Posts about books that I’ve read.
The author of this book is a French conservative and classical liberal. His take on the famous Wager — in chapter 2 — is that Pascal is urging the reader to adopt a mindset in which he is at least open to the possibility of Christian belief; in that regard I note (21-22, footnotes omitted) … [Read more…]
For anyone looking for reading material for pre-teens/young teens, I want to recommend the four books (totaling about a thousand pages) in the Wingfeather Saga. It’s fantasy along the lines of the Narnia books and Lord of the Rings, with Christian themes but also allusions and similarities to classical and Norse mythology. The plot is … [Read more…]
I’m happy to begin the New Year with this blogpost: I noted earlier my excitement on hearing about a new biography of Blaise Pascal, and I successfully solicited it as a Christmas gift. This blogsite is, after all, named for works by Pascal and my other great Christian hero, C.S. Lewis. *** The book did … [Read more…]
This 2016 book has been cited in several recent apologetic works, and it is easy to see why: It’s terrific, and discussing it is a good way to begin the Advent Season. The author is a professor at the Augustine Institute, a private Catholic theology graduate school. The book is 198 pages of text with … [Read more…]
One of the blurbs on the back of the cover jacket describes Charles Murray as, “Arguably, the most consequential social scientist alive.” Yes, indeed, and so I was delighted to hear of this book and to get an advance copy of it. It is similar to another book published earlier this year, Ross Douthat’s Believe: … [Read more…]
This is another book that I read because it was cited in Ross Douthat’s recent and excellent Believe. After this book’s 15-page introduction, there follows the author’s new translation of Mark’s Gospel and his and verse-by-verse (more or less) commentary on it. Since there are sixteen chapters in Mark, the book is divided into sixteen … [Read more…]
This is another book I read thanks to its endorsement in Ross Douthat’s Believe. It’s excellent! And more good news (so to speak): The whole book is available online here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/64c13fbd86667f166b3c5901/t/6605a833f6068e6a27855728/1711646775902/Can%2BWe%2BTrust%2BThe%2BGospels.pdf The book is fairly recent (2018), short (140 pages of text), and with good footnotes (and both a general and a Scripture index). There’s … [Read more…]
This book was recommended by Ross Douthat in his recent book, and an excellent recommendation it was! *** I’ll begin with an overview of the book, starting with the author’s definition of the eponymous “undesigned coincidence” (12): An undesigned coincidence is a notable connection between two or more accounts or texts that doesn’t seem to … [Read more…]
It is exciting to have a book of Christian apologetics on the New York Times best seller list — debuting at number eight among nonfiction hardbacks! I will give you a quick summary and my bottom line first: The book begins with chapters on how recent science on fine-tuning, human consciousness, and supernatural events like … [Read more…]
I was googling “best gospel books” or something like that and, lo and behold, I found the subject of this blog post, namely Leo Tolstoy’s The Gospel in Brief. My thought then was, well, Tolstoy was one of the great writers of all time, and a committed Christian, and so it would make a lot … [Read more…]