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?

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?

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.]

J.R.R. Tolkien by Mark Horne

I made a fairly late entrance into the world of J.R.R. Tolkien. In the last couple of years, I’ve begun to devour some of his works and also various critical and biographical works about him and his literature. I must admit I’ve got a long way to go and I’m still learning a lot of new things. One thing that has become clear to me is that writing a book about Tolkien is a daunting task. There’s just so much already out there and there seems to be so many potential pitfalls. In some areas, there is a veritable waterfall of information and in other areas, mum’s the word!

In my Tolkien reading lineup, the book that immediately preceded this one was by a really cranky literary critic in the 1960′s who had what one might call a few choice words for Tolkien. And the choice words weren’t so positive. So, knowing that Mark Horne was going to deliver a more appreciative assessment of Tolkien was rather comforting to me. But I wouldn’t be satisfied with flaky and soppy hagiography either.  It turns out, that my reading of this book left me very satisfied. Mark did marvelous job with this one. He mixes a warm, conversational style with simple, easy prose and a scholars attention to detail as he combs through relevant and revealing episodes and characteristics of Tolkien’s life and world.  I think this is a marvelous place to begin for a person who seeking to get better acquainted with Tolkien. To be honest, I sort of wish it was the first Tolkien bio I read.

Since this is a part of the “Christian Encounters” series, one might expect this book to be very focused on reading a certain theological emphasis into Tolkien’s life works or teaching certain morals through his life. But the book is much like Tolkien’s work, it is not moralistic and not trying to make a particular theological or denominational point, but rather help its readers encounter a great author in a very human and down-to-earth way. And it succeeds at this objective. This is not to say that Mark does not point out virtues and themes in Tolkien, it’s just that he lets them be for what they are and isn’t driving toward a rhetorical point.

It wasn’t until I finished this book and saw the concluding bio that I realized that not only does Mark share a name with me, but we are both married to Jennifers and he and my wife went to the same college. Go figure! This book is really well-done and I must congratulate Mark Horne for doing a fine job of tackling a really hard project and giving the Tolkiensphere a great resource!

(Disclosure: I received this book for free as a review copy through the BookSneeze.com program. Apparently the FTC requires this disclaimer. The opinions I’ve expressed are fiercely independent. They gave me the book with the understanding that I would give an honest review. I would refuse to enter any arrangement where I wasn’t free to tear a book to shreds–after all, negative reviews are more fun. )

Recently, as I’ve  been working through the Roxana, I’ve taken an re-look in Daniel Defoe. I think he’s really a quite fascinating guy (his last name is pretty neat ie. “Either you are with us, or you are with De-foe”).

Defoe was a Christian and the son of Presbyterians. He decided not to become a minister, but rather go into business as a trader. He’s known as a journalist and also one of the earliest proponents of the novel! He is said to have written 500 books, pamphlets and journals on various topics.

I had a fairly early encounter with Defoe when I discovered the novel Robinson Crusoe at a fairly young age.  It had a pretty big impact on me. Also, at some point later on in my life, I read the tract Everybody’s Business Is Nobody’s Business.

Once I’m done with Roxana, I think I may tackle History of the Plague in London, Moll Flanders, and Captain Jack, and perhaps a few biographies. Does anyone else have any plans to read some Defoe in the New Year? Have any of his works had an impact on you?

Here is my review of Thank You, Wodehouse by J.H.C. Morris

I am quite impressed with this book, even though it may not be the sort of work that would deserve a place in the highest levels of literary criticism. J.H.C. Morris (and occasionally A.D. Macintyre) explore the world and characters created by P.G. Wodehouse with a considerable amount of gusto and skill.  There is a marked comfort here with “rolling up ones sleeves” and getting to work.

Morris has succeeded in making literary criticism funny as he examines the canon with a fine tooth comb and weighs the evidence to come to fascinating conclusions. There is a healthy balance between vigorous, serious scholarship and lighthearted joviality. The methodology is markedly deductive and the author is constantly harmonizing (and sometimes showing contradictions between) the various books in the Wodehouse canon. You will find some speculation, but usually it only appears when well grounded inferences simply cannot be made.

The best way I can describe this book is to say that it’s as if P.G. Wodehouse were commissioned from his grave to write a book of literary criticism about his own books. And it applies the sort of thorough, exploratory, and detailed approach that has been utilizing in the criticism of other literature (such as the Sherlock Holmes canon).

I also wish to share some of the flaws that I’ve found in this book.

First, It should be stated that the author is too hard on Jeeves, seeing in him nothing but an evil “domestic tyrant” and the blackest fiend to be found in English literature. While Jeeves is certainly not a totally saintly character, I find this over-representation of the unseemly aspects of his character to be a regrettable blot an otherwise fine work.

Second, another complaint I would have is that the ending is quite abrupt, with precious little at the end in the way of a conclusion to tie it all together.

Third, it takes the reader into some very deep water that might make all but the most obsessive Wodehouse fans quiver a bit. If you haven’t read over 10 or 20 Wodehouse books, you’ll probably find yourself slightly disoriented at certain points.

Previously, Mark Nenadov, Michael Plato, Olga Lukmanova, Ian Clary, Vincent Cancilla, Heather Weir, Bob Walton,  Sheila Kurian, Clint Humfrey, and Amanda Patchin’s answers on the topic of literature have been featured. Here are John and Kara Dekker’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?

2. How has your early upbringing shaped your view and use of literature now?

John: I was taught to read when I was five, and by the time I was six I was a state winner in a read-a-thon in which I read more than 600 books in six weeks. This actually caused me to be burned out somewhat by reading, and over the next decade I strongly preferred non-fiction to fiction. Since then I have gone through a period of rediscovery and catch up on fiction reading that I missed out on in my childhood – books like Watership Down, The Wind in the Willows and The Lord of the Rings.

Kara: My parents provided me with oodles of books during my growing up years, and encouraged me to read by their enthusiastic example. My dad instilled in me a passion for well-illustrated children’s books, especially those with a creative use of words. I still love picking up authors such as Dr. Seuss and Robert McCloskey.

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)

John: My brother Tony and my friend Luke have been especially diligent and insightful in recommending books that they think I would like. I was also privileged to be required to do a Language and Literature course at seminary, which was very stimulating – I did my major project on Milton’s Paradise Lost, which I had been always meaning to read. Finally, I have appreciated the writings of Douglas Wilson and Douglas Jones who edit Credenda Agenda.The issue on Beowulf both inspired me to read that poem, while the issue on P. G. Wodehouse kick-started a love that has constrained me to read more than a dozen Wodehouse novels so far.

Kara: I discovered the magazine Credenda Agenda in my formative years, and the way I read the Bible and think about life has been greatly influenced by its various columnists, especially Douglas Wilson. My understanding of how to read the Old Testament has grown through my marriage to John, as he teaches me to look for Christ in every page. And I find myself often mulling over the ideas contained in Peter Leithart’s Deep Exegesis.

4. What authors/works would you re-read if you had a month-long sabbatical to dedicate to reading?

John: I’m not sure I would re-read anything – I would be much more likely to tackle works I’d been putting off for some time, such as The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture by Brevard Childs or Boswell’s Life of Johnson. But if it had to be books I’d already read, I would include Through New Eyes by James Jordan and the Father Brown stories by G. K. Chesterton.

Kara: I’d like to re-read some childhood favourites, this time trying to see how the author’s theology works itself out in story form. I’d start with L.M. Alcott, because I’m more familiar with her setting amongst the Transcendentalists, and move on to L.M. Montgomery. Then I’d read all the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, just for fun.

5. Who are your favorite authors or characters portrayed in literature? (if any of them have substantially changed you, list how briefly)

John: My favourite authors would include J. R. R. Tolkien, P. G. Wodehouse and G. K. Chesterton. My favourite characters in these authors’ corpora would be Gandalf, Jeeves and Mr Pond.

Kara: John and I have very similar tastes! I would add to the above authors Laura Ingalls Wilder, Dorothy Sayers and Elizabeth Goudge. Sayers’ Lord Peter is one of my favourite literary characters..

6. Should Christians read more literature? What are the benefits to that? What are some cautions you would share

John: How much do they read now? I think it might depend on the person. There are, perhaps, some who should read less.

Kara: Reading is, for me, much more than an intellectual, fact-finding exercise. I’m passionate about reading for the simple joy of words. I would say that, yes, Christians should read more literature. I think there is a great danger in only reading those books with which we agree, with staying in familiar territory. Read widely!

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?)

John: Kara and I read aloud to each other a fair bit. We’ve read a few books on marriage, some poetry, a lot of P. G. Wodehouse, Laura Ingalls Wilder, L. M. Montgomery and Face to Face: Meditations on Friendship and Hospitality by Steve Wilkins. Next year we plan to read An American Childhood by Annie Dillard.

Kara: I love to read out bits of books to whoever will listen. Part of the enjoyment of literature comes from sharing.

8. What are some methods or principles you use to decide what you will and won’t read?

9. What literary works or authors could be of the greatest value to the church if they were read more? Why?

10. Is there anything else you’d like to mention

John: No, I think that’s about it.

Kara: I realize I write this assuming a readership well steeped in the Bible. If that doesn’t describe you, start there.

Some thoughts about my reading plans in 2012.

• I reaffirm the reading focus I posted back in November.
• I want to re-read Brothers Karamazov, Robinson Crusoe, and The Hobbit.
• I’m planning to read a lot more kids books and parenting/fatherhood books.
• I want to continue to finish way more books than I buy.
• I want to focus particularly on books I own (rather than buying new ones or checking out more new titles from the library–though I still plan to utilize the library)
• I intend to report books I’ve read monthly on my blog instead of semi-frequently (If you want more detail week by week, you’ll have to check out my Goodreads profile). You can find a list of books I’ve read this year and in previous years here.
• For now, I’m done with the mini reviews I’ve been doing on my book log posts. I’m only going to post substantial essay-style reviews to my blog. In cases where a shorter review will do, I will only post to Goodreads and/or Amazon.
• I want to start reading some new stuff that I’ve been clued in to from the wonderful “Christians and Literature” survey responses I’ve been receiving.

That’s it for now.

Previously, Mark Nenadov, Michael Plato, Olga Lukmanova, Ian Clary, Vincent Cancilla, Heather Weir, Bob Walton,  Sheila Kurian, and Clint Humfrey’s answers on the topic of literature have been featured. Here are Amanda Patchin’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?

2. How has your early upbringing shaped your view and use of literature now?

I had an isolated and melancholy childhood, shaped both by my introverted personality and my, let’s say, complicated family life. I am very much a born reader, and so I think that even a very happy home would have found me with my nose in a book all the time. Still, I have lived most of my life in books from the moment I could read. Books taught me everything I know about how the world worked: how people behaved and how they should behave, all the philosophy and history and learning available, and all the landscape and texture beyond our fences. I never had much of a teacher, had very few friends (and did not relate closely with those I had), and grew up without exposure to popular culture (no television, few movies, and no computer!). My mother was rather careful about the books I was allowed and so I mostly read classic literature. I have spent the last 13 years interacting with society, popular culture, and actual people(!) and so I do have real-world experiences to rely on, but I still find myself analyzing situations, beliefs, and behaviors through the lens of literature. I parent my boys with cautions gleaned from D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers in the front of my mind. I try to love my sister with Istra’s love and not Orual’s from C.S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces. When feeling like meddling, I think of Emma.

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)

I don’t know that anyone could or should inspire me to more passion for literature – it probably wouldn’t be healthy for me! However, my friend Brent Towell has been an example of the disciplined pursuit of wisdom in literature. My conversations with him send me back to my books with renewed determination to wrestle with them and get all I can from them. Also, he introduced me to the glories of Gene Wolfe’s prose.

4. What authors/works would you re-read if you had a month-long sabbatical to dedicate to reading?

I rarely read more than three new books without re-reading old favorites. In fact, I have just spent the month of December re-reading my three favorite series: The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Book of the New Sun. There are a few dozen books that I have read more than 20 times each (Jane Eyre, Ben-Hur, Treasure Island, Lewis’s Space Trilogy – in fact pretty much the complete Lewis canon, etc.)

5. Who are your favorite authors or characters portrayed in literature? (if any of them have substantially changed you, list how briefly)

I am primarily indebted to C.S. Lewis for my worldview, to Douglas Wilson and the rest of the Moscow crew for my sense of humor and understanding of Christian living, and to Jane Eyre for knowing that I was not alone in the world.

6. Should Christians read more literature? What are the benefits to that? What are some cautions you would share?

Absolutely. We should be far more occupied with all manner of art – both in the making and the consuming of it. In understanding the arts we come close to understanding the artist and both are part of creation and imitations of the Creator. Literature teaches us to understand the story we are living and the one we should be living. These are incalculable benefits. They make us more of what we should be. Of course, literacy has pragmatic benefits too – but I feel that those should be considered a given.

As to cautions, I would just say that to the pure all things are pure. Naturally, we are all fallen and corruptible, but what is an occasion of sin for me may not be for you. Let us all be aware of our weaknesses and eager to destroy them.

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?)

One of the reasons I enjoy having a blog is that I can talk about my reading there without boring everyone around the dinner table. Most of my family, my church, and my acquaintances don’t seem to be interested in the books and reading in the same way I am. I am unusually intense about my love of literature and I have very specific tastes for things that it seems most people find dry. I try not to be the enthusiast who won’t shut up about her weird books. Fortunately I have a handful of very close friends who share these passions and we often have dinner and discuss what we’re reading. I do not participate in formal reading groups very often.

8. What are some methods or principles you use to decide what you will and won’t read?

9. What literary works or authors could be of the greatest value to the church if they were read more? Why?

10. Is there anything else you’d like to mention

[No Answer Provided For This Question]

Previously, Mark Nenadov, Michael Plato, Olga Lukmanova, Ian Clary, Vincent Cancilla, Heather Weir, Bob Walton’s, and Sheila Kurian’s answers on the topic of literature have been featured. Here are Clint Humfrey’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 live in High River, Alberta.  I have a Masters degree from Toronto Baptist Seminary where I later taught for three years. Currently I am a bi-vocational pastor of a downtown church in Calgary, Calvary Grace Church. Along with pastoring,  I work with my brother and father on our fourth generation ranch. I consider myself to a part of the Reformed and Evangelical traditions.

2. How has your early upbringing shaped your view and use of literature now?

I was never an easy reader, but my childhood was surrounded by stories. Whether taking the form of Mother Goose rhymes (any Mary is still ‘quite contrary’ to me), cowboy myths or farmers’ tall tales, storytelling marked the conversation at the dinner table.   I think that my orientation to stories well-told was started back then and further stirred by the vast imagination of an often solitary farm kid’s existence.

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)

A college professor opened up to me the world of grammar, syntax and most of all, literary style. From there I began to appreciate in small ways the intentional structures that differentiated writers. She showed  how George Orwell filled the paragraph with long run-on sentences followed by a short punchy one.  She demanded linking verbs chopped in favor of active ones. She was ruthless, but I am grateful.

4. What authors/works would you re-read if you had a month-long sabbatical to dedicate to reading?

I would re-read The Border Trilogy, by Cormac McCarthy, that is All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, and Cities of the Plain. I would also go through Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, but probably skip over the biological tangents on whales as a species. Maybe Orwell’s 1984, or Homage to Catalonia. Certainly I would re-read The Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan, the 16thC. work that is just as evergreen and evocative today.  Last of all, I would make time to linger over Tennyson’s poem, Ulysses. I read it in high school and it is still my favorite.

5. Who are your favorite authors or characters portrayed in literature? (if any of them have substantially changed you, list how briefly)

I was particularly challenged by the character Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men. In his discourses that sound like metaphysical treatises, Bell poses the issue of ‘putting his soul at hazard’. He wrestles with the fundamental challenge of life in the real world, a world marked by death, corruption, evil and sin.  Into this world, Ed Tom Bell has a role to play, but to fix the world is not his right nor his responsibility. The books aches for resolution. Will Bell catch the antagonist, Chigurh? In the end, Bell does not catch Chigurh, and he retires without fixing what is broken in the world.  The closing discourse by Bell relays a dream he has of following his father into a howling wilderness and his father preparing a place for him there.   In all of this, Bell’s character reminds me of a pastor or minister in a church. Like the sheriff, the pastor must deal with the evil of sin in the world regularly.  There are broken people and broken relationships.  But the pastor is completely impotent to fix them.  He can only point people to the true Messiah.  And it is the Messiah, who leads the pastor on into the howling wilderness with the promise, “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14.2).

6. Should Christians read more literature? What are the benefits to that? What are some cautions you would share?

Christians should read literature because Christians care for people, even their souls.  Literature, namely prose and poetry, offers windows into those souls. Christians with love for others will be able to see more clearly what their fellow human beings are feeling and wrestling with and be able to offer the only resolution available in this dark world, the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Christians ought to be wary however of how easy it is to delight in sin through literature. Wickedness can be articulated in beautiful prose and sometimes that aesthetic numbs us to the moral offensiveness of it. Sin is banal, but it can often be dressed up by the medium of its presentation. People need to watch out for that. I need to.

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?)

Reading is mostly a solitary thing, but anything that is read and absorbed should spill out a bit. I prefer to know a book in such a way so that the characters or themes or even key lines can be shared with others. I don’t have the experience of reading it with others, but rather sharing the fruit of my reading with them.

8. What are some methods or principles you use to decide what you will and won’t read?

9. What literary works or authors could be of the greatest value to the church if they were read more? Why?

10. Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

I encourage anyone who is a slow reader like me to plod through one book, a good book, and let it sink into their bones, rather than skimming a bunch of ‘recommended titles’. And above all, let the Holy Scriptures be your source for not only literary, but spiritual saturation.

With today’s completion of Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays by George Orwell, I have now reached 100 books completed in 2011 (39 paper, 13 e-books, and 48 audio books).

Back in December 2010, I set a goal. I decided I would try to finish 75-85 books (including paper, e-books, and audio books) in 2011. Now, here in December 2011, I’m at 100! While I certainly wouldn’t want to make books all about quantity, this has been an amazingly enriching experience. I only regret having taken on 5 or 6 of them. And I would consider returning to about 20 of them at some time in my life, if I have the time.

It is probable that I will never finish this many books in a year again (especially now that I will be caring for a little precious daughter). I trust, though, that the little one will allow me to get some reading it at some point-especially if it means reading to her.

Here are some credits:

1. My lovely wife, for encouraging me! (she’s been very helpful in helping me to stick to my principles in terms of the priority of READING over BOOK COLLECTING). Thankfully I’m not competing with her, because she is a voracious reader and I’d never stand a chance against her.
2. On the other hand, I did stand a chance against my friend Keith! Thanks to Keith for starting a friendly competition that gave me a good start towards this and then he let me win!
3. I must also tip my hat to Ian for tying me (so far) in the paper book count (as of December 18, he’s at 39 paper books–which is exactly where I am at).

Here is a break-down of the number of books I’ve read this year by each author:

• George MacDonald (3)
• P.G. Wodehouse (3)
• Mark Dever (3)
• George Orwell (3)
• Christopher Hitchens (2)
• J.R.R. Tolkien (2)
• J. Gresham Machen (2)
• G.K. Chesterton (2)
• Henry Beers (2)
• R.C. Sproul (2)
• Douglas Wilson (1)
• Vasko Popa (1)
• Ian Murray (1)
• Tim Weiner (1)
• Charles Bracelen Flood (1)
• James Hebert (1)
• Ernest Hemmingway (1)
• H.G. Wells (1)
• Ayn Rand (1
• Charles Nicholl (1)
• Samuel Cheetham (1)
• Hannah Arendt (1)
• Harry Mount (1)
• Peter Mansfield (1)
• Vladimir Lenin (1)
• Tamim Ansary (1)
• Jonah Goldberg (1)
• Richard Sibbes (1)
• Kazuo Ishiguro (1)
• Benjamin Keach (1)
• L. Ron Hubbard (1)
• Jason Fried (1)
• Jonathan Eig (1)
• Dr. Seuss (1)
• Michael Pollan (1)
• Theresa Flores (1)
• James Joyce (1)
• Edward Channing (1)
• Eduardo Porter (1)
• Guy Browning (1)
• Eric Schlosser (1)
• Lew Rockwel (1)
• Paul Strathern (1)
• Sarah Vowel (1)
• Rob Bell (1)
• Mike Dash (1)
• Steve Johnson (1)
• Gaile Blanke (1)
• Marc Elliot (1)
• Leland Gregory 1)
• L.A. Kelly (1)
• Tony Reinke (1)
• Thomas Lemoncelli (1)
• Joel Beeke (1)
• Douglas Jones (1)
• Michael Coren (1)
• Catharine Stimpson (1)
• D.A. Carson (1)
• Gord Steinke (1)
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Previously, Mark Nenadov, Michael Plato, Olga Lukmanova, Ian Clary, Vincent Cancilla, Heather Weir, and Bob Walton’s answers on the topic of literature have been featured. Here are Sheila Kurian’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 am a native Torontonian with a master’s degree in Classics.  Currently, I am a book-keeper part-time and pursuing a masters degree in religion at the UFT.  I attend two churches: St. Paul’s Anglican on Bloor Street regularly and St. Thomas’ Syrian Orthodox Church monthly.  First and foremost I am a Christian; my theology is most informed by the Orthodox church (I was raised Syrian Orthodox) but I love the evangelical practice of St. Paul’s – hence the two churches.

2. How has your early upbringing shaped your view and use of literature now?

Some of my earliest memories involve books; I remember being read to and learning to read.  Every night, our family would gather at a fixed hour, read the Bible together and pray. My parents both love to read and took us to the library every Saturday morning from the time I was three.   We had a wonderful librarian in our local library; when I had finished the ‘kid’ section, I asked her what I should read next.  She took me to the classics and said that I should start from there; anything that I didn’t like, I should put back on the shelf and try again a year or two later as I probably wasn’t ready for it yet.  This has saved many books for me e.g. I first tried Anne of Green Gables in grade 2, but didn’t like it.  I followed our librarian’s advice and tried it again a year later and loved it.

I continue to read for pleasure – all types of books: ‘classics’, sci-fi, biographies, poetry, history. Books also provide a means of exploring other cultures, times, ideas.  The only genre which I will not read is modern horror [I have read Dracula and Frankenstein]  because I get nightmares.

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)

C. S. Lewis has been a long time influence for my childhood and in my adult life.  Thanks to his essay An Experiment in Criticism, for example, I had an early defence for rereading books.  Also, because he and Tolkien read fairy tales and children’s stories, even as adults [I can't remember the essay which speaks of this - Tolkien wrote it' there is also something in Lewis' Fern Seeds and Elephants collection], I never had to go through a stage of being ashamed that I read the Narnia books and the Tolkien books every spring.  My parents both continue to influence my reading habits; we recommend books to each other (one of the delights of growing up!). A classics professor, Hugh Parry, one of the gentlest and best-read people I know, encouraged all of his students to read broadly; he said that if we just stuck to primary and secondary texts we would shrink as persons.  Really, all of my professors have had an impact, because each has introduced me to books and ideas which I had never encountered.  Madeline L’Engle is another author who stretched my boundaries, particularly as a teen, introducing me to Elie Wiesel and poets like Herbert, Vaughan, and Donne. Then there are my friends.  Both here in Toronto and friends from Chicago have always been great at sharing books and their responses to them.  Whole vistas have opened up for me, particularly in Chicago, when my friends and I formed a reading circle.  We met every Saturday night, rotating houses.  We were not allowed to talk shop (all of us were in grad. school).  After dinner, one of us would read aloud from a book which we had all chosen.

Good books were/are meant to be heard, not just read silently.  This is especially true of the Bible [I love the collect which encourages us to hear the word, as well as read, mark, learn..."Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience, and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life. Amen"]

There is so much more: book reviews in the Guardian, on NPR, and the CBC.  The books on the Geller list and those which win the Booker Prize. Recommendations from book store clerks and fellow students.  But I have to stop!

4. What authors/works would you re-read if you had a month-long sabbatical to dedicate to reading?

The Bible.  The Iliad and Odyssey.  The Oresteia.  Elie Wiesel’s Messengers of God.  The Hobbit.  Books 2, 4, and 6 of the Aeneid.  Sayer’s The Man who would be King.  Lewis’ The Last Battle.  Roberta Bondi’s To Pray and To Love.  Milton’s Paradise Lost.  Lewis’ The Great Divorce.  Cavanaugh’s Being Consumed.  Sermons by Andrew Lancelot. Aquinas’ Imitation of Christ.  King Lear.  St. John of the Cross’ Dark Night of the Soul.  Banville’s biography of Copernicus.  And some PG Wodehouse or Gerald Durrell (probably My Family and Other Animals).

I usually have several books on the go as you might guess from the length of the list.

5. Who are your favorite authors or characters portrayed in literature? (if any of them have substantially changed you, list how briefly)

[No answer provided]

6. Should Christians read more literature? What are the benefits to that? What are some cautions you would share?

Yes, absolutely.  All of us are shaped by books, directly or indirectly.  Paul, for example, was shaped by Euripides and Plato; it is reflected in his writings.  Luke by historians like Thucydides and Livy (see Luke’s lining up of his evidence and compare it to Thuc. Book 1 chapter 22, for example).   Genres, ideas shape people – consciously or unconsciously.  If you don’t know much about the schools of the Stoics and the Epicureans you will miss a lot of the humour in 1st Corinthians.   If we don’t read, we won’t know what shaped the authors that we “have” to read and what is continuing to shape our culture even today – e.g. Hobbes or Locke or Descartes.  I heard someone mangling Adam Smith (the ‘invisible hand’) the other night when attempting to justify his position on why the government should not impose regulations on banks (this was in the States).

Or look at the way people abuse poor Robert Frost’s phrase “good fences make good neighbours”.  Knowing the context of these quotations helps us to true understanding; we may not agree, but at least we see the argument properly.

But also, and perhaps more importantly, God gave us imaginations; he gave us the ability to respond to beauty.  Tragedy really can lift you out of yourself – think of the domestic tragedy of the Medea or the conflict between public and private in the Antigone.  The Narnia books gave me an means to think about theology before I knew what the word meant.  Fairy tales give us monsters and heroes. Myths have echoes of eternal story in them (think of the number of dying and resurrected gods there are in the Greek tales, for example; God was implanting his plan in all peoples so that when we were introduced to the Real God-Man, Jesus, who died and rose again, we would recognise him.).  Biographies tell of challenges – of success and failures.  They dare us to stretch beyond what we think our boundaries are.  History – well, if we don’t know our history, we fail to understand the political, social, economic, and religious forces at work in our society.

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?)

I read every night and have since I first learned how to read; in that sense, I am a solitary reader.  However, I loved the reading group that I was a part of in Chicago and would love to be part of such a group again, if possible.  All of us are still in touch (we live all over the world) and share book recommendations and thoughts on books by e-mail and telephone.   Also, I exchange books with friends and family.

8. What are some methods or principles you use to decide what you will and won’t read?

9. What literary works or authors could be of the greatest value to the church if they were read more? Why?

10. Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Previously, Mark Nenadov, Michael Plato, Olga Lukmanova, Ian Clary, Vincent Cancilla, and Heather Weir’s answers on the topic of literature have been featured. Here are Bob Walton’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 live in the Philadelphia suburbs, and have been teaching in Christian high schools for 37 years.  I have a B.S. in Physics and an M.Div. from Westminster Seminary, and have been a Reformed Baptist elder for over 25 years.  One of the things I love about teaching high school is the opportunity it has provided to teach a variety of subjects – everything from physics and upper-level math courses to history (Church History is a special area of interest), English, and of course a number of Bible courses.

2. How has your early upbringing shaped your view and use of literature now?

I have been a reader for as long as I can remember.  I wouldn’t say that my childhood was shaped by great literature; I read for pleasure constantly, but I tended to suffer through reading assignments like most high school students.  The major exception was Shakespeare, whose works I have loved since I first encountered them in junior high school

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)

Circumstances more than people have played a significant role here.  My appreciation for great literature was limited until I was asked to teach Advanced Placement English at school despite my lack of background in the subject.  I quickly dug into the classics and found a level of reading pleasure I had never quite experienced before.  On another level, devouring the works of Cornelius Van Til (one of my seminary professors) and Francis Schaeffer taught me to critique literature, and indeed all forms of thought, from the perspective of a Christian worldview.  To this day this is the most important aspect of my appreciation of literature.

4. What authors/works would you re-read if you had a month-long sabbatical to dedicate to reading?

I would read more books rather than rereading.  I have a long list of works I would like to digest and add to the literature website I’ve compiled to help Christian high school teachers guide their students through some of the world’s greatest writings.

5. Who are your favorite authors or characters portrayed in literature? (if any of them have substantially changed you, list how briefly)

My favorites, in addition to Sheakespeare, are the nineteenth-century British novelists – Austen, the Bronte sisters (Charlotte more than Emily), Dickens, Eliot, Gaskell, Trollope, and others.  Late Victorians like Conrad and Hardy are thought-provoking, though I can hardly say I admire their worldviews.  Christian writers like Lewis, Tolkien, and Chesterton are also favorites.  I also enjoy good plays, having directed school drama productions for more than 30 years.

6. Should Christians read more literature? What are the benefits to that? What are some cautions you would share?

The greatest value of literature is to give insight into the human experience.  In this regard, much can be learned from non-Christian writers. By common grace, unbelievers often understand the world in which they live in profound ways, though for the most part they perceive the human dilemma of endemic evil and hopelessness without being able to provide any solutions.  Contemporary literature in particular enables Christians to gain a better understanding of how modern man views the apparent absurdity of his own predicament – with a hopelessness that is hard for us to imagine.Christians can also gain insight into how the world views us.  It doesn’t take much exposure to literature and the popular media to figure out that they do a bad job of portraying the reality of Christianity.  This should not be surprising, since “the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing” (I Corinthians 1:18). Two major tendencies appear in literature that attempts to portray Christianity.  Such works as Sinclair Lewis’ Elmer Gantry, Lawrence and Lee’s Inherit the Wind, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, and John Osborne’s Luther give very unflattering pictures of Christianity. Such critical pictures are painful, but make it easier for Christians to understand the low regard in which we are held by the world around us. Even this can have value, since it equips the believer to respond to the caricatures and misperceptions that dominate the surrounding world.  Even when Christianity is pictured in a positive way in secular works, it is often the Social Gospel kind of religion. After all, unbelievers think that religion ought to be more concerned with this world than the next, and think the best Christians are those who care little about what people believe, are non-judgmental about their actions, and are willing to accept everyone. This is the kind of pastor that tends to appear favorably in movies as well as in well-known works of literature.Reading good literature can also help a Christian’s witness, since it enables him to understand how unbelievers think and to gain a window into their world that can be useful in preaching the Gospel. The common ground that good literature creates can often open the door for discussing the serious ideas found in that literature, and thus to a conversation about the answer the Gospel provides for the big questions being addressed.Reading good literature can also cause us to praise God for the reality of the common grace that He gives, enabling even those who hate Him to create works of great power and beauty. We can thank God for these things even if the authors themselves refuse to acknowledge the source of their talents.

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?)

The communal aspect of reading for me happens when I teach literature.  Discussions with students, forcing them to think and write about the ideas raised by great authors, and analyzing the worldviews of the writers provided as much enjoyment as I have found in my teaching career.  Especially pleasurable was the Humanities program I taught for six years, which blended the study of history with an examination of the literature written during the era under consideration.  We did try to put together a faculty book discussion group for a while, but sadly it died out after a few years for lack of interest.

8. What are some methods or principles you use to decide what you will and won’t read?

I have a tendency to divide books into two categories – those I read for pleasure (popular fiction at bedtime like Grisham, Le Carre, P.D. James and others) and books I read for the literature website.  In the former, I mostly enjoy plot complexity; in the latter, I appreciate the level of thought they induce about important ideas.

9. What literary works or authors could be of the greatest value to the church if they were read more? Why?

This one’s hard to answer.  I would certainly include great Christian writers such as those mentioned above (adding others like Dorothy Sayers, Graham Greene, and Evelyn Waugh), but any great wrirter can be beneficial if he stimulates the reader to think biblically about what he is reading..

10. Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Thanks for the opportunity to share my thoughts.

Previously, Mark Nenadov, Michael Plato, Olga Lukmanova, Ian Clary, and Vincent Cancilla’s answers on the topic of literature have been featured. Here are Heather Weir’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?

My name is Heather Weir, and I presently live in Toronto. I grew up in Windsor, and came to Toronto for university and stayed on. My first degree is in aerospace engineering, my second in teaching, my third is an M.Div, and my fourth is a doctorate in theology (ThD) from Wycliffe College and the University of Toronto. At the moment I work with used books at Crux Books, a theological bookshop on the University of Toronto Campus and teach courses through Wycliffe College. I’ve also taught at Tyndale University College and in the lay education program at Knox College. I research and write on the history of women interpreters of the Bible. I’m a deacon at Walmer Road Baptist Church, part of the CBOQ denomination.

2. How has your early upbringing shaped your view and use of literature now?

Books were an important part of growing up. My parents read, and encouraged my brother and I to read. “Readers are Leaders,” my father often announced. We’d roll our eyes and read anyway because we liked to. My parents decided not to have a TV at home when my brother and I were growing up. This meant we had lots of time for reading. I don’t have a TV any longer; this gives me more time for reading.

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 are some books that pushed me to read more broadly and more deeply than I had before, so the authors of those books encouraged me to encounter literature in a different way. I’ve never met any of these people, and two of them died before I was born. They are C.S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers, James Sire, and Eugene Peterson. Lewis wrote two books that encouraged my reading, Surprised By Joy, and An Experiment in Criticism. Sayers wrote The Mind of the Maker. Sire wrote How To Read Slowly, and Habits of the Mind. Peterson published an annotated reading list called Take and Read. All of these books changed the way I read and pushed me to look at literature differently.

4. What authors/works would you re-read if you had a month-long sabbatical to dedicate to reading?

What a lovely thought, a month-long sabbatical to read. Better yet, six months. If I had a month to read, I would not re-read anything. I’d push on to things that have too long been on my to-be-read pile. I’d finish War and Peace as a start. Then I’d move onto The City of God (Augustine, I have Bettenson’s translation). If there were still time I’d launch into Dante’s The Divine Comedy, translated by Dorothy Sayers. Then I might re-read something. Possibly Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) for a change of pace. Or The Children of Men (P.D. James).

5. Who are your favorite authors or characters portrayed in literature? (if any of them have substantially changed you, list how briefly)

My favourite book, the one I consider the Best Book Ever, is Possession by A.S. Byatt. I’m not alone in thinking this is an awesome book as it won the Booker Prize in 1990. Be warned that not everyone finds this an easy read, but I love it so much that I’ve read it 9 times since 2004. This book has many layers and can sustain re-reading. It is a book that I think compels good reading as described by Lewis in An Experiment in Criticism. The last time I read it I made notes on the theme of resurrection found in it. Go read it now. I’m not sure how the book has changed me, but if I’ve read it 9 times in 7 years it probably has.

6. Should Christians read more literature? What are the benefits to that? What are some cautions you would share?

Yes, of course Christians should read literature. The benefits are innumerable. Entering the secondary world created by the author expands the mind, it helps us become empathetic, it gives us access to points of view and experiences we cannot otherwise have, it gives us vision for possibilities in life.Cautions/Advice: You don’t have to read every book to the end. Just because a book is recommended by Oprah or is on a best-seller list doesn’t mean it is bad – if it appeals to you give it a try. If you can’t get into a book now, try again later. Think about what you read. Reading is a skill, you get better as you learn how to do it.

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?)

I read alone, though I always am willing to talk about what I read. I’m also willing to listen to others talk about what they read. This is often how I hear about my next good read. I talk about reading with my family and friends. We don’t always read the same book at the same time, but often I’ll have discussions with others about books I’ve recommended, or books they’ve recommended to me. I share about my reading with a wider audience on my blog.

8. What are some methods or principles you use to decide what you will and won’t read?

I’m pretty open to trying new authors and books. I read very widely in all kinds of genres and sub-genres. Mostly I listen to my friends’ recommendations and I follow the threads I find in the books I read. If I read a book and like an author, I’ll read more of her books. If I read a book and see a book mentioned in it, I’ll follow that up. (Example: In Little Women, Jo March reads The Heir of Redcliffe by Charlotte Yonge. This is a real book and I’ve read it.) I read reviews in the newspaper, and I haunt the library and used book stores.

9. What literary works or authors could be of the greatest value to the church if they were read more? Why?

I’m not sure that any one author or set of works can or should be listed here. Of course the church as a whole would benefit if we all read the Bible more, but I don’t think that’s the question. Toward the end of How To Read Slowly James Sire suggested that we all should consider reading as part of our vocation. We each need to figure out what God has called us to, and how reading fits into that call. Then we should pursue our reading as part of our vocation to the glory of God.

10. Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

The book is usually better than the movie.

Previously, Mark Nenadov, Michael Plato, Olga Lukmanova, and Ian Clary’s answers on the topic of literature have been featured. Here are Vincent Cancilla’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 currently live in Milton, Ontario (and no, I did not just move there because my favourite poet is John Milton, although that certainly helped). I have a Specialized Honours B.A. in English Literature from York University, and I did a partial M.A. in Lit at York as well, but I dropped out because of the liberalism in the programme. I work for the City of Mississauga in the Transit division, working as a customer service rep in their call center.

My wife and I attend the Apostolic Christian Church (Nazarean) in Kitchener, ON. I stand firmly in the Anabaptist tradition re: pacifism, but I am learning more about Reformed traditions over the last year and a half or so, and expanding my knowledge of church history.

2. How has your early upbringing shaped your view and use of literature now?

I come from a somewhat dysfunctional background. Having grown up in Jane & Finch in a broken family, I had little parental involvement or encouragement, and so up until grade 6 I could barely read at a grade 1 or 2 level. At some point in grade 6 I randomly picked up Lloyd Alexander’s children’s book series, “The Chronicles of Prydain”, and I determinedly spent 3 days over a Friday/weekend laboriously teaching myself to read by working through them. From then onward, I would take out books from the library, mostly of the fantasy genre, and slowly make my way through each volume, gaining a better grasp of English as I went.

My fascination with the creativity of the fantasy genre in my early encounters with books really shaped me to appreciate the role of imagination in experiencing literature, as well in enjoying really well written children’s books.

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)

In my first year at York my English T.A., John Blazina, quite impressed upon me a zeal for literature. He was what is known as a ‘generalist’, a somewhat rare relic in our now highly specialized modern fields, but because of this he was such a treasure house of knowledge about every period of English Literature. A couple years after taking his Lit. survey course, I remembered him recommending that I should read Milton’s “Paradise Lost” because he knew of my fondness for the fantasy genre, and it was through that recommendation that I ended up reading the Bible itself and being converted by the grace of Our Lord.

Also, my Shakespeare T.A. in 4th year was a great inspiration, he taught our classes in such depth that he actually outstripped the lecturing professor of the course. He really gave me a love and appreciation for the complexity of Shakespeare’s works that I had never before known, especially in the distinction between the Biblical worldview vs. the Greek worldview.

4. What authors/works would you re-read if you had a month-long sabbatical to dedicate to reading?

I’ve wanted to write my own epic Christian poem for a few years now — mainly to correct all of Milton’s horrible theology! — so I would catch up on re-reading Homer, Virgil, Ovid, Dante, Milton, and some Chaucer as well. I’ve also wanted to read Tasso’s “Jerusalem Liberated”, and Lucan’s “Pharsalia”. In terms of fiction I’ve always loved Dickens and Melville and would like to read more of them.

5. Who are your favorite authors or characters portrayed in literature? (if any of them have substantially changed you, list how briefly)

Stephan Dedalus in Joyce’s “Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man” always resonated with me the most deeply. I was reading this in school at the time that I was converting, and so his experience with academia mixed with the confusion of identifying either with religion (better yet, with God) or the world, and the element of his sinful longings tied in with complex thoughts of God’s nature and the church, was really powerful to me. The sequence of the Jesuit “Bible camp” & the “descent into the underworld” paralleling the classical motifs in Homer and Virgil, with it’s intense sermon on Hell, really invoked a deep fear in me, sort of putting flesh on the (somewhat) more general imagery of Hell (Sheol/Hades) found in Scripture.

In terms of favourite authors, I would put Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton high up…also, Swift, Dickens, Melville, & Joseph Conrad. Chaucer’s “House of Fame” was one of the works that inspired me to get better versed in classical literature (I’m definitely not there yet), and to try to write metrical poetry and learn different poetic forms. Moby Dick is probably my favourite fiction book, for it’s dark allegorical nature and amazingly readable KJV-flavoured prose and plethora of Biblical allusions. I definitely need to re-read it now in light of discovering recently that it is an elaborate allegory about Calvinism.

In the fantasy genre, Robert Jordan *was* a great favourite…but The Wheel of Time series went downhill rather brutally, and is ending very poorly with the unfortunate inclusion of Brandon Sanderson (the awfully awful writer chosen to finish the series after Jordan’s untimely death).

6. Should Christians read more literature? What are the benefits to that? What are some cautions you would share?

It’s a tough question…literature can be very time consuming, usually at the expense of reading the Bible and personal communion and prayer time. I think one of the reasons literature is so much easier to read than the Bible is because it sort of “thinks for you.” It spells things out, whereas the Bible is very dense and laconic and makes you work really hard to get the meaning sometimes. But despite all this I think it’s very important for Christians to be versed in some measure with literature, mainly because that will help them read and understand the Bible better (i.e., to learn about genres, poetic forms/styles, approaches to reading, etc).

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?)

I’m pretty much solitary…I’ve never belonged to any reading groups, other than small groups for Bible study. I sometimes share thoughts or meditations via e-mail on different things I’m reading, usually of a theological nature. I do, however, greatly enjoy a relaxing evening on the couch with my wife and each of us with a book in hand (I think this counts as communal?)

8. What are some methods or principles you use to decide what you will and won’t read?

Anything that is explicitly or graphically sexual is usually a write off; basically if it gets an AA or R rating kind of idea, I won’t usually touch it — although much epic poetry and fantasy literature includes graphic battle scenes, I’m not as bothered by that.

I’m not so disciplined to have any particular method, but I’m fairly elitist with my tastes…I mean, I don’t read a lot of pop fiction other than my indulgence here and there in fantasy (and I even stopped reading fantasy for about 7 years until recently). With literature or film, I’d much rather focus on the deep classics than a lot of the modern fluff that comes out, so I try to maximize profitability by choosing good, weighty material. I’m definitely more of a traditionalist, so the modern works (post 1960′s) hold a lot less interest to me in general.

9. What literary works or authors could be of the greatest value to the church if they were read more? Why?
Some the Early Modern authors that deal with complex theological problems I think could greatly benefit the church, just to see these ideas explored in a setting that is not strictly “religious” (inter-church). For example, Christopher Marlowe’s “Dr. Faustus” is an awesome exploration of problem of free will and determinism; Calderon’s “Life Is A Dream” is a beautiful allegory about the human condition and one with a strong Christian emphasis. For modern stuff, Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting For Godot” (although somewhat obtuse) offers a neat exploration into some Christian concepts vs. existentialism.

I think seeing these concepts worked through from other perspectives (secular/non-secular film, literature, etc) would really help the church with its ability to discern and articulate truth in different fields, to engage the academic culture and use its own language to spread the gospel (like Paul in Acts 17 with the Athenian philosophers).

10. Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

I especially encourage people to read more poetry. Taking poetry very seriously is becoming somewhat of a lost art…read it, write it, study it! Go back to the old paths, too, don’t let modernism/post-modernism overrun everything!