Nuke's Blog
Periodic ramblings by an old geek…

Time for a few book reviews, now that I’m not watching as many movies.  Why did I continue to waste time with them for so long? ;)

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On the Incarnation: The Treatise De Incarnatione Verbi Dei (St. Athanasius of Alexandria)

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I decided it was finally time to start reading directly from some of the early church fathers, starting with Athanasius.  This was the guy from the 300′s AD who was a major opponent of Arius, who was claiming at the time Jesus was simply a creation of God and not God Himself.  It is not clear to me who exactly translated this version, as the person is referred to as “a religious of C.S.M.V.”  The introduction by C. S. Lewis doesn’t clear it up, but gives decent enough praise to the translation.  What he really hits on, however, is a great point… that we should spend at least as much time reading “old” books as “new” books.  Writings of early church fathers, like Athanasius, have stood the test of time over centuries, while even the latest book by himself hasn’t stood for more than 50 years.  New books should not be relied upon, as they haven’t been through all the rigorous review necessary to demonstrate their correctness.  This, of course, might require all the more attention when reading theological writings.  You can read a copy of the introduction here… it’s well worth it.  Of course, the entire book is there as well, though it is a slightly earlier translation.

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The book (or treatise) itself is quite startling.  It’s amazing to read everything and find it quite easy to comprehend, as if it were written today by any Catholic or Protestant.  I imagine this has as much to do with the simplicity with which Athanasius explained theology of the time, as it has to do with the translator’s work.  The theology itself can clearly be seen as a lynch-pin holding the vast majority of Christian denominations together, that Jesus is God.  His writing here is quite short, so I hope you can spend some time to digest it yourself and see how an “ancient” man of the church can easily speak to us today.  By the way, Athanasius’ last couple chapters focus on refutations of the Jews and Gentile non-believers of the time.  Great stuff.  The story there hasn’t changed much either.

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Fablehaven: Book 1 (Brandon Mull)

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Lafe finally got me to sit down and read this after he finished the first two in the now-five-book series.  I remember him sitting close to us during a couple of these as he worked through a few “scary” spots.  I, of course, was never frightened… ok, maybe a little for the kids in the story. ;)  I found this to be quite a page turner as the two children in the story learned more and more about their grandparents’ estate.  Without really giving much away, basically the estate is a fantasy creature preserve.  And when I say fantasy creature, you can pretty much imagine any you’ve encountered in books or movies as a child.  Many of them continue to show up as the book moves along.  Very cool.  Good luck dealing with the annoying brother who never, ever, ever listens to grandpa.  I wanted to reach into the book and shake him silly too many times.  I’ll be interested to read the later books at some point.  By the way, this review is here just to prove to Jake I don’t always read the Bible or a related book. ;)

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The American Patriot’s Bible: The Word of God and the Shaping of America (Dr. Richard G. Lee, general editor)

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I believe there are many out there who still accept the latest historical revisionist ploy that the fathers of this country were deists, at best, nearly atheists otherwise… or at least Franklin and Jefferson were, and that they are the only two who matter.  This copy of the Bible is interspersed with quote upon quote, story upon story, directly refuting that position.  It is done in a really nice way, interjecting these historical facts, yes facts, when they most pertain to the surrounding verses or chapter of the Bible.  You can certainly find more intense study if you check out David Barton’s Original Intent, but being able to break up the Bible with some historical commentary, and vice versa, is a great way to digest a bit of both.  I’ll share a couple of the most interesting things I read in here and hadn’t heard elsewhere.  The first is from George Washington Carver, known to some of us Iowa State students as the brilliant African-American peanut farmer from the late 1800′s/early 1900′s (though he was much more).

At the end of his address [to a congressional committee on a peanut tariff], the Chairman of the Committee asked:

“Dr. Carver, how did you learn all of these things?”

Carver answered: “From an old book.”

“What book?”

Carver replied, “The Bible.”

The Senator inquired, “Does the Bible tell about peanuts?”

“No, sir,” Dr. Carver replied, “but it tells about the God who made the peanut.  I asked Him to show me what to do with the peanut, and He did.”

As this “book” moves along, we actually get quotes from those in the government (especially presidents) throughout the rest of our history, leading all the way up to the first George Bush.  Another great quote I read was from the 40s, by Peter Marshall, a chaplain of the U.S. Senate:

The choice before us is plain: Christ or chaos, conviction or compromise, discipline or disintegration.  I am rather tired of hearing about our rights and privileges as American citizens.  The time is come – it is now – when we ought to hear about the duties and responsibilities of our citizenship.  America’s future depends upon her accepting and demonstrating God’s government.

How much clearer is that picture another 60 years later?

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As for the Bible version included here, it is the New King James Version (NKJV), which I did not fully finish yet, but found to be easier to read than the original KJV (the thee’s and thou’s, etc. are gone… which may make some sad, but it certainly helps reading).  I am glad to finally have a copy of it in the house, as books like the Psalms flow so much better in the poetic style of the KJV than they do in the more literal style of my favorite ESV and NASB versions I use for study.  Though, both of those at least seem to carry the poetry of Psalm 23 from the KJV/NKJV almost word for word.  I was going to use it as an example, but guess you’ll have to search further for yourself if you don’t believe my limited assessment.

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