Entries that relate to C.S. Lewis and his work.
C.S. Lewis wrote, “It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between.” And if you’re looking for an old book, I just finished reading two that I’m happy to recommend. I hasten to add that neither of them would … [Read more…]
R.C. Sproul is an important American Reformed theologian, and John Piper calls this book a “classic.” One fan of Dr. Sproul told me that a great value of this book is that the holiness of God reminds us how unholy we are. Along those lines, I noted, “Fear, discomfort, other-ness: That and not simple adoration … [Read more…]
I have Professor William Lane Craig to thank for flagging this amazing book, in a video of him speaking that I watched and took notes on years ago. It is a tour de force argument in favor of the historicity of the book of Acts. It is also extraordinarily evenhanded. The book’s basic scope and … [Read more…]
I read about this book in a number of different places, but in particular I had saved this description (128, footnote omitted) of it from George M. Marsden’s Mere Christianity: A Biography (discussed here on this blogsite): One commentator refers to [Kreeft] as “perhaps the most lucid and prolific Catholic apologist in the English-speaking world.” Kreeft’s … [Read more…]
This is a great big book: 889 pages, plus another 96 pages of bibliography and indices. Amusingly, the interlibrary loan slip accompanying the book had handwritten on it, “* Caution: heavy*.” The length and scope of this book require that I begin this blogpost by spending some time simply describing just what the book … [Read more…]
This 1975 book is essentially a beautiful 191-page essay by Malcolm Muggeridge, giving us his take on the Gospels. Now, when you think about it, those four mini-biographies of Jesus are together the most important 80,000 written words (the length of a quite short novel) we humans have, and of course Muggeridge is one of … [Read more…]
This post, presented as a dialogue, addresses what I think are some basic issues raised by Christians’ recognition and use of Scripture. What do you mean by Scripture? Most dictionary definitions say simply it is writing that a particular religion holds to be “sacred” or “holy.” So it is writing that is God-related, but of … [Read more…]
I read this book because it was cited in another of Peter Kreeft’s books, namely his Handbook of Christian Apologetics (coauthored with Ronald K. Tacelli and discussed here on this blogsite). It was described there (250) as a book-length treatment of the Sehnsucht (longing) argument for the existence of God. I recommend Heaven. Its thesis … [Read more…]
This book, published by InterVarsity Press, was written in 1994 by two Catholic philosophy professors at Boston College. I hasten to add that the arguments made here should be welcomed by all Christians, not just Catholics, and indeed the first chapter says explicitly that the book embraces “mere Christianity” (12, 24-25). It is is a … [Read more…]
This is not the most profound or polished book of all time, but I very much enjoyed it. The book is essentially a series of reminisces by a variety of people about their personal encounters with C.S. Lewis. As you’d expect, the recollections are nearly all positive (the editor’s only negative page is 131). There … [Read more…]