Harold Bloom, “The Shadow of a Great Rock: A Literary Appreciation of the King James Bible”

Bloom is a traditionalist when it comes to criticism, but he is not a believer.  He takes issue with C.S. Lewis a few times; Lewis apparently objected to the whole enterprise of reading Scripture as literature.  I read only the introduction and the New Testament part (not the Old Testament or Apocrypha, which are by … [Read more…]

Terence E. Fretheim, “The Pentateuch”

The author is “a Christian and a Lutheran” (37). The discussion in chapter one of ways to read the text is interesting and thought-provoking (some politically correct elements creep in, though).  He makes the point that the themes in Genesis cannot be forgotten in interpreting Exodus and the rest of the Pentateuch.  Wikipedia, by the … [Read more…]

Dorothy L. Sayers, “The Mind of the Maker”

Sayers was a British contemporary of C.S. Lewis’s, and a Christian fellow traveler who is well thought of by many conservatives and Christians. This book is all right, but I have to say that based on it I’m not so impressed that I’m inclined to read her systematically.  She is sometimes obscure, and sometimes overreaches. … [Read more…]

James T. Como (editor), “C.S. Lewis at the Breakfast Table and Other Reminiscences”

This book is a series of vignettes by people who knew C.S. Lewis personally.  What a wonderful man:  generous, talkative, unpretentious, positive — a real role model.  And there is material of interest beyond his personality in here:  Jacques Barzun was a fan, Lewis accepts original sin because Paul seemed to (159), Lewis did not … [Read more…]

C.S. Lewis, “The Great Divorce”

I reread this in 2013 as a Lenten study.  Two thoughts:  First, I’ve thought more about what Heaven will be like than what Hell would be like; I wonder if that’s true of most people.  Second, if the raised body is, in some sense, solid, then Heaven must be, in some sense, an actual place … [Read more…]

Richard J. Foster & James Bryan Smith (editors), “Devotional Classics”

There are about forty excerpts from a Who’s Who of Christian theologians (Luther, Calvin, St. Thomas, Wesley, C.S. Lewis, etc.).  Needless to say, there is some good stuff in here; there’s also a biography, bibliography, and questions for each. Note:  I did not read the whole book (my notes don’t say why).  I read the … [Read more…]