What I've Been Reading #2
A useful curated list. Maybe?
Every few weeks I will put out a few books I’m reading, with a paragraph or two about why I like or don’t like the book, and a compelling quote. My interests largely lie in theology, Christian living, philosophy, history, and literature. Some weirdo books will sneak in I’m sure, but you can generally expect that kind of diet.
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Henry Oliver recommended this book to me. He said that many critics consider it the greatest British novel, and perhaps simply the greatest novel of all time. Harold Bloom named it as central to the Western Canon in his book of the same name. I confess, I had not thought about that book much, indeed I barely recall hearing about it. And this is a little embarrassing, since the name of this newsletter is a literary reference (to Hemingway and his idea that courage was grace under pressure) and once upon a time, I cared a lot about literature. Tragically, I think I’ve turned into a bit of philistine.
I knew almost immediately that I was reading something great when I opened this book. I started it immediately after reading The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. The Remains of the Day was a good novel, and Ishiguro is a good writer, heck, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017. His prose is good. But it suffered immensely in comparison to Middlemarch. Here’s the opening section:
Who that cares much to know the history of man, and how the mysterious mixture behaves under the varying experiments of Time, has not dwelt, at least briefly, on the life of Saint Theresa, has not smiled with some gentleness at the thought of the little girl walking forth one morning hand-in-hand with her still smaller brother, to go and seek martyrdom in the country of the Moors? Out they toddled from rugged Avila, wide-eyed and helpless-looking as two fawns, but with human hearts, already beating to a national idea; until domestic reality met them in the shape of uncles, and turned them back from their great resolve.
Eliot, George. Middlemarch (p. 7). Kindle Edition.
That’s some Call me Ishmael stuff. Beyond that, Middlemarch shows the interplay between individuals, culture, sociological changes, familial relationships in a small town, class, and the character’s interior thought-life. Eliot also knew the Puritans very well and in a time of tension between the state church and dissenters, there is rich religious context to enjoy. Highly recommend.
Two Treatises of Government by John Locke
I fell down an AI rabbit hole a few weeks ago examining the connections between Christianity and classical liberalism. The ties run thick, the idea of rights is firmly rooted in the doctrine of the Imago Dei, and there’s more to say on that front, but this isn’t that post. But one of the books I picked up was John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government. Locke was both a Christian and the father of modern classical liberalism (belief in freedom of association, rule of law, free markets, freedom of conscience, basic human rights). I have primarily focused on the First Treatise (which Rebecca Lowe tells me is the one everyone thinks isn’t that great) because I found myself fascinated with a 17th century theological debate. Locke’s work was a response and critique of Robert Filmer who argued for the absolute divine right of kings. They both make arguments from the Bible, revolving whether Adam was the monarch of the whole world.
I hope to write on that debate because I think they are both wrong. Absolutely worth reading as an entry point into the history of liberal democratic values and philosophy.
In this last age a generation of men has sprung up amongst us, that would flatter princes with an opinion, that they have a divine right to absolute power, let the laws by which they are constituted, and are to govern, and the conditions under which they enter upon their authority, be what they will, and their engagements to observe them never so well ratified by solemn oaths and promises. To make way for this doctrine, they have denied mankind a right to natural freedom;
John Locke
The Christian’s Reasonable Service, Volume 1: God, Man, and Christ by Wilhelmus à Brakel
I began this year with a goal to learn more systematic theology as I thought it was a relative weakness in my theological education. This led me through Calvin’s Institutes, Beeke’s first volume in his systematic theology and now A Brakel. This work was first published in 1700 and its title comes from Romans 12:1: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” This is à Brakel’s goal, to equip Christians to live for God.
On a practical level, à Brakel is a good entry into the scholastics, especially for me, as à Brakel is surprisingly readable. This is likely a nod to Joel Beeke’s skills as a translator. I can heartily recommend this book.
The Word of God is necessary and profitable not only for beginners and little ones but also for the most advanced and spiritual believers here upon earth. It is a brook from which a lamb may drink and an ocean in which an elephant can drown. He who is of the opinion that he has advanced beyond Scripture is a fool.
Wilhelmus à Brakel