Quote Log: Ignatius to the Trallians

(Hereafter a "Quote Log" entry denotes a blog entry that consists of an interesting quote or two I found, sometimes with a little background.)

From the epistle of Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians:

"Therefore I need gentleness, by which the ruler of this age is destroyed." (4:2) and again,

"Arm yourselves with gentleness." (8:1)

Translated by Michael W. Holmes in The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations (3d ed) published by Baker Academic (in Grand Rapids) in 2007. (Tralles was a city in Asia Minor; Ignatius wrote this early in the second century.)

Brief Thoughts on “A Grief Observed”

C. S. Lewis wrote A Grief Observed in 1961 after the death of his wife. It is in the form of a private journal written as he processes the emotions and thoughts that come right after her death (but there are no markers of what days these are written, so it is hard to tell how long this process takes). I once heard that the book is not as “raw” or unedited as it appears, but that he edited it a little to make it more approachable and helpful for readers. Regardless of how edited it is, it is true that it was first published under a pseudonym. Whether that was because it was thought that more people would read it and be helped by it if it did not have Lewis' name on it, or because he was shy about revealing all these feelings to the public, or both, is a question that does not matter now. 

 This book contains a lot of strong feelings. What struck me in particular about these feelings when I read the book most recently was how culturally conditioned are our ideas about death, the feelings we have about loved ones dying, and what we think happens to people right after death. In the introduction to the book it is pointed out that the book is "a" grief observed; not grief in general, but one husband's grief in particular. Yes, psychologists tell us that, for everyone, grief is a process that has defined stages, but how Lewis feels during the process and about the process is particularly his own. There are stages for everyone, but what we imagine during grieving and how we think we ought to feel and express ourselves is strongly culturally influenced. I especially noticed that C. S. Lewis had a hard time believing that his wife was experiencing any conceivable afterlife; for most of the book, he tells how he feels like believing that he will never see her again. He knew as well as any Christian does that the Bible says everyone ends up in either Heaven or Hell, but I guess that materialism (the idea that people have no soul that lasts beyond death, but when someone dies, that is all, and they just pass out of existence) was so widespread an idea in the mid-twentieth century that his imagination and feelings have to struggle with it. How different that is, it struck me, from our contemporary images and assumptions about the afterlife in which dead people go to a pleasant place and see those who have preceded them! This made me wonder whether what I really think about Heaven and the afterlife owes much to the Bible or whether it really draws more from my cultural imagination and atmosphere. C. S. Lewis was firmly trained that if we want to believe something, that is a strong reason for being skeptical about it. Is our skepticism so well trained?

 If I had studied more about how twenty-first century Americans feel (and are expected to feel) when we process grief, I think we might detect even more cultural differences between Lewis' grief and what might be "typical." There is much more that can be said about this short (75 page) book, but let wiser and more experienced people than I say them.

A Review of Randy Alcorn's The Treasure Principle

I recommend Randy Alcorn's The Treasure Principle for anyone who is wondering why Christians give. More generally, anyone who wonders how and why being a Christian would make a difference in one's everyday life would benefit from this book. Among other books on this topic, this book stands out because it is concise and to the point (the main text is only 94 short pages with one-sentence summaries). Alcorn carefully shows that what he says has a solid Biblical foundation. He gives good illustrations so that readers will remember his main ideas, and he keeps his discussion practical, not just ideal.

The Treasure Principle's main topic is heavenly (as opposed to earthly) treasures, and its key text is Matt.6:19-21. Alcorn rubs the reader's nose in the fact that we cannot “take it with us;” all of our earthly possessions will eventually end up in the junkyard, but we can convert our earthly resources into heavenly treasures. Naturally, the next question is: What are “heavenly treasures”? Alcorn depicts these as what accrues when we give to further God's purposes, for example, when we have compassion on those who are in need or when we use our resources to affect people's souls (e.g., evangelization). For we are stewards of God's resources, which means our job is to use God's resources as He would like. God notices our actions and will reward us in heaven for our faithful stewardship; hence we call them “heavenly treasures” because they are rewards we get in heaven.

What Christian stewardship looks like depends on what kind of person one sees Jesus Christ as. Alcorn reminds us that Jesus has been gracious to us; He is good, and we can trust Him. Our generosity is a response to God's generosity to us; when Jesus calls Christians to be generous, He is not asking us to do anything He has not already done. Even gifts that are real sacrifices to us are imitations of His giving. Alcorn says that when God gives people more than they need, it is so that they can have more joy in giving, not so that they can spend more on themselves. Alcorn reminds us that having a life that is focused on possessions – a materialistic life – is really not joyful; rather, “Giving is the only antidote to materialism.”

Alcorn challenges his readers to see their resources (especially money) with the eyes of faith – a faith that recognizes that Jesus is the sovereign God over the whole world and can provide for His followers, which means Christians do not have to hoard earthly treasures. I was most challenged by Alcorn's exhortations to plan to give more than we think we can (in chapter 5) and to talk more about specific givers and giving projects in church (in chapter 6; his suggestions sounded almost competitive to me). I appreciate Alcorn's determination to stick closely to God's Word and how he lays out the principles of giving without sounding like one-size-fits-all; he acknowledges that different people do have different needs and, thus, different levels of what is “excess,” without toning down his challenge to most American Christians. If you want to read one Christian book about how and why to give, read this one.

Finally, for those who are curious right this minute: take a good look at Eternal Perspective Ministries, Randy Alcorn's website, for more from this author, or search for this book at Multnomah's website.

Book Log: Zorba the Greek

I bought Zorba the Greek at Belton's "Christmas on the Chisholm Trail" for $1 in order to read in the plane to & from Philadelphia. I'm glad I did; I very much enjoyed reading it. I want to read it again and make a list of all the new vocabulary.

It reminded me a little bit of some books by Hesse; for some time I thought the plot was going to be, "Chaste man finds what his heart is really missing and discovers the life of his emotions," but it's more complicated than that. Despite that the book's title says it's about Zorba, I think it's as least as much about the unnamed narrator and his friendships and emotions. (He obviously has very deep emotions even though he thinks his way thru life.)

Here's my first stab at the main questions it raises: What are the consequences of living life the way Zorba does? the way the narrator does? (and likewise the way other characters do: Dame Hortense, the peasants, monks, and the narrator's other friend?) To what degree is living life with Zorba's gusto desirable and achievable?

Then there are the contextual questions: How is Buddhism mixed up with this? What is the history of Greece and Crete in the time period depicted?