From the Library of C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis is arguably the greatest Christian author of the 20^th century.  The Chronicles of Narnia are revered alongside Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings as one the greatest fantasy series ever written, but even more pronounced in the church are his Christian works like Mere Christianity, On Pain, The Screw Tape Letters, etc.

However, and this is a lesson the mass of Christian writers publishing today should take note of, C.S. Lewis’s writing ability was not just natural talent.  It was honed through years of studying the great writers of yesteryear and his contemporaries. He was a literary professor after all.

For that matter, His Christianity didn’t exist in a bubble either.  He read the church fathers, writings of the Catholic Saints, the scholastics, the reformers, the transcendentalists, and even the Pre-Raphaelites of the Victorian period.

The idea that we are somehow separate from the history of the church is a pernicious falsehood that stems from postmodernism’s crazy idea that there is no over-arching story in the world, that every generation sits in its own little bubble.

And while C.S. Lewis lived in the era of modernism, there were elements of postmodernism starting to surface in his time, some of which he championed and some of which he mocked, particularly the ideas of Marx and Freud, saying that they were “sawing off the branch that they were sitting on,” but that’s a whole different discussion, and I ought not follow that rabbit trail less this review become an academic paper, but I do think including some of the authors Lewis severely disagrees with in the book would have helped build the picture of his spiritual journey. 

Overall, From the Library of C.S. Lewis, does an excellent job drawing a loose sketch of the authors that Lewis favored in his lifetime by including several excerpts from the most influential ones. The book arranges the excerpts by topic like “God’s Love”, “Our Love for Christ”, “Christ’s Sacrifice” etc, which makes the excerpts a lot more approachable than just randomly throwing them together. 

If you’re interested not only in what influenced C.S. Lewis, but in the history of the church, and those who have followed Christ through the years, this is a good place to start, but be forewarned, if you do pick this book up, you may find yourself buying a few more books from the authors whose excerpts have been included.

Buy the book for $9.20

I received this book from the publisher for review.  All opinions are my own.

British History: Observations and Assessments from Early Cultures to Today

A while back I reviewed Master Books’ World History textbook by James P. Stobaugh. My critique of that book was pretty harsh because Stobaugh based most of his book on Internet research rather than scholarly sources.  There were frequent and glaring grammatical errors as well as problems in his timeline.

Unfortunately Stobaugh’s British History textbook is little better. 

While there was a larger reference section in the back of the book, the inline citations where overwhelmingly from Britannia.com, which isn’t quite as bad as history101.com or the History of the World for Dummies like the previous book, but it certainly isn’t considered a scholarly or even an authoritative resource.  Again it was something a teacher would expect a high school student to turn in, copy and pasted from the Internet.

There were also some glaring errors.  For example on page 51, Stobaugh tells us that Christopher Columbus was “born in Genoa, Italy, in 145”.  Which would make him over a thousand years old when he sailed the ocean blue in 1492.  I’m assuming that’s a typo, but that’s why it’s vital that textbook companies edit their material before publishing it.

One of the main purposes that Stobaugh sets out to accomplish with this series is to present history in a way that glorifies God, so a lot of time is spent on looking at the reformation and its affects on Britain, but I’m surprised that a lot of the British precursors of the reformation were left out.  One huge example is John Wycliffe, who translated the Bible into English in 1382 and started the Lollard movement, which heavily influenced Martin Luther.  After his death Wycliffe was declared a heretic, and his body was exhumed, dismembered, and burned. In terms of Britain’s Protestant Christian heritage, he’s a biggy, but he’s missing from this Christian textbook.

Again I think Stobaugh’s intentions were noble, but Masterbooks should have hired an editor and a more competent historian.  I’ll repeat my earlier evaluation of World History, this sort of lackadaisical scholarship is why secularists think of Christians as country bumpkins with no education. 

What’s somewhat humorous about it all is that in the time period that Stobaugh is writing about, Christian scholars were the cream of the academic crop. 

Once again, I cannot recommend this series to anyone, much less its intended high school audience.

Conquer Your Fears: Live to Give

Thomas Nelson Author and Hoops of Hope founder, Austin Gutwein, to host September 6 online event to focusing on themes his latest release, Live to Give.

On September 6 at 8 PM EDT, Austin Gutwein will be hosting a live Facebook web event to encourage participants to conquer their fears and use their talents to help others. The webcast will center on the themes Gutwein writes about in his latest release “Live to Give: Letting God Turn Your Talents into Miracles” (Thomas Nelson/August, 2012). At the conclusion of the webcast, the winners of a month-long social media fueled “Get and Give” contest will be announced, including the winner of a Kindle Fire and $250 donated to the winner’s charity of choice.

Join Austin on the evening of Thursday, September 6th as he shares about his own experiences and encourages others to conquers their fears and “live to give”. Austin will also be taking audience questions and interacting with participants. PLUS – there will be several “Live to Give” giveaways – books, gift certificates and much more! RSVP today and tell your friends.

Based on the John 6 story of Jesus feeding the 5000, in “Live to Give” Gutwein challenges his readers that regardless of age and talent, God can use them to make a difference. Even though God could take care of everything Himself and doesn’t really need our help, He desperately WANTS us to help Him care for others. Gutwein walks young people through discovering and embracing their unique God-given strengths and abilities, then figuring out how to use those talents to help others. Sometimes doing that takes a leap of faith on our part, and often becoming fearless in the process.

More about Austin: At eighteen years old, Gutwein speaks with wisdom and has the experience to reinforce his message. When Austin was just nine years old, he watched a video that showed children in Africa who had lost their parents to AIDS. Gutwein realized these kids weren’t any different from him—except they were suffering. Feeling called to help, he took his love of basketball and decided to shoot free throws to raise money for orphans in Zambia. On World AIDS Day in 2004, he shot 2,057 free throws to represent the 2,057 kids who would be orphaned during his day at school. Through sponsorship from parents and friends, Gutwein raised over $3,000 that day to give hope to eight orphans in Zambia. Over the past eight years, Gutwein’s efforts have created Hoops of Hope, the largest free throw marathon in the world. With an estimated 40,000 people in more than 25 countries participating, Hoops of Hope has raised more than $2.5 million to build schools, medical clinics, dormitories for orphanages, and the only computer lab in Zambia.

Enter to win a Kindle Fire and have $250 donated to your favorite charity. Click for the banner for details and entry or visit http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/13528976/livetogive.


Learn more about Austin and Hoops of Hope at www.AustinGutwein.com and www.HoopsOfHope.org.