Shane Vander Hart has interesting post on his blog Caffeinated Thoughts about a bias that he has observed against old books. I’ve seen the same thing. For a short time I was an instructor at one of the state universities in Iowa and trying to get my students to read anything published before 2000 was a hopeless endeavor. I particularly like what C.S. Lewis once wrote about this issue:
There is a strange idea abroad that in every subject the ancient books should be read only by the professionals, and that the amateur should content himself with the modern books. This mistaken preference for the modern books and this shyness of the old ones is nowhere more rampant than in theology. Wherever you find a little study circle of Christian laity you can be almost certain that they are studying not St. Luke or St. Paul or St. Augustine or Thomas Aquinas or Hooker or Butler, but M. Berdyaev or M. Maritain or M. Niebuhr or Miss Sayers or even myself.
Now this seems to me topsy-turvy. Naturally, since I myself am a writer, I do not wish the ordinary reader to read no modern books. But if he must read only the new or only the old, I would advise him to read the old. It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones.
While I’m on the topic, I’d like to recommend an old book that I’m currently reading, A Treatise on Regeneration, by Peter Van Mastricht. It was written in 1769 and published by Soli Deo Gloria Publications in 2002. I’m just getting into it, but so far it’s terrific. Jonathan Edwards once said this Van Mastricht’s work, “This book is much better than any other book in the world, excepting the Bible, in my opinion.” I’m not sure you can get higher praise for a book than that. Check it out if you have time; and be sure it check out Shane’s post, I Read Dead People, as well.
HT: Introduction to Athanasius’ On The Incarnation
Now this seems to me topsy-turvy. Naturally, since I myself am a writer, I do not wish the ordinary reader to read no modern books. But if he must read only the new or only the old, I would advise him to read the old. It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones.
While I’m on the topic, I’d like to recommend an old book that I’m currently reading, A Treatise on Regeneration, by Peter Van Mastricht. It was written in 1769 and published by Soli Deo Gloria Publications in 2002. I’m just getting into it, but so far it’s terrific. Jonathan Edwards once said this Van Mastricht’s work, “This book is much better than any other book in the world, excepting the Bible, in my opinion.” I’m not sure you can get higher praise for a book than that. Check it out if you have time; and be sure it check out Shane’s post, I Read Dead People, as well.
HT: Introduction to Athanasius’ On The Incarnation
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