Yale University Press Pulls Muhammad Cartoons From Book About Muhammad Cartoons
Monthly Archives: August 2009
Let’s have another cup of coffee, and let’s have another piece of Pietism
Another good day writing, thank you for asking. It was more “one step at a time” composition, finding myself often in the situation where I had no idea what the characters would be doing next. So I asked myself, “Well, what’s the emotional reaction? How does the other person respond? Do they stand up or sit down, or just scratch themselves?” And one thing led to another, and I ended up putting down 1,500 words, and ended with a line that (it seemed to me) not only capped the last scene perfectly, but opened up possibilities for later plot points.
Ori asked about my statements on Pietism and legalism on Monday. I’ve actually written about this before, but I’m pretty sure it was back on the old blog site, so I’ll try to re-cap the thing again here.
One element of social change that strongly affected the tumultuous 18th and 19th Centuries was the rise of Pietism. It’s difficult for us, with the preconceptions we’ve absorbed all our lives, to understand what profound changes Pietism wrought. Continue reading Let’s have another cup of coffee, and let’s have another piece of Pietism
Notes from a writer’s journal
Yesterday was my first day of a week of stay-cation, devoted to getting more sleep, and doing more writing, than customary for me.
The sleep hasn’t been bad, but I’m pleased to say that the writing’s already been beyond my expectations.
Here’s the situation.
I’ve been worrying a particular story concept for quite a few years now. I had a basic idea—transfer the traditional hard-boiled detective story from a modern city (such as New York) to the Viking Age and an early medieval town (specifically, old York in England, which was a Viking town for some time). The mystery would have fantasy elements, because that’s the sort of thing I write.
But whatever I did with it, I couldn’t seem to make it come alive. I don’t know how many starts I’ve made on the thing, but they all lost momentum and rolled to a slow stop. Continue reading Notes from a writer’s journal
Ben Hur Live
The photo is from the live performances of Ben Hur, in stadiums, with chariot races.
Deceased: Ben Stein’s NY Times Column
Ben Stein used to write for the NY Times. He does not now, because according to his editors, he had the appearance of a conflict of interest in his writing and commercial endorsements. It’s very much like the clear conflict Rush Limbaugh had with Pizza Hut several years ago. I mean, he probably ate a Pizza Hut pizza before and even after his commercial deal with them. Ridiculous. Stein, pictured right on April 4, 2001, wrote about finances in his column and endorsed a company which offers credit checking services. Both things are related to money; he probably even carried money on his person–clearly a conflict of interest.
In related news, the Times tossed out a column in which Stein criticized the president’s power grabs. They did that just before they let him go. Bad timing, no doubt. Lots of people complained about Stein’s columns over the years. Only now do they get through to the editors. Stein states:
The whole subject reminds me of a conversation Bob Dylan had long ago with a reporter who asked him what he thought about how much criticism he was getting for going from acoustic to electric guitar. “There are a lot of people who have knives and forks,” he said, “and they have nothing on their plates, so they have to cut something.”
There’s a quote to put on tap.
Pseudo Histories and Truth
From the Times Literary Supplement: “Ronald Fritze, a historian and dean at Athens State University in Alabama, is concerned about, and clearly fascinated by, the pseudo-histories and pseudo-sciences . . .” The article goes on to describe his work, and the writer of the article appears to have trouble with discernible truth and passionate lies.
“But, how do we reckon with the fact that pseudo-historians also insist on their stories’ truth? Through evidence and “objective” empirical methods, Fritze tells us, again without raising any questions of method and evidence. While objective historians look at all the facts, guarding themselves against presuppositions, pseudo-historians choose only those that support their case.”
Because insisting on the truth of something does not make it true. Imagine that.
The Wand Beats the Laser Gun
Fantasy has thrown down Science Fiction in popular literature, in case you haven’t noticed. It’s partly science’s fault. Philip Marchand reports this quote: “We have reached the point where contemporary science is so far out, to most people it is indistinguishable from magic,” comments well-known Canadian science fiction novelist Robert J. Sawyer. “The notion, for example, that black holes might provide not only links between space but links to time is grounded in current theoretical thinking.”
(via Arts Journal)
Weekend report, pan-Scandinavian edition
Sunday was the biennial (I just realized I’ve finally figured out when to use “biennial” and when to use “semiannual.” Unless, of course, I’m mistaken) Walker Family Reunion.
This year’s big innovation was a family worship service, in the Old Stone Church which I’ve written about before here. In a way this wasn’t entirely appropriate, since the Walkers moved to Kenyon after the new building in town had been built, so we never worshiped in the O.S.C. But I was happy to cooperate anyway, because I just love doing anything in that historic pioneer building.
My brother and a cousin of my dad’s, both pastors, did the sermons. My job was to lead the service. It was a bit of a “dog’s breakfast,” as the English say, because I didn’t have the opportunity to coordinate beforehand with the people doing the music (guitar, harp and violin. The violin would have scandalized the people who built the church. To them, the fiddle was “the devil’s tool”). But we got through it, and everyone seemed to have enjoyed it. Continue reading Weekend report, pan-Scandinavian edition
Too long a fellow, or not long enough?
“TBartel” over at Evangelical Outpost writes about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, meditating on the whole modern problem of “what is poetry?” (A question that would never have occurred to our ancestors.)
Rhyming couplets, simple diction, and a heart-warming ending: it is for these qualities that Longfellow is lately maligned. Yet it is for these same qualities that Longfellow was once loved. In the mid-19th century, Eliot’s and Pound’s modernism had not yet marginalized formal, accessible poetry, and the American public had no conception, as our century does, that well made poetry must be obscure and difficult. Thousands bought and loved Longfellow’s lyrical, accessible poetry, so much so that halfway through his 50 year career, he was able to retire from teaching to live off money from book sales. Hiawatha was the bestselling book of poetry of the 19th century, not only in America, but in Europe as well.
To the list of TBartel’s recommendations, I would add Tales of a Wayside Inn. It includes Longfellow’s retelling of the saga of Olaf Trygvesson. This was actually my own first introduction to the saga material.
Your Jesus Is Too Safe, by Jared C. Wilson
The title of Jared’s first book, Your Jesus Is Too Safe: Outgrowing a Drive-Thru, Feel-Good Savior, brings to mind J.B. Phillips’ classic book, Your God Is Too Small: Miracle Grow for Your Puny Religious Imagination (OK, I made up that subtitle, and Phillips would not have thought it funny). What I remember most of Phillips’ book is the first part, the destructive part, in which he tears down inadequate views of the Almighty. I expected to find Jared’s book similarly organized, but it isn’t. He doesn’t spend much time describing poor views of Jesus, like Hippie Jesus or the inhuman Flannel-graph Jesus. He touches on them in the context of healthy views on Jesus’ role as a shepherd, a judge, a prophet, a king, and many others.
Something Jared says while discussing one role puts a finger on his approach to the whole book. “In contemplating Jesus as Shepherd, I’m most tempted to make a short list of things shepherds do—the shepherd’s responsibilities chart—and cram Jesus into and see how he fits. Some books actually take this tack. I believe this is a backward way to go about things—sort of getting the cart before the horse . . . or sheep, I guess.” Jesus—the real, historic, biblical Jesus—is the focus on the book. If a reader finds it unfamiliar or oddly lacking in application, then I suggest they question whether they may be influenced by preaching and reading that presents the Christian life as a pattern of moral behaviors, who Jesus is not being nearly as important as what he supposedly wants us to do. Your Jesus Is Too Safe is a Christian Living book, but not a book with 40 ways to have a victorious Christian life. Just to iron out any possible subtly here, the latter book is the safe one; this book isn’t safe.
It isn’t too dangerous either. Even though Jared jokes about making readers angry when talking about Jesus’ humanity, (he says people in some circles get riled at the suggestion that Jesus may have relieved his bowels at some point during his life) he does not draw excessive lines in the sand and call out the heretics lurking in every church. He is very charitable, while presenting sound, biblical portraits of Jesus. I appreciate how he reasons deeply from the Scripture and does not fill each chapter with personal stories or extra-biblical illustrations. It’s a darn good book, in other words.
One outstanding point of interest for readers of Brandywine Books is the section on Jesus’ human intelligence. Jared quotes from Dallas Willard’s The Divine Conspiracy to say Jesus isn’t generally considered smart because “the world has succeeded in opposing intelligence to goodness.” Saintly people who are also brilliant are considered anomalies in the world, if their brilliance is recognized (I suppose Chesterton’s Father Brown was one). Some Christians take this idea so far as to discourage heavy study, even in theology, but noting that Jesus was God in human form, Jared states “anytime a Christian denies the importance of reading, learning, and studying . . . one is, practically speaking, denying the incarnation.” So loving the Lord our God with all our minds may mean reading Plato or Shakespeare because doing so would enrich our imaginations.
Continue reading Your Jesus Is Too Safe, by Jared C. Wilson