Previously, Mark Nenadov, Michael Plato, Olga Lukmanova, Ian Clary, Vincent Cancilla, Heather Weir, Bob Walton, Sheila Kurian, Clint Humfrey, and Amanda Patchin, and John and Kara Dekker’s answers on the topic of literature have been featured. Here is our final installment with Darren Jansen’s answers.
1. Can you give a brief summary of where you live, your educational background, what you do for a living, what church you attend, and the religious tradition you stand in?
I’ve been living in the northwest of China for almost eight years. I teach English and advertising there. In less than a year I plan to return to my hometown in South Carolina to do public relations. I belong to a Reformed-ish non-denominational church in my hometown, but in China, I meet each Sunday with a group of like-minded expats for worship. Though my church is kind of Reformed, the main religious influence on me in my youth came from the school I attended from fifth grade through college, Bob Jones University. This university is a Fundamentalist institution started in 1927 by a former Methodist during the midst of the Modernist controversy. As could be expected, it is theologically conservative and has an Arminian tone.
2. How has your early upbringing shaped your view and use of literature now?
My early thought was shaped by Fundamentalism. I grew up assuming that you were saved by grace, but then after that, it was up to you to stay on God’s good side. The message for the lost was “Trust in Christ for salvation,” but the message for the saved was “Ok, now that you’re saved, you need to work and work and work.” Challenges for moral transformation seemed to be the most important message there was.
3. Are there any people who, in your adult life, have encouraged you to encounter literature in a deeper or more passionate way. If so, who? (they can people you know personally or not)
There two people who influenced me the most in regards to reading: my father and Henry David Thoreau. My father, a soil science professor at the University of Illinois, died when I was only seven, so most of his literary influence on me came after he died. When I was still young, I would look through his large collection of books. At first I would just admire the pictures on the front of the books, but eventually I began to read some of them. I also began to read some of the philosophy lectures my father had given and other things he wrote that were saved on his old Macintosh. One of the books in his library that I actually read through first was a small selection of writings of Calvin; it really touched me and fascinated me. Eventually I began getting into philosophy since that was what my father loved. Augustine’s City of God was first. Then I read Durant’s Story of Philosophy. Finally, I fell in love with Aquinas. He had many other books I haven’t read yet–Kant, Russell, Schaeffer–but it was more than just the content inside of the books, it was his library that influenced me.
As for Henry David Thoreau goes, all throughout high school I was borrowing Walden from the library, but I read it here and there the way most people read the Bible, never actually starting at the beginning and reading it through. When I finally did buy a copy years later and read it from cover to cover, I was shocked to realize how much that book had shaped my thinking. Mostly what influenced me was his love of nature, his independence of thought, and his the-sun-also-rises skepticism toward all things that are much ballyhooed by the rest of the world. Probably he, more than anyone else, influenced me to leave Fundamentalism even though he never wrote about the topic. It’s just that Fundamentalism demands blind conformity, which Thoreau detested. (“The head monkey at Paris puts on a traveler’s cap, and all the monkeys in America do the same.”) Fundamentalism, in addition to demanding conformity to man made rules, also taught several ideas that simply could not be found in the Bible, like for example, that alcohol was inherently bad or that God has a special will for your life that you need to find out somehow and follow or risk wasting your life. It was Thoreau’s independence of thought that influenced me to think for myself on these matters.
4. What authors/works would you re-read if you had a month-long sabbatical to dedicate to reading?
Hm, there’s my Plato and Aristotle paperbacks that have been calling for some attention. Also my friend who recently turned from fundamental Christianity to atheism, gave me a copy of Dawkins’ Greatest Show on Earth (the book that converted my friend). Dawkins is not great literature, but it is fun to read stuff by people you disagree with. I wish I could just always be reading Lord of the Rings.
5. Who are your favorite authors or characters portrayed in literature? (if any of them have substantially changed you, list how briefly)
Beowulf is cool. The book feels really primitive and masculine. It’s inspiring for a man.
6. Should Christians read more literature? What are the benefits to that? What are some cautions you would share
Usually when I have come across a pastor who reads only the Bible and never anything else, I’ve found a really odd person with tons of logical inconsistencies and indefensible beliefs. On the other hand, when I come across one who is well read, like my fellow Thoreau fan, A.W. Tozer, I find someone who has really deep insight and an ability to defend his beliefs. I’m not sure why that is. It’s probably especially useful for all Christians as well as pastors to get a good dose of reading from people they disagree with. People can often learn more about what they believe from reading books by people who don’t believe it than they can by reading books by people who do.
In the lives of everyday people, probably the main enemy to reading literature is the habit of doing something easier. If you read the newspaper, you will probably rather pick up the newspaper at any given time than the Institutes. If you watch TV, it will feel easier and more relaxing to turn on the TV rather than pick up the Iliad. If you play Angry Birds . . . The key to reading good literature is to just get yourself in the habit of doing it. Soon you will find that when you want to relax you will pick up something relaxing like Walden rather than surfing the net.
7. To what degree is reading communal for you? (ie. Are you more solitary? Do you share in any way with your friends? Are you in reading groups?)
It’s wonderful to find somebody who is reading about the same kind of things you are. I find it hard to be social with people unless we read about similar subjects.Truth is, I think I met you, Mark, just because your blog came up when I Googled Schaeffer. After reading the blog for a few months, I contacted you and we became friends.
8. What are some methods or principles you use to decide what you will and won’t read?
If it looks interesting, read it. It’s a good idea though to read to the end of the book unless the book turns out to be absolutely worthless.
9. What literary works or authors could be of the greatest value to the church if they were read more? Why?
The Holy Bible? Other than that, like I said before, read people you don’t agree with. I often hear Christians defending their views with pretty pathetic straw men. It often seems that they have never met a real non-Christian or a real Calvinist or whatever. It’s one thing to be spoon fed what you already believe. It’s another thing to think for yourself while encountering an opposing viewpoint.
10. Is there anything else you’d like to mention
[No answer given for this question.]
