I always mean to journal about the thing I have been reading that have impacted me. Here is an update on some of those books:
To Kill A Mocking Bird: This is a classic that I somehow worked around reading as a child (probably because I read the cliff-notes). I'm glad I waited this long because I probably wouldn't have appreciated it as much as I do now. The understanding and acceptance of others that Harper Lee helps her readers to see brings good balance to my Reformed thinking on total depravity. Although, it is theologically crucial for us to understand the depravity of human beings to understand redemption, I enjoyed learning, along with Scout Finch, that everyone has a reason for doing what they do and it is worth taking the time to understand them.
The Great Divorce: As a friend of mine put it, this book is paradigm shifting. I wouldn't base my theology on heaven and hell around it, but it did make me think in a new way about these two doctrines that have carried much speculation, but share little explanation in the pages of scripture. Mostly, this book made me think about my own motives and realize the necessity of all action being centralized on Christ. C. S. Lewis perceptively and chillingly shows how the most innocent and even seemingly righteous desires can become gross idolatry.
