Category Archives: Authors

Authors, Religion

The Fervent Exercise of the Heart

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America’s greatest theologian, Johnathan Edwards, was born on this day in 1703. From his work Religious Affections, he wrote:

. . . who will deny that true religion consists, in a great measure, in vigorous and lively actings of the inclination and will of the soul, or the fervent exercises of the heart. That religion which God requires, and will accept, does not consist in weak, dull and lifeless wouldings, raising us but a little above a state of indifference: God, in his Word, greatly insists upon it, that we be in good earnest, fervent in spirit, and our hearts vigorously engaged in religion: “Be ye fervent in spirit, serving the Lord” (Rom. 12:11). . . . ‘Tis such a fervent, vigorous engagedness of the heart in religion, that is the fruit of a real circumcision of the heart, or true regeneration, and that has the promises of life; “And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live” (Deut. 30:6). If we ben’t in good earnest in religion, and our wills and inclinations be not strongly exercised, we are nothing.

Authors

Robert Irvine Making Cooking a Smidge Easier

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Chef Robert Irvine, recently of “Dinner: Impossible” on The Food Network, has a book out on his style, experiences, and ideas on thinking ahead. WSJ.com has a video spot on him here. I’ve seen his show a few times, and it’s impressive what he can accomplish. I must be nice to pull up good ideas in a few minutes and carry them through with excellence. No doubt, no hand-wringing. I’d like to try that sometime.

Authors

The Raging Debate

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Apparently, Richard Dawkins and other atheists agree to be in a documentary without full knowledge of the intent of the film–or with incorrect knowledge because the film makers did not level with them. They say they were told it was a film on the debate between Darwinism and creationism, but it appears it was actually a film on the shut-out of professors who endorse Intelligent Design. (via Books, Inq.)

Hopefully, Dawkins is fully aware of what he’s debating tonight at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. He is scheduled to debate John Lennox on the question of God. Both men work at Oxford, so it will be an peer argument in a sense. The debate is hosted by Fixed Point Foundation.

Authors, Poetry

Today, Francis Turner Palgrave, Born 1824

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Another poet’s birthday today. This time we have Francis Turner Palgrave, born in 1824. A friend of Tennyson and teacher of poor children, he may not have written much to remember today. Here’s the start of his poem, “Pro Mortuis.”

What should a man desire to leave?

A flawless work; a noble life:

Some music harmoniz’d from strife,

Some finish’d thing, ere the slack hands at eve

Drop, should be his to leave.

He’s rhyming of life with strife has become so popular, every beginning poet or songwriter does it at least a hundred times, calling for more English words ending in ife. (wife, knife, endrife, trife, shife, and other useful words.) Here are some of his other poems.

Authors, Poetry

T.S. Eliot

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Here’s to T.S. Eliot, born on this date in 1888.

Eliot is said to have said, “Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality.” I suspect most of us don’t really know what poetry is. The right words in the right order sound like poetry to us to the extend we can hear them.

Authors, Fiction

Is Wodehouse Like the Energizer Bunny?

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The Scott Stein, who teaches a course on humorous writing at University of Pennsylvania, said that he read P.G. Wodehouse’s The Code of the Woosters before any other Bertie and Jeeves novel. “It was one of the funniest, most entertaining novels I’d ever read,” he said. He read three more and “each has been less entertaining than the previous one. The last one I read, just recently (Jeeves and the Tie that Binds), was even a bit tedious.”

Frank Wilson pointed out Scott’s post and has yet to say whether he agrees with Scott. Not that it really matters, but hey, it’s a detail to point out, and Scott–that is, The Scott Stein–discussed his thoughts further on Frank’s blog.

I haven’t read the books Scott read. Of the Bertie and Jeeves stories, I’ve read Carry On, Jeeves, Very Good, Jeeves, Right-Ho, Jeeves, and The Inimitable Jeeves (I think). Each were hilarious. The story of Aunt Agatha and the Pearls was ripping funny, in part, because we knew about Bertie’s relationship with his aunt, “the one who chews broken bottles and kills rats with her teeth.” I haven’t gotten to The Code yet, but what do you think of Scott’s premise? Do these stories get old after a while?

Authors

In which I preen just a bit

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I got an e-mail today from Dr. Tim Furnish, author of Holiest Wars, an expert on Islam (particularly the messianic variety). He said some extremely flattering things about my article at The American Spectator Online yesterday. I checked out his web site and think it well worth sharing with you. (And he’s a Lutheran.)

Authors

Madeleine L’Engle, 1918-2007

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Thanks to Gaius at Blue Crab Boulevard for alerting us to the fact that Madeleine L’Engle, the influential fantasist, has passed away.

I’ve never read any of Ms. L’Engle’s books, since I missed them as a kid, and as an adult I made the mistake of finding out about her theology, which made me chary of them. But she is much beloved of many readers, including many Christian readers. So R.I.P.