination of his work, if he learns of it.)
What is Storytelling About?
Kevin of Collected Misc. has
asked if storytelling is a search for meaning. He quotes from a review and repeats the assertion as a question:
Isn't storytelling all about finding relationships between things? Isn't that why we write and read novels--to prove to ourselves and each other that the world means something? . . . Farrington portrays life not as we experience it, but as it looks beyond our experience, in a place where events and people do tie together in mysterious and even sacred ways.
Please look over his post and Go tell him what you think. - phil
Got Anything on Fasting?
The other day, someone asked me for a recommendation on the topic of fasting. I was honored. If he had known me better, he may have asked someone more qualified. Here was my reply:
I just searched christianbook.com and saw a number of books dedicated to fasting, but I'm not sure one of those is actually right for the subject. Fasting is one of several spiritual disciplines, and what you wish to accomplish by fasting may be better achieved by another discipline or more likely a combination of them.
As a recommendation, you may want to start with articles online. Here's a page with many links to articles on prayer and fasting, some of which may be God's message for you at this time your life. This one by John Piper may be a good place to start.
If you prefer a book or find that you still want one after reading many of those articles, look for Conformed to His Image by Kenneth Boa. It's a book about abundant living, in short, and deals with all of the spiritual disciplines as well as many other parts of living a life devoted to Christ.
I thought to suggest Jonathan Edwards'
Religious Affections if he wanted something deep and a little difficult, but I didn't. I don't know that book deals with fasting at all, but it does address a passionate Christian life, and that's what I assume those of us who fast want to accomplish.
What would you recommend on this topic?
Realism in a Created World
Christians once argued that reading novels were a waste of time. Some still believe it; but more, I think, argue over the content of novels now, assuming that reading one isn't a sinful use of a short life. I doubt that we few, we happy few, worry much about the value of time spent reading. We accept it. We love it, even if some of us (speaking for myself) still struggle to do it. So the argument is over content. How realistically can the Christian writer describe his story without sinning against his readers by drawing their minds into sin?
Mark Bertrand
discusses it on his blog, saying writers should be honest.
In a previous post, he praises Andy Crouch for calling writers to realistic stories, characters, and settings, not the gussied up ones that fill the Christian bookstore shelves. Does that mean vivid, accurate, colorful, or titillating? I suppose the story will dictate that. That's how stories are written, aren't they--the writer follows the scent of the story?
I suggest a story of redemption in the midst of pain, anger, and vulgar detail would be of greater honor to the Lord than a similarly story that focuses on the surface, the motions of the characters, avoiding their hearts. (I can barely write with this broad brush, but I hope you understand me.) How deep is a man's heart? What real doubts, worries, and rationalizations does he have? What cultural references does he draw on when he pulls away from the Lord to go his own way? That's the real stuff of a strong story.
I've read several accounts of adultery in a few marriage books I have. I think I understand it now to a degree. Each one could be a great story, maybe in the style of Thomas Hardy where a good man makes several bad decisions and ruins his life; but the thinking, the heart-twisting, the self-deception--that's good psychological material for a story, isn't it? How many Christian novels deal with adultery without touching on this material? This is the kind of thing, I suspect, that made one of my college buddies say John Updike's
Run, Rabbit, Run was so good, despite having so many deplorable details too.
I wonder if many published Christian writers are not shackled with a pharisaical attitude toward their prose, one that worries over washed hands and public professions instead of what proceeds from the heart. Not that a good modern story should be edgy, vulgar, or graphic in certain details; but that it be real. Somehow.
World's Blog Explained
Joe Carter of
The Evangelical Outpost is the new editor of
World's blog. In this
post, he explains the new developments, who is behind what, etc. I pointed to "Ex Libris" earlier, and have since learned that the prolific Tim Challies is the editor there. Joe calls Tim "one of the best book reviewers in the blogosphere." He's probably right, though I wonder if we could set up a contest or smack-down of book reviewers to back up the claim.
The World blog has also launched a sub-blog on the blogosphere, called
BlogWatch, which should follow
Phil Johnson's Spotting posts and link to posts about it or about any of the World blogs. Also
Cinema Veritas on movies,
Pensees which has audio interviews with many thinkers and authors (first done by
Keith Plummer), and two more coming up. Keep up the good work, ladies and gentlemen.
I should point out that when I mentioned the Ex Libris blog before I failed to link to the original (so to speak)
Ex Libris reviews by the inimitable Will Duquette. He recent reviews have centered, focused, drawn the line, or set the bead on David Weber's books.
Follow Faulkner Outline
Box of Books is written by a young mother, Ella, who is reading through the Modern Library. In a post last week, Ella lists the aspects needed to
reproduce a southern gothic novel in the style of William Faulkner. Here are a few of them:
- Elderly spinster determined to tell her story before dying of obscure wasting disease.
- Mysterious rich man who appears in town refusing to speak of his origins, who lays out plans for a plantation upon his arrival.
- One or more unwanted children.
- One or more abandoned wives.
- [asundry] obscure wasting disease[s]
Read them all, and be sure to breathe in a bit of sunshine today, what?
New Book Review Blog: Ex Libris
World Magazine has redesigned its blog today and added some sub-blogs, one of which is
"Ex Libris" which will hold book reviews. The inaugeral reviews are Nancy Pearcey's
Total Truth, Don Carson's
Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church, Os Guinness's
Prophetic Untimeliness, which was spotted
elsewhere in the blogosphere today, and that favorite anti-dating guy Josh Harris'
Stop Dating the Church.I hope
Total Truth has sold well. It seems to be everyone's favorite book on Christian living and thinking. From the
Ex Libris review, here's a choice morsel:
In reading books written by intellectuals, rather than pastors and teachers, I have often found that their theology is shaped more by the Catholic intellectuals of days past than by the Protestant theology. This is not the case for Pearcey. She strikes a good balance of praise and criticism in her presentation of Protestantism, generally defending the actions and motives of the Reformers and believers of history. Similarly she praises various Catholic scholars (such as Aquinas) for contributions they made, but is necessarily harsh when discussing their shortcomings. Throughout the book, the author maintains this important balance. It was wonderful to see that Pearcey presents significant, deep theology that clearly aligns with the Reformed understandings of the Scripture.
- phil
To Sleep or Not To Sleep
Here's a thought from
The Blue Fish in the U.K. Should I push myself and ignore my need for sleep? Thanks to the new
Blog Watch from WorldMagBlog.com.
Young People Are All Bad
[by way of
Terry Teachout] Greg Sandow runs a flag up the pole on a key initiative for
a classical music industry win-win.
We [classic musicians] have to attract a younger audience. So how can we do that? Hey, I have an idea! . . . Let's make tell our prospective audience that we're arrogant and smug, that we don't understand the people we're trying to reach, and that in fact we don't know much about the world we're living in.
Heh, heh. That's what I look for in a concert. Of course, he's being sarcastic and makes some good points in that post as well as
this one in which he states that young people do not have short attention spans. - phil
First Drafts? Not For Me
D. H. Lawrence told Aldous Huxley he rarely corrected or edited what he had written. He claimed that he was "incapable" of correcting. If he was dissatisfied with what he had written, he preferred to rewrite the entire work (as he did with Lady Chatterly's Lover). Thorton Wilder echoed F. Scott Fitzgerald's definition of his "notebook" when he wrote, "I constantly rewrite, discard and replace the cycle of plays. Some are on the stove, some are in the oven, some are in the waste-basket. There are no first drafts in my life. An incinerator is a writer's best friend."
-- from
The Writer's Home Companion, by
James Charlton and
Lisbeth Mark.
Goodness, I write so pitifully (which you can tell from my posts) that I have could pile up a mound of drafts on which to sit while at the computer--if my drafts were on paper, of course. - phil
What's the Best Book of 2005?
With the new reader awards coming up in October ("
The Quills") and other annual awards coming up, let's jump ahead and cast our votes now. What book do you think deserves to be considered one of the best this year--Fiction and Non? I am remarkably unqualified for questions like this, which is a good reason the literary world ignores me; but still I will chance a nomination.
F: Marilynne Robinson's
Gilead was published in November 2004, so maybe I can't choose it as the best of this year. But I want to.
N: David McCullough's
1776 is probably a great book, but I wonder if Malcolm Gladwell's
Blink may be the better book of the year. Even if he's entirely wrong, Gladwell may have revealed something important about our current cultural mindset--those gut instincts we have which cause us to make snap judgements. As the folk wisdom goes, your first impression is likely the best one.
The Reformation Study Bible
If I understand the news correctly,
The Reformation Study Bible, published by P&R Publishing in February this year, has 60,000 copies in print. The book has
a nice, Flash-based website here.
From a press release: "This Bible project encompasses my life's work," stated Dr. R.C. Sproul, Ligonier Ministries founder who served as the RSB's general editor. "To see how Christians have embraced this new study Bible and translation is beyond my expectations." - phil
A Review of Think Biblically! ed. by John MacArthur
I haven’t blogged about
coffee or
tea in a long time, so to the new readers of Brandywine Books, let me announce that I love well-brewed coffee and I enjoy the culture and taste of hot tea. I like iced tea too, being from the South after all; but I rarely drink it. Common Sunday School coffee doesn’t thrill me. I should look for the cold water instead, though recently I haven’t—perhaps because I’m often optimistic, I mean, the liquid’s hot and sort of smells like coffee so maybe it doesn’t taste like water.
I remember a story about a long commute being made easier, even luxurious, by a short stop at one of America’s Finest Specialty Coffee Shops. Even if I had the money to spend, I wouldn’t want to buy $2 of coffee in a paper cup or refillable Finest Specialty Coffee Shop mug. I brew it at home. My current stock of beans is from a tribe in Papua New Guinea. Maybe that’s a point of interest to add to the sidebar, what coffee I’m brewing. Go ahead and yawn. I know you’re sleep-deprived.
Some, perhaps many, coffee-buying commuters would have to educate themselves on how to brew a great cup at home. Will a brick of Maxwell House give them that robust flavor they want? Lack of education may be a cause of fear for some. They tell themselves they cannot make a good cup of coffee at home. But I think another big reason for dropping by the coffee shop on the way to work is a desire to be served.
Please Serve Me
Most Americans, I believe, want to be served when given the chance. Some greasy spoons stay open despite their mediocre food because they have enough people in the area who simply want to tell someone else to set a meal before them and clean up after them. Sure, relationships play a leading role for some restaurant patrons. Those friendly faces at the diner may be the people they know best. Still, I believe most of us have a strong desire to be served—perhaps for pride, perhaps for comfort.
That desire may have been part of the motivation behind the disciples’ argument over who would be the greatest in kingdom of heaven. During the last supper in Luke 22, we have this record:
A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And he said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves” (24-27).
God the Almighty lived with us as one who served us. Incredible. If we are to follow this charge to serve others, “to consider others as better than ourselves,” then how should we live day to day? Simply put, we must think biblically.
A Christian Worldview
Published in 2003 by Crossway Books, Think Biblically! Recovering a Christian Worldview is a collection of essays written by the faculty of The Master’s College in Southern California. The writing is uneven, which I suppose should be expected, and I thought some authors backtracked on the ones before them; but this book would make a good a text for a class on worldview, even a Sunday School class where people don’t want to read the book.
It begins teaching basic Christian doctrine, such as the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, understanding creation and sin, the gospel, and perspectives on people around the world.
When Jesus prayed for God the Father to “sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17), he was relying on the fact that Scripture is sufficient to reveal “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). Not only is the Bible free of error, but its teaching is comprehensive, “so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).
“For anyone to claim that human philosophy must augment the simple truth of Scripture, or that Scripture cannot deal with certain societal issues and individual problems, is to contradict Paul’s divinely inspired testimony in that verse,” MacArthur writes in the open chapter. “Too many people in evangelical churches and schools today simply assume that certain difficult problems they encounter are beyond the purview of Scripture. The real problem is that they are not really devoted to Scripture.”
On that basis forms a Christian worldview. To renew the mind after this fashion, Master’s College Provost Richard Mayhue suggests we cycle our thoughts through the grounds of God’s Word. He argues, “Whatever the subject, one must begin with God’s perspective from Scripture rather than with man’s opinion from observation, research, and logic. Harry Blamires sums the matter up succinctly: ‘To think Christianly is to think in terms of Revelation.’”
Understanding the Genesis of Everything
So how are we to understand creation in light of Revelation? Simply put, the heavens and the earth were created in six days. MacArthur says, “Nothing about the Genesis text itself suggests that the biblical creation account is merely symbolic, poetic, allegorical, or mythical.” If your reply is to ask about the evidence, then you’ve touched on the heart of a Christian worldview. The Bible is the highest authority and the basis for a philosophy of science. Just as Darwin’s naturalism is the philosophical basis for many scientists’ interpretations, so the Bible should be the interpretive basis for those scientists who hold to it. If we give the current observations of fallible men more weight than the infallible Word of God, then we are not thinking Christianly.
It is essential to understand that the third chapter of Genesis is an accurate historical record, not a fable. Some argue that the presence of a talking snake clearly marks it as a fable, but that is an example of the unchristian thinking addressed in this book. No one has ever heard a snake talk, but why should our experience or conceptions of reality have higher authority than the Scripture? They shouldn’t. Where Scripture and experience or observation conflict we must doubt the latter by faith in Scripture’s authority. Adam and Eve were the first humans to live, created by God as he describes, placed in a type of paradise, and told to enjoy all of it save the fruit of one tree. That’s historic fact, and the foundation of human nature. Because the first men sinned against the Creator, we, their offspring, and all of creation live under a curse in hope of redemption.
Have you ever asked how we can stop wars; why can’t we have peace on earth like we sing about in some of Christmas songs? We can by being reconciled to God. To be reconciled, we must accept that we do not and cannot appeal to the Lord God on our own because of the original sin described in Genesis. All our good works are stained by it; all our bad works stem from it. Thus Jesus Christ, who was not stained by the original sin, suffered the penalty for that sin so that anyone who submits to his authority by faith in what he did will be redeemed from the curse. This is the truth that sets us free.
Biblical Thinking, Christian Living
Think Biblically! builds on that foundation in its remaining chapters. Whereas Darwinian thinking gave us the idea that men and women fall into different races, the Bible teaches that everyone was created by God for his own glory. Cultural differences reflect some natural creativity and some natural rebellion against the Creator. No one should believe that modern American or European society is the way the Lord says life ought to be, an error many missionaries have committed over the centuries. But the truth is real, outside of individual perspectives, and applicable to all of life no matter the culture.
So we live in a post-modern world with buckets of pop-psychology books: what are the errors and the insights? We live under the thumb of radical feminism: what does healthy masculinity and femininity look like? Our churches argue over music more than anything else: how does the Lord want to be worshipped and what part does music play? How should the Bible inform science and government or should they be segregated? What is an honest view of history? How should we glorify the Lord in literature and art?
It’s a good book with many sound principles and discussion starters, but some chapters may leave you wanting more detailed application. Biblical thinking produces godly servanthood, but how to serve isn’t always clear.
Another essay collection edited by MacArthur which was released this year may be a follow-up to this one. Fool’s Gold: Discerning Truth in an Age of Error focuses on many popular books and ideas, including the Purpose-Driven Life, Wild at Heart, contemporary politics, and what’s called a new perspective on the Apostle Paul. Browse it in detail on the publisher’s site.
- phil
What Made You a Reader?
World's blog points out an article on school textbooks and their detrimental impact on reading. Literature texts are bland snippets of larger works which are meant to pass censors/critics more than inspire the love of reading.
Writing for USA Today,
Patrick Welsh says, "Faced with declining literacy and the ever-growing distractions of the electronic media, faced with the fact that--
Harry Potter fans aside-- so few kids curl up with a book and read for pleasure anymore, what do we teachers do? We saddle students with textbooks that would turn off even the most passionate reader."
So, World asks what inspired you to love reading? Eighty comments so far.
I don't quite remember what made me love reading. In fact, I wonder if I don't love books more than reading since the latter is still a struggle for me. I do remember deciding that books, stories, and words endured longer than music or drama, and I wanted to produce great art. As you can see, I am well on my way to mediocrity. - phil
The Quill Awards
A new
reader's choice award from NBC and the publisher of
Publishers Weekly and
Variety will opening voting this month. The Quills will take votes on books nominated to 18 categories at
www.quillsvote.com between August 15 and Septeber 15. Browse the
nominated titles here. Read more about the awards
here. - phil
Christian Authors Golf
I missed this report from earlier this summer.
Jim delivers the goods on the 2005 Evangelical Leadership Golf Tournament. Here is a bit of the roster:
- Benny Hinn, who was disqualified last year for blowing on the ball
- Paul Crouch (the one in the french provincial golf cart)
- Hal Lindsey, who disappeared on the 8th hole last year
- Joel Osteen, if he can produce ID showing he's old enough to play
- Joyce Meyer. Hey are you going to tell her she can't play?
- Bill Hybels, who wants to make the game fun for everyone!
- phil
New Blogs in the Sun Room
I have day-dreamed recently about launching a bookstore. There's a house near my church which is zoned commercial and might possibly make a good independent bookstore. Parking would be a problem, I think; but with books and reading chairs in every room, coffee and small snacks in the little kitchen, it could take on the feel of a rich friend's home where you go to browse his extensive private library. I could never make it work, and the location may be a bad one, even if the house is perfect. So I will blog instead.
Let me point out a couple new blogs added to my list on the right (or if your monitor is behind you, on the left).
Worthy Read could be a daily stopper. It posts a short review almost every day, aiming at accurate summaries or recommendations without pretentiousness. The most recent is
The Story of the Holy Grail.
New Author James Sheehan is blogging at
Slow Moving Dreams. His novel, a thriller called
The Mayor of Lexington Avenue, will be in stores next week. Could be
a winner. Read the first several pages
in PDF here.
Author and blogger Steven Vincent Murdered
[By way of
Collected Misc.] This is the opener of
a report in National Review Online, posted yesterday by Kathryn Jean Lopez:
An Iraqi police lieutenant, who for obvious reasons asked to remain anonymous, confirmed to me the widespread rumors that a few police officers are perpetrating many of the hundreds of assassinations--mostly of former Baath Party members--that take place in Basra each month. He told me that there is even a sort of "death car": a white Toyota Mark II that glides through the city streets, carrying off-duty police officers in the pay of extremist religious groups to their next assignment.
So wrote American freelance journalist Steven Vincent in a piece that appeared in the New York Times this past weekend.
And then a death car came for him.
Steven and his translator, Nour Weidi, were taken from the sidewalk on Tuesday. He was found dead from multiple gunshots; she was critically wounded. Steven was the author of
In The Red Zone, a book on the heart of the Iraqi people, and was working on another book about the rebuilding of Iraq. Comments of honor and concern are being left
on his blog, hosted by his publisher,
Spence Publishing. - phil
Does Sloppy Language Come from a Lazy Heart?
Linda is talking about
The Dictionary of Disagreeable English. In it, Robert Fiske writes, "Since how a person speaks and writes is a fair reflection of how a person thinks and feels, shoddy language may imply a careless and inconsiderate people -- a public whose ideals have been discarded and whose ideas have been distorted. And in a society of this sort, easiness and mediocrity are much esteemed."
What do you think about that? Does our cultural struggle with postmodernism, that everything is personal and truth is what you make it, show itself in our casual use of English, both written and spoken? Could it be that technology has made us impatient or too busy to bother with precise word usage? - phil,
"The Purpose-Driven Life" in Men's Groups
I wrote this article in January 2004, and I just thought to post it here. - phil
This year, a majority of groups in
CBMC Chattanooga are discussing the Scripture and Biblical principles presented in Rick Warren's best-selling book,
The Purpose Driven Life. According to Metro Director Lee Atchley, each discipling group discusses one chapter during each of their weekly meetings. That means many Chattanooga groups are spending forty or more weeks in this study that focuses upon God and His purposes for our life.
Lee said many who have read the book during a "Forty Days of Purpose" campaign at their church have told him and other CBMC members, "There is so much meat in that, I need to through it again."
Lee said that he and Metro Director Bill Spencer "recommend to those who have gone through the book in forty days to go through it again in forty weeks with a spouse, a friend, or a small group-especially focusing on application or living it out."
"Our hope is that this study will lead to daily reading in God's Word, consistent prayer, and 'true fellowship.' We need to shift the focus off ourselves and this world, so we can focus upon our Lord Jesus Christ."
"A common thing I hear from men," Lee continued, "is 'This is exactly what I needed to hear today' from the Word and from the group." Another common remark is "This is the best chapter yet." That, Lee said, is an example of the Lord meeting us where we are.
He had a long-time Christian tell him, "I've never spent much time in the Bible, but because of this book, I have the desire to get into God's Word." Men like this, he said, "[get] a taste of the richness of God's Word." They return to their Bibles with renewed passion, having been "exposed to [its] transforming Truth."
"I believe The Purpose Driven Life will be a continual reference book," Lee continued, not one "which will be read and put on the shelf." It consistently points to Christ and God's Word, he said, and in trials, believers tend to go to the Word for answers and peace. Lee believes this book will help them find those answers. "In fact, it's organized that way."
But He Is Not With Us
I don't like needless conflict. We in the blogosphere argue over trivialities too much, and Christians in the blogosphere are far less charitable than they should be, as has been noted many times by many bloggers. I don't want to join the fray, partly because I don't value my own opinion much. I find it hard to argue over things I believe are personal opinion, not the concrete truth. (And in case you disagree with that observation about me, let me say I could be wrong. What do I know? I'm only me.) I say that because I may be wading into conflict with this post, and I keep telling myself to avoid it. But again, what do I know?
In Luke 9:49-50, the Word says: "John answered, ""Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.' But Jesus said to him,
'Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.'"
He isn't with us in our denomination, in our university, in our theological or political camp; but he isn't against us either, in fact he is casting out demons in Jesus' name. Should we criticize him? Sure, we can criticize his ideas by charitably comparing them to Scripture or the truth as we know it, but we should not "try to stop him" or make our critique personal.
Now, I had intended to link to the post which spurred this line of thought, but I won't. Maybe I'm shying away from the conflict, though it isn't as much with the bloggers on those post as it is with their commenters. You probably know a handful of examples which I haven't read, so apply this to them.
Later: Dan Edelen has written on this subject too, and he links out.
