Blah!

Before last night, I hadn't read anything for 3 consecutive nights. I was just to busy and worn out. I know I know, shame on me. However, it makes me feel better that I finished The Four Loves last night. I will have a new post on it within the next few days.

God: A Perfect Blend Between Mercy and Justice

God is loving, merciful, and compassionate. As Christians, we know that. We know that very well. In fact in some cases we know that too well. We forget that God is also just. God is perfect justice. Unfortunately, in today’s society, Christians have only focused in on the merciful side of God. We almost never recognize the just side of God. The problem with this is that when you focus in on one (mercy or justice) and do not recognize the other, that one characteristic is almost meaningless. Let me give you an example. A father tells his son that he loves him. Then, the father sees a guy committing a robbery and tells him that he loves that guy also. The father just cheapened what he told his son when he told the robber this. The reason for this is because there is not any discernment in the way that the father distributed his mercy. Justice has to be in the picture in order for true mercy to occur. This idea of focusing in on mercy and compassion has trickled down into the way we live.


Matthew 5:13 tells us that Christians are to be the “salt and light of the earth”. For the most part we all know what this verse means. It means that we are to be different from the world, be in, but not of the world. Christians are to preserve the world. Christians are supposed to make a difference and be excellent, etc. This is all good and true. Let me offer something else that many Christians tend to forget about what their duty as “salt and light”. We know that salt gives flavor, but at the same time it can be very stinging. Anyone who sweats a lot knows that when sweat gets in your eye it can sting. When salt gets in a cut, it stings. Part of our duty as Christians is to give flavor, preserve, but sometimes we may also need to sting. Jesus is the perfect example of this. He was all of things that we focus in on, but sometimes we forget that Jesus stung when he was alive. When it comes to light, light it used to guide, lead, or show the path in the dark. Yes, we get that. But light is also used to illuminate and show the evil that is going on in the darkness. Some people do not want to be in the light, but in some cases, this is our duty.

This is just a simple reminder of how we must live. This is also a reminder to not cheapen any aspect of God in order to make him look more presentable or pleasing to people. When picked apart, this will only make him less pleasing to the unbeliever.

My Thoughts: C.S. Lewis Explores Vice and Virtue

Any C.S. Lewis fans out there? This book is for the C.S. Lewis die-hards, or people who are very into medieval thought. Lewis was a Medieval scholar, and as a consequence of that, he was very deeply influenced by what was called Virtue Theory or Virtue Tradition. This is what this book is all about. It explores the Virtue Theory ideas that are resident in Lewis’ works. If Lewis were alive and were to write a book on medieval thought, then it would look something like this. Gerard Reed is a philosophy professor at Point Loma and I think that he puts this book together masterfully. This is a man that knows C.S. Lewis and all of his works like the back of his hand. He quotes Lewis very nicely and integrates many of Lewis’ ideas with his own very well. This book is a gold mine of quotes especially from Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine.

This book will give you greater insight obviously to Lewis’ writings, but to people like Aquinas, Augustine, and even to the Bible. The information in C.S. Lewis Explores Vice and Virtue is quantity with much quality. When reading this book, I saw just how far from virtue the world, our country, our town, our schools, our churches, our families, and our friends really are. But most importantly, this book motivated me because it shows just how far from virtue that I am. This realization is very humbling. Final rating = 4.5 stars out of 5.

Next book: The Four Loves

My Thoughts: How to Stay Christian in College

If you are going off to college this Fall, or are already enrolled in a university, this book is for you. I read this book in just a few days because I enjoyed it so much. In many ways, the book showed the practical side of many philosophical ideas. J. Budziszewski touched on many of the issues that we will face in the university. Some of the ideas that he discusses in How to Stay Christian in College are refuting Postmodernism, Naturalism, and New Age, myths about love and sex, myths about knowledge, and myths about politics. Along with all of these extremely useful insights, he shows us some tactics that will strengthen out faith in college. I am convinced that if we use this book as a guide, then our faith will not only survive in the university world, but will flourish. Even though there are some things that he talks about that I do not necessarily agree with, I think that everyone going to secular institute or a Christian institute needs to read this book. I give this book 4.5 stars out of 5.

My Thoughts: The Great Divorce

If you want a quick fun read, then read this book. This book is fairly small and can be read in just a few nights. This is a fictional allegory about heaven and hell. Majority of the book is about heaven. Even though it is a fictional novel, C.S. Lewis still has some very good insights of what it may be like and how we should live our lives here on earth. These insights must be taken figuratively in order for them to make any sense at all. Many of the ideas that Lewis has in this book make more sense if you have read some of his other works. The ideas in this book are most resident, but from a different angle, in Mere Christianity and the Weight of Glory. The ideas in these books are being applied in the Great Divorce. It was a good, but I do not by any means think that it is one of Lewis’ classic works. The points and main idea of the book were good, it’s just that I have read Lewis at a much higher level then this. Out of 5 stars I will give it a 3.

Summer Reading List

If all goes according to planned, I will hopefully have read most of these books by the end of summer. The reason I will probably not get to all of them is because some are pretty lengthy with heavy duty ideas. I plan on writting a short blog after I have read each one. I have already read The Great Divorce and plan to blog on it sometime this week. I am currently reading How to Stay Christian in College. I also read The Abolition of Man last summer, but that book is so deep that you almost need to read it 2-4 times.

The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis Explores Vice and Virtue, Gerard Reed

The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis

God in the Dock, C.S. Lewis

The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis

How to Stay Christian in College, Jay Budziszewski

How to Think about the Great Ideas, Mortimer Adler

Miracles, C.S Lewis

The Symposium, Plato

Ten Philosophical Mistakes, Mortimer Adler

The Trial and Death of Socrates, Plato

The World’s Last Night, C.S. Lewis

Yes, I know, a ton of C.S. Lewis' works. He is currently my favorite author and I plan on reading all of his published works. Also, many of these books are philosophical. I made my list like this because: 1) I want to be as prepared as possible considering I will be a Philosophy major in a couple months, and, 2) I just flat out love philosophy. If anyone wants to talk philosophy, know that I am always available for a good discussion.

Note: This list is subject to change throughout the summer.