How to read: Ask is it true?
[I originally wrote this in 2015. It seems especially relevant now.]
In the Screwtape Letters, the delightfully evil demon said this to his student:
Only the learned read old books and we have now so dealt with the learned that they are of all men the least likely to acquire wisdom by doing so. We have done this by inculcating the Historical Point of View. The Historical Point of View, put briefly, means that when a learned man is presented with any statement in an ancient author, the one question he never asks is whether it is true. He asks who influenced the ancient writer, and how far the statement is consistent with what he said in other books, and what phase in the writer’s development, or in the general history of thought, it illustrates, and how it affected later writers, and how often it has been misunderstood (specially by the learned man’s own colleagues) and what the general course of criticism on it has been for the last ten years, and what is the “present state of the question.” To regard the ancient writer as a possible source of knowledge—to anticipate that what he said could possibly modify your thoughts or your behaviour—this would be rejected as unutterably simple-minded. And since we cannot deceive the whole human race all the time, it is most important thus to cut every generation off from all others; for where learning makes a free commerce between the ages there is always the danger that the characteristic errors of one may be corrected by the characteristic truths of another. - C.S. Lewis The Screwtape Letters Letter XXVII
For those who haven’t read The Screwtape Letters, it’s a book of speculative fiction by C.S. Lewis wherein he writes from the perspective of a demon attempting to help a lesser demon tempt a human being who begins to consider Christianity.
Music Monday: Andrew W.K. Edition
The first time I heard this guy, I thought he was hilarious. I remember being at K-Mart and looking on the back of his album in high school. I was shocked because so much of his music had to do with partying. I mused, “This guy’s a joke and on purpose.” Anyway, when I was in college a friend showed me this song. Note how happily it starts and sounds, but the lyrics are completely frightening and morbid. Anyway, I suppose that a good way to start your week is to get ready to die. So, you’d better get ready to die.
Christian Mentoring: Priorities and Processes
I’ve been a Sunday school teacher for a long time and now I find myself in several interesting mentoring roles in my life. When I was younger I thought of my role in very robotic terms. I give knowledge, people absorb it, and then they base their own thoughts on that knowledge. Then I move on.
In reality the process is almost nothing like that. There are so many things to take into account when it comes to mentoring other Christians. Here are some chunks of Scripture and my thoughts on their application to the mentoring process:
Thoughts on being a nerd and being well liked
When I was younger, I was a nerd. I played too many video games, my favorite class was computer programming, I couldn’t figure out social interactions, and felt resentful of people who could make friends well. Now, I’m happy to say that I figured it out from reading the Bible after my conversion. I have friends from a wide variety of walks of life.
I had bought into the Disney myth: just be yourself and the right people will like you for who you are.
Theology Thursday: Karl Barth and Christian mindset.
Several years ago, I read a few volumes of Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics. During that period of my life I wasn’t sleeping much and I probably read too quickly. Anyhow, I’m trying to just read 10 pages a day now. I’ll eventually finish, or maybe I won’t. Reading the Bible and doing what Jesus says is better, but Barth is useful for preachers because he helps build the habit of comparing the church’s preaching back to Jesus. In other words, he reminds pastors to go back to Jesus and stay on task.
Wisdom Wednesday: The Wisdom of Solomon 8:7
One of the most interesting pieces of ancient literature (in my mind) is the Wisdom of Solomon. If you’re Roman Catholic or Greek Orthodox, it will appear in your Bible. If you’re Protestant some Bibles include it, some do not. It represents an attempt to express Jewish wisdom in relationship to Platonism, Aristotelianism, and Stoicism. I find the book to be intriguing and in many ways compelling. One of my favorite parts is where the author, using the voice of Solomon says this of wisdom:
Music Monday: mewithoutYou
mewithoutYou is a band that I’ve liked since my senior year of high school when I came across one of their songs on a compilation CD that was given to me at a concert. Their sound has evolved tremendously since then. Their first album is one I very rarely listen to anymore. But their newest album Pale Horses, is very good. One song that really grabs me is Birnam Wood.
Theology Thursday: Theology and Mindset
Theology as Speculative Knowledge Thomas Aquinas argues, in the Summa, that sacred doctrine (theology) is not a practical science, but instead speculative*:
Every practical science is concerned with human operations; as moral science is concerned with human acts, and architecture with buildings. But sacred doctrine is chiefly concerned with God, whose handiwork is especially man. Therefore it is not a practical but a speculative science.I think that the distinction is important. For instance, even if Christianity is true, the “how-it-happened” of the atonement does not concern human action, but it is a topic that concerns God. Aquinas does note that theology does touch on elements of human action, but the primary object of sacred doctrine is God. Therefore it is not a practical science..Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province (London: Burns Oates & Washbourne, n.d.).
Book Review: I Robot by Isaac Asimov
We read this book in class when I was in high school and I vaguely remembered finishing it. But we didn’t. We only actually read the first three stories.
Anyway, I had wanted to revisit it because in high school I was distracted by everything and because I thought I recalled the book having some fun logic exercises.
The logic exercises were fun. But they weren’t as good as I’d remembered. Anyway, the stories I hadn’t gotten to were all very good. My favorites are Evidence and Liar. Liar, about a robot whose positronic brain has spontaneously gained the ability to interpret human thought, is a page turner.
Wisdom Wednesday: The Simple
In Proverbs 14, the simple get a bad rep. But the point of that is to remind us, who might be simple-minded, to gain some nuance in the way we think.
For instance, Proverbs essentially outlines four ways of coming to know:
- Senses
- Inference
- Testimony (correction, tradition, instruction, or divine revelation)
- Trial and Error
Proverbs ESV 14:15 The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.The simple, in Proverbs, is essentially the person who does not stop and think things through, whether a good or bad person. They are easily swayed, this is why Lady Wisdom is always trying to get their attention and way Lady Folly and the scoffers find them such easy prey.Proverbs ESV 14:18 The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.