Jim's #25: The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

  I have been meaning to read the Chronicles of Narnia series for a very long time.  I remember watching the old version of the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe long ago and really enjoying it.  The new one I found equally intriguing.  In purchasing the series, I was surprised to find that the Magician's Nephew was first, though it shouldn't surprise me since Narnia and the wardrobe had to come from somewhere.  So this book was a precursor and the originator of Narnia, that magic land we all wish we could travel to at times.  I found it as captivating as I thought I would.

What I found most intriguing was the creation of Narnia.  The picture of a song starting the world is pretty interesting and makes me wonder about how our own world began.  The biblical metaphors are pretty obvious throughout the book, but Lewis does a great way of not making it predictable in any way in the midst of that.  I can't wait for the rest of the books, but I'm forcing myself to read 50 pages of my Jonathan Edwards biography in between them all to force me to finish off that beast as well.

Brad's no. 5: Business Research Methods by Zikmund, Babin, Carr, & Griffin

And thus it begins... When I was asked to participate in this blog, I had every intention to be perpetually behind by three, four, maybe twelve weeks.  This was before I embarked down my MBA path. Know look at me. I knew heading back to school would take up a good portion of my reading budget; little did I know what a drain it would be.  It's not just the time factor, though that is a big consideration.  The main thing is the mental drain.  For instance, 600 pages of qualitative research tools, secondary data research in a digital age, sampling designs, F-Statistic manual calculations and -- everyone's favorite (including one J. Beiber if rumors are true) -- ANOVA for complex experimental designs, tends to drain one's mental capacity and drive to read.  So, all of this as a pitiful explanation to why I am not currently at my initial goal.  Though this does not explain why I have a back log of nine or ten books waiting to be reviewed.

Enough introduction, on to the book at hand.  I enjoyed it more than I expected.  Though specific to business, it also taught me a lot of general research principals that, oddly, have sunk into my brain despite a tendency to read a bit faster than my ability to fully comprehend.  I must add that the theme of beige, peach, orange and pink  soft-hues used to break up the monotony of black / white text and pictures was not very effective.  And that's that.

SARS (Subject Appropriate Ratings Scale): 3 out of 5 (Jebow, Bancroft, Lutz, Makowitz, & Zuzubuji, 1996)

Citations:

Jebow, Bancroft, Lutz, Makowitz, & Zuzubuji.  1996 Application of the statistical method in rating Business Research Methods for use in an inane blog post. Harcourt, Brace, Jovonovich. New              Brunswick, MA.

Brad's no. 4 - Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air by Beckwith & Koukl

Times change.  Society changes.  What was standard before is now stodgy and archaic.  Taboo is now cutting edge and I am left feeling torn between keeping my head out of the muck and being left in our culture's wake.  I am not that old and I already sometimes feel like a crotchety old man sitting on my front porch wondering why things have to change and just when things started to go wrong...was it when we let a Catholic become president?  I was blessed with a wonderfully conservative, two-parent, church-going, relatively sheltered, evangelical home (an increasingly quaint notion).  It might be that my upbringing shielded me from the ever changing world, or maybe it all did happen so fast.

Whatever the situation is, the principle of Truth has eroded.  In its place is a new notion and definition of truth; call it relativism, post-modernism, or political correctness, the choice is truly up to you.  Whatever the name, it is a new game with new rules. Those of us who cling to the existence of Absolute Truth (fast becoming another "quaint notion") need to be aware of how it is played lest we lose before we realize we were even playing.

Relativism:FFPiM-A is an excellent primer on the current mentality that is pervading our culture. Beckwith and Koukl do an excellent job of illustrating how this way of thinking developed and how it can be seen in (post)modern thinking.  Further, this is done in a way that strikes an effective balance of scholarly thought and accessibility.  I was most impressed by there ability to move beyond the impact of relativism in the scholarly world and show how it is affecting our daily societal interactions.  Though I enjoy such things, post-modern literary deconstructionism is not necessarily your typical water cooler hot-button topic.  If you balk and think that this is purely academic and does not apply to the typical person, read this book and you will see just how dangerous and widespread relativism truly is.

Adding to the practicality of this work is how Beckwith and Koukl provide practical arguments against relativistic thinking.  Though I thought this was a great addition, I also felt that this is where the book lacked a bit.  Most of their arguments were basically an application of your basic reductio ad absurdum argument.  While definitely appropriate, I also feel that more needs to be added.  Unfortunately, relativism seems to have inoculated us against such logical arguments to the point that even if made, it would paint the arguer as a just being arrogant and close minded.  I don't think that such arguing is wrong, I just think that it needs to be applied with a bit more finesse than how the authors presented it.

All in all, I highly recommend it to everyone in order to help navigate this strange world we are in, but not of.

SARS (Subject Appropriate Rating Scale):I give it a 4 out of Whatever Number you Deem is Appropriate

Brad's no. 3: Radical by David Platt

Radical is a powerful and convicting book that I recommend to all Christians lving in a wealthy nation.  Growing up in the church and attending Bible college, the teachings never shied away from the dangers of loving money.  Upon reflection, however, this was always done in the context of the wealth of our country.  What David Platt aims to do in Radical is shift the paradigm of our thinking to view our prosperity in light of the world's plight and -- most importantly -- in light of our earthly purpose for eternity.  Guilt is not the intended response.  Instead, it is a call to love Christ with reckless abandon.  To follow the model of Jesus by loving the world at our own expense.  The greatest dangers to Christianity are never external: persecution, want, suffering, and the like are shown to galvanize Christ followers, separate out the chaff, and provide a platform on which God's amazing grace and mercy can be lavished on his children.  Instead, Western Christianity celebrates our ease of life and thereby grows complacent with mediocrity.  Radical calls us to trust God and his promises, even when they seem dangerous or foolish by worldly standards.

The title of the book is not accurate from a Christian point of view.  The ideas that Platt brings to the table are merely the teachings of Scripture.  What is radical is the relief between the Biblical truths and the American Dream that has infiltrated Christian thinking.  The two cannot co-mingle just as the love of God and the love of mammon cannot.  The book is sometimes uncomfortable; Platt asks some tough questions.  However, it is apparent that he too has struggled or is struggling with answering the same questions.  Coming from a pastor who reached the religious apex -- pastor of a mega-church at a young age -- the power of this book is amplified.   Platt challenges --not without, but from within-- the extra-biblical presuppositions that the American church holds as "self-evident".  His book is ultimately the result and the reporting of a narrative: the story of how his church has changed due to this "radical" thinking.

Many might recoil at the book and claim that it is going too far or bordering on legalism.  I find such charges unfounded.  Granted, there were some difficult rhetorical questions, but they must be seen as just that: rehtoric.  They are a literary tool used to jostle our thinking free from its entrenchments and view the familiar Biblical truths in a fresh light.  He does not prescribe a rubric of specific actions to be taken in order to achieve holiness -- that would be legalistic.  The closest he gets to such things is sharing stories of how some of his congregation have applied the Biblical call to being "radical".  These are not measures we must strive for; rather, they are encouraging examples of what can be expected when we let go of the false security of comfort and wealth and embrace the promises of God in His mission for us on earth.

Ultimately, Platt is positing a simple truth: the greatest measure of what we truly cherish and believe is not found in what we say or think, but what we do.

Blogging 52 Books

Three of us meet regularly to discuss theology, wives, and personal goals (not always in this order). Looking into 2010, Mark decided he wanted to read 52 books in one year. Buddy followed. I, not wanting to be the intellectual runt of the group, took on the challenge solely out of peer pressure.

Our objective is to read any 52 books in 2010 and write a one-paragraph response to post here on this site. The books can be of any genre or topic.

My52books.com was created for a common place for the three of us to see the others' posts, offer reading suggestions to others, and to keep us accountable to the goal.

Your comments are welcome; feel free to disagree with our assessments or to write how wonderful we are. We, of course, would prefer the latter.

~Ron, Buddy, and Mark