Decision Making & the Will of God: A Biblical Alternative to the Traditional View By Gary Friesen with J. Robin Maxon. Multonomah Press, 1980. 452 pages. A new updated version was published in 2004. The old version is more familiar to most people.
Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will by Kevin DeYoung. Moody Publishers, 2009. 128 pages.
Here I Am: Now What on Earth Should I Be Doing? by Quentin J. Schultze. Baker Books, 2005. 109 pages.
Decision Making by the Book: How to Choose Wisely in an Age of Options by Haddon W. Robinson. Discovery House, 1998. 151 pages.
God's Will: Finding Guidance for Everyday Decisions by J. I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom. Baker Books, 2008. 270 pages.
Finding, Discovering, or Discern God's Will: Which is It? Does these words signify different things. I think they might. Finding God's Will might imply that it is loss. All three words seem to suggest activity but those who suggest these terms might think differently. Many people who speak about finding God's will mean by this statement that God already has your life planned out. He has picked out your mate, college, job, or career. So you have to wait to God reveals these things before you act. This is often referred to as the Traditional view or the Bull's Eye view. One alternative view sees that God gives us a lot of freedom. Holders of this view do not believe there is just one right place to live, one right person to marry, or one right career. I think Friesen was one of the first people who contrasted these views arguing against the Traditional view. I will try first to illustrate these ideas through my own experience and certain individuals I have known. The second part will look at the arguments made by the authors of these books. These are not the only books that discuss this topic, but I have found them useful and I have read them recently, except for Friesen's book. I plan on reading his updated version soon.
I became a Christian when I was eighteen years old at a medium-sized Baptist church. I had just started attending church for the first time in my life. Soon after making this decision, I began to sense that God wanted me to surrender my whole life to Him. Soon after making this surrender, I felt God was calling me into the ministry. I was licensed by my church and began preaching. I knew that I would need a college degree to do theological training at the graduate level, so I went to college. I went to college with the intention of getting a piece of paper that would allow me to go to seminary. A strange thing occurred during this process, however. Around the beginning of my third year of college I fell in love with learning. I did not seek it any longer as a means to another end. During my college years is also when I read Friesen's book and other books on finding God's will. Close to graduation I believed God was calling me to be a Christian scholar. I sensed that my place was in the academy. Since I had already planned to go to seminary I went. I stayed at seminary for one semester and hated it. I could not find a job. I didn't feel comfortable at the seminary. I left the seminary at the end of the term feeling like a failure. What was I to do now? I decided to return to my undergraduate institution to pursue a master's degree in history. I was even awarded a graduate assistantship. I believed the university was a better fit for me personally.
Nearing the end of my graduate degree I needed to decide if I would pursue a Ph.D in history. Instead, I decided to get married and go to work. I applied for an elementary teaching job at a private school close to home. The principal of the school called me to see if I would be willing to work in the library instead. The school librarian wanted to return to the classroom. I told him that would be great. I had been thinking about going to library school at LSU for a couple of years. I had worked as a library worker most of my time in college. The school even helped me to pay for school.
When I was nearing graduation in library school, my wife needed to move closer to home. It just happened that the University of Mobile had an opening where she wanted to move. I sent them a resume and they called me for an interview. They offered the job to me and I accepted it. I stayed there for a few years. I did not make much at the school, so I accepted a collection Development librarian position at the Mobile Public Library. After being at the library my position was eliminated, so I accepted another position with a pay cut. About a year later I accepted a school librarian position with Mobile County school system. I had worked at school libraries, a university and a public library. I believed that I was more content at the college and university level. It was a better fit for me. So I accepted a library position in Florida at a Christian college. I have now been here for twelve years and am quite content. The school had offered the amount that my wife and I decided we would need to move. We did not tell them what this amount was. I felt after the interview and the offer that it was the right place for us and it has proved to be.
About four years ago I present a paper on Faith and Learning at the University of Mobile. A couple of Professors from Faulkner University presented papers at this conference too. It so happened that we ate together and became more acquainted with each other. They informed us (a couple of colleagues) that they would be starting a Ph.D in the Humanities. I was interested in this program because it was going to be based on the Great Books. I had thought to myself that I wished there was a great books program on a graduate level that I could pursue. Though I was interested in the program, I did not see how I could finance it. I decided to go ahead and seek to enter the program. I was able to get the finances to pay for the first semester and the approval of my family. After finishing the first semester I lost the financial support and the support of key individuals in my life. I decided it was not meant to be. So I felt I was putting this desire for a Ph.D on the shelf permanently. I felt I could finally live with the idea of not getting a Ph.D. However, certain circumstances occurred that brought the desire off the shelf. My supervisor asked me if I was still doing the Ph.D. I told him I had stopped because of certain circumstances. He told me he thought he would support me if I chose to do it again. My wife suggested I could do it if the school paid for it. My school was unable to pay for it. My supervisor suggested I apply for a doctoral scholarship which I did. I will find out in two months if I will receive this scholarship.
Since It would take a year to find out if I would receive the funding to return to Faulkner University that I would spend the year discerning God's will for my life. I thought it would be a good time to evaluate my life and direction since I am at the mid-point of my life. I have done a lot of reading, praying, thinking and talking with others about direction for my life. It has been about ten months since I started this project. I think pursuing the Ph.D at Faulkner is the next step for my life. However, I will continue to wait on God and trust him to make it possible.
There are experiences by two individuals close to me that seem instructive. One of the individuals went to college to be a minister. He has a passion for ministry. The one thing he has wanted to do all his life is to pastor a church. He went to a church in view of becoming their pastor. He didn't get the position, so he decided he would not go to another church in view of becoming their pastor. I have never understood why he gave up trying to become a pastor. A second friend wanted to be a pastor. He waited many years to receive a call, but it never came. Is there a better way to discern God's will? Was it God's will for these two people to become pastors? Did they miss out? It makes me wonder.
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Religion and the Academic Vocation in America
Mark R. Schwehn, Exiles From Eden: Religion and the Academic Vocation in America. New York: Oxford University, 1993. 143 pages
Mark R. Schwehn is the Provost, Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Professor of the Humanities at the honors college of Valparaiso University. He has written widely on Henry Adams and William James. He has edited an excellent anthology with Dorothy Bass, Leading Lives that Matter: What Should We Do and Who Should We Be (2006). In his book, Exiles From Eden: Religion and the Academic Vocation in America, he shows how American higher education has been disconnected from its religious. This book is a reexamination of the "meaning and purpose of the academic life." The title "Exiles from Eden" point to the experience of "people from all religious backgrounds" who have chosen "to leave the 'Edens' of academe and to pursue their own sense of academic vocation as exiles 'on the periphery.' (x-xi)"
The author begins the book by describing current assumptions about the academic vocation. He provides a brief history on the thinking of the academic vocation. He points to Max Weber's address in 1918 entitled "Wissenschaft als beruf" as a key event in thinking about the academic vocation. Weber brought forth an enlightenment view of the academic life. Weber emphasized objectivity, value-neutrality, relativism, and increasing specialization. Schwehn writes, "Academics were therefore, true to their own calling when they steadfastly refused to address questions about the meaning of the whole or the purpose of human life" (7). Prior to Weber, the academic calling consisted of three roles: advancing knowledge, transmission of knowledge and skills, and cultivating character. Today, the first role is in conflict with the other two roles of academic vocation. The latter two are even considered less important than the first one. Schwehn argues for the importance of all three functions.
Chapter two emphasizes the lack of community in American higher education. He argues for the need of community to inculcate religious virtues for the purpose of learning. He believes that learning cannot occur without these virtues. He never really says why these are religious virtues. They are associated historically with religious institutions. He dialogues with both Richard Rorty and Parker Palmer upon the importance of community in academic life.
In chapter three Schwehn describes the "spiritual virtues" that are needed for academic inquiry. The virtues described are humility, faith, self-denial, love or charity. The author believes that "some degree of humility is a precondition for learning" (49). Faith is necessary because we are dependent on the work of others. In the search for truth the author notes, "The quest for knowledge of the truth, if it takes place within a context of communal conversation, involves the testing of our own opinions. And we must, of course, be willing to give up what we think we know for what is true, if genuine learning is to take place" (49). In addition, the pursuit of knowledge requires discipline and hard work. Charity is needed in our relations with our companions in learning and the authors of books we study.
The fourth chapter is a question and answer response to objections to his proposal. The last chapter is an original essay on Henry Adams. The author notes, "Perhaps the best way to expose the spiritual dimensions of the problem of the academic calling is through an examination of the lives and works of individuals like Henry Adams who actually suffered through, worried over, and finally helped to create the very situation we now seek to comprehend" (95). In other words, individuals like Henry Adams illustrates the modern problem of the academic vocation.
Schwehn's Religion and the Academic Vocation in America does a good job in describing the academic vocation in Modern America. He might have showed why these spiritual virtues are religious. In addition, he might have provided more information on how to change the social structure of this problem. However, this is an excellent diagnosis of the problem and provides important hints on how to pursue the academic vocation.
Mark R. Schwehn is the Provost, Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Professor of the Humanities at the honors college of Valparaiso University. He has written widely on Henry Adams and William James. He has edited an excellent anthology with Dorothy Bass, Leading Lives that Matter: What Should We Do and Who Should We Be (2006). In his book, Exiles From Eden: Religion and the Academic Vocation in America, he shows how American higher education has been disconnected from its religious. This book is a reexamination of the "meaning and purpose of the academic life." The title "Exiles from Eden" point to the experience of "people from all religious backgrounds" who have chosen "to leave the 'Edens' of academe and to pursue their own sense of academic vocation as exiles 'on the periphery.' (x-xi)"
The author begins the book by describing current assumptions about the academic vocation. He provides a brief history on the thinking of the academic vocation. He points to Max Weber's address in 1918 entitled "Wissenschaft als beruf" as a key event in thinking about the academic vocation. Weber brought forth an enlightenment view of the academic life. Weber emphasized objectivity, value-neutrality, relativism, and increasing specialization. Schwehn writes, "Academics were therefore, true to their own calling when they steadfastly refused to address questions about the meaning of the whole or the purpose of human life" (7). Prior to Weber, the academic calling consisted of three roles: advancing knowledge, transmission of knowledge and skills, and cultivating character. Today, the first role is in conflict with the other two roles of academic vocation. The latter two are even considered less important than the first one. Schwehn argues for the importance of all three functions.
Chapter two emphasizes the lack of community in American higher education. He argues for the need of community to inculcate religious virtues for the purpose of learning. He believes that learning cannot occur without these virtues. He never really says why these are religious virtues. They are associated historically with religious institutions. He dialogues with both Richard Rorty and Parker Palmer upon the importance of community in academic life.
In chapter three Schwehn describes the "spiritual virtues" that are needed for academic inquiry. The virtues described are humility, faith, self-denial, love or charity. The author believes that "some degree of humility is a precondition for learning" (49). Faith is necessary because we are dependent on the work of others. In the search for truth the author notes, "The quest for knowledge of the truth, if it takes place within a context of communal conversation, involves the testing of our own opinions. And we must, of course, be willing to give up what we think we know for what is true, if genuine learning is to take place" (49). In addition, the pursuit of knowledge requires discipline and hard work. Charity is needed in our relations with our companions in learning and the authors of books we study.
The fourth chapter is a question and answer response to objections to his proposal. The last chapter is an original essay on Henry Adams. The author notes, "Perhaps the best way to expose the spiritual dimensions of the problem of the academic calling is through an examination of the lives and works of individuals like Henry Adams who actually suffered through, worried over, and finally helped to create the very situation we now seek to comprehend" (95). In other words, individuals like Henry Adams illustrates the modern problem of the academic vocation.
Schwehn's Religion and the Academic Vocation in America does a good job in describing the academic vocation in Modern America. He might have showed why these spiritual virtues are religious. In addition, he might have provided more information on how to change the social structure of this problem. However, this is an excellent diagnosis of the problem and provides important hints on how to pursue the academic vocation.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Calling, Career Choice, and the Design of Human Work
The Fabric of This World: Inquiries into Calling, Career Choice, and the Design of Human Work By Lee Hardy. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1990. 213 pp. $15.95
Hardy teaches at Calvin College. This book is considered a minor classic because of its excellent history and thinking on the subject of work and calling. We spend at least one-third of our life at work, the other third at sleep and rest, and the rest of the time is devoted to everything else. It seems that we would want to think hard about an area that takes so much of our time. In particular, you would think Christians would want to know what the Bible has to say about work and calling. The last twenty to thirty years there have been an increase in books published on this important topic. Hardy's book remains an important book to guide our thinking.
Hardy wrote this book to correct a faulty view of the "meaning and purpose of work." He outlines the plan of his book: "The Fabric of This World might be read as an attempt to help revitalize the concept of work as vocation--or calling--at least within the professing Christian community, where it should have some force. My primary intent is to flesh out the concept of vocation, to delineate its historical background, to mark out its place in the array of possible attitudes towards the meaning of work in human life, to illuminate its full religious content, and to explore its practical implications, both personal and social" (xv).
The Fabric of This World is divided into two parts: exposition and application. There are two chapters in each part. Chapter one is a history on the thinking of work: Is it a blessing or is it a curse? Chapter two develops a Christian "concept of Vocation." Chapter three applies the earlier chapters to career choice and the last chapter provides different ideas on job design.
In the introduction describes two false views of work which focuses on excessive individualism. One of the views look at work as a quest for personal success. The second view tries to escape work and seek meaning in one's private life. For example, the view that I am living for the weekends or Thank God its Friday. In contrast, Hardy sees work an a vocation or calling. It is a contribution to the good of others and not only my own personal advancement.
Chapter one is a superb history of different thinking on work. The Greeks looked upon work as a curse. The Middle Ages valued contemplation over action. Those who had a calling became a priest or entered a monastery. In the Renaissance a new view of work "emerged." It emphasized action in the world. He also looks at Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud's views of work.
Hardy believes a major change began with Martin Luther's teaching on work. Luther taught that a vocation is a call to love one's neighbor "which comes to us through the duties which attach to our social place or station within the earthly kingdom" This means that providence has put us in a place or position where we have different responsibilities. Luther thought we had several callings: to be a husband or wife, parent or child, citizen, faithful church member, and so on. John Calvin and other Reformed thinkers would add to Luther's ideas on work as a calling. Calvinists thought that even the social order can be changed. All of live must be reformed to be in line with God's truth. Calvinists connected calling more with the talents and gifts each person possesses. We are to use these gifts for our neighbor good.
Hardy's book, The Fabric of this World is an excellent guide on how our work is connected with God's kingdom. In addition, he provides help for discerning God's calling in our life. He shows how our calling is broader than our occupation. How we can follow our calling even when we are not doing paid work, for example retirees, stay-at-home-moms, or unemployed. He provides good insight how we need to balance our callings. We must not emphasize one calling so much, that it undermines other callings. This book is recommended for all readers who are interested in finding their place in God's kingdom.
Hardy teaches at Calvin College. This book is considered a minor classic because of its excellent history and thinking on the subject of work and calling. We spend at least one-third of our life at work, the other third at sleep and rest, and the rest of the time is devoted to everything else. It seems that we would want to think hard about an area that takes so much of our time. In particular, you would think Christians would want to know what the Bible has to say about work and calling. The last twenty to thirty years there have been an increase in books published on this important topic. Hardy's book remains an important book to guide our thinking.
Hardy wrote this book to correct a faulty view of the "meaning and purpose of work." He outlines the plan of his book: "The Fabric of This World might be read as an attempt to help revitalize the concept of work as vocation--or calling--at least within the professing Christian community, where it should have some force. My primary intent is to flesh out the concept of vocation, to delineate its historical background, to mark out its place in the array of possible attitudes towards the meaning of work in human life, to illuminate its full religious content, and to explore its practical implications, both personal and social" (xv).
The Fabric of This World is divided into two parts: exposition and application. There are two chapters in each part. Chapter one is a history on the thinking of work: Is it a blessing or is it a curse? Chapter two develops a Christian "concept of Vocation." Chapter three applies the earlier chapters to career choice and the last chapter provides different ideas on job design.
In the introduction describes two false views of work which focuses on excessive individualism. One of the views look at work as a quest for personal success. The second view tries to escape work and seek meaning in one's private life. For example, the view that I am living for the weekends or Thank God its Friday. In contrast, Hardy sees work an a vocation or calling. It is a contribution to the good of others and not only my own personal advancement.
Chapter one is a superb history of different thinking on work. The Greeks looked upon work as a curse. The Middle Ages valued contemplation over action. Those who had a calling became a priest or entered a monastery. In the Renaissance a new view of work "emerged." It emphasized action in the world. He also looks at Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud's views of work.
Hardy believes a major change began with Martin Luther's teaching on work. Luther taught that a vocation is a call to love one's neighbor "which comes to us through the duties which attach to our social place or station within the earthly kingdom" This means that providence has put us in a place or position where we have different responsibilities. Luther thought we had several callings: to be a husband or wife, parent or child, citizen, faithful church member, and so on. John Calvin and other Reformed thinkers would add to Luther's ideas on work as a calling. Calvinists thought that even the social order can be changed. All of live must be reformed to be in line with God's truth. Calvinists connected calling more with the talents and gifts each person possesses. We are to use these gifts for our neighbor good.
Hardy's book, The Fabric of this World is an excellent guide on how our work is connected with God's kingdom. In addition, he provides help for discerning God's calling in our life. He shows how our calling is broader than our occupation. How we can follow our calling even when we are not doing paid work, for example retirees, stay-at-home-moms, or unemployed. He provides good insight how we need to balance our callings. We must not emphasize one calling so much, that it undermines other callings. This book is recommended for all readers who are interested in finding their place in God's kingdom.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
How to Read a Book, Part 5
How to Read a Book: the Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren.
This is my final post on Adler's book. I have enjoyed my third reading of it. I agree with the subtitle that it is a classic guide for intelligent reading. It provides the reader with the tools he needs to be an excellent reader. This post will look at the final two chapters of the book: syntopical reading and reading for life-long education.
Adler lists two reasons for syntopical reading: "knowing that more than one book is relevant to a particular question" and the second is "knowing which books should be read in a general way" (309). Analytical reading focuses on reading one book critically. Syntopical reading focuses on reading multiple books determined by the topic of research. The author states that both inspectional and analytical reading prepares one for syntopical reading. Inspectional reading seems to be even more important for a syntopical reading than an analytical reading.
Syntopical reading usually is done when writing a research report. You have a topic that must be researched. You develop a preliminary bibliography of twenty or more sources. You do not have the time to do analytical reading for all your sources. You are concentrating only on the sources that address your topic. You know which parts of your source that are relevant to your topic. The first thing to do is to review all the sources on your bibliography. You will give these sources an inspectional reading. Adler notes that the skilled reader "discovers . . . whether the book says something important about his subject or not" (315). If it does not, it is put aside. Once you discover the books that are relevant to your topic, you then read them syntopically.
The author lists five steps to do a syntopical reading:
The first part is to "find the relevant passages" that address your topic. In the second part you "bring the author to terms." Since the authors will be using different terms for the same topic, you must create the terms that will apply to all the authors. In syntopical reading, you are in charge, not the author. Adler states that the reader "forces" the author to use his terms instead of "the other way around." The third part is to "get the questions clear." The reader must create questions that help solve the problem. What are we trying to find out? What questions can help us solve our research problem? In part four the reader "defines the issues." What are the key issues of the research topic? How are these issues addressed by the sources? The last step is to "analyse the discussion." What are the different sources saying? Who agrees with whom? This seems to be similar to a literature review? The last chapter of the book speaks of a growing mind.
Adler states that if we want to grow as a reader, we will need to read books that will stretch us. They must be books that lie slightly beyond our capacity. The authors claim that reading purely for entertainment or information will not stretch you. You must read books that are above you and are read for understanding. The authors notes that these type of books will reward you in two ways. First, your reading skills will improve. Second, "a good book can teach you about the world and about yourself" (340-341). It will help you to grow in wisdom. In addition, the authors states that the mind is a muscle. A muscle requires exercise to grow. The mind can "atrophy if it is not used." The authors end their book with this encouragement: "Reading well, which means reading actively, is thus not only a good in itself, nor is it merely a means to advancement in our work or career. It also helps to keep our minds alive and growing" (346). I hope this short survey of this book will motivate you to read it.
This is my final post on Adler's book. I have enjoyed my third reading of it. I agree with the subtitle that it is a classic guide for intelligent reading. It provides the reader with the tools he needs to be an excellent reader. This post will look at the final two chapters of the book: syntopical reading and reading for life-long education.
Adler lists two reasons for syntopical reading: "knowing that more than one book is relevant to a particular question" and the second is "knowing which books should be read in a general way" (309). Analytical reading focuses on reading one book critically. Syntopical reading focuses on reading multiple books determined by the topic of research. The author states that both inspectional and analytical reading prepares one for syntopical reading. Inspectional reading seems to be even more important for a syntopical reading than an analytical reading.
Syntopical reading usually is done when writing a research report. You have a topic that must be researched. You develop a preliminary bibliography of twenty or more sources. You do not have the time to do analytical reading for all your sources. You are concentrating only on the sources that address your topic. You know which parts of your source that are relevant to your topic. The first thing to do is to review all the sources on your bibliography. You will give these sources an inspectional reading. Adler notes that the skilled reader "discovers . . . whether the book says something important about his subject or not" (315). If it does not, it is put aside. Once you discover the books that are relevant to your topic, you then read them syntopically.
The author lists five steps to do a syntopical reading:
The first part is to "find the relevant passages" that address your topic. In the second part you "bring the author to terms." Since the authors will be using different terms for the same topic, you must create the terms that will apply to all the authors. In syntopical reading, you are in charge, not the author. Adler states that the reader "forces" the author to use his terms instead of "the other way around." The third part is to "get the questions clear." The reader must create questions that help solve the problem. What are we trying to find out? What questions can help us solve our research problem? In part four the reader "defines the issues." What are the key issues of the research topic? How are these issues addressed by the sources? The last step is to "analyse the discussion." What are the different sources saying? Who agrees with whom? This seems to be similar to a literature review? The last chapter of the book speaks of a growing mind.
Adler states that if we want to grow as a reader, we will need to read books that will stretch us. They must be books that lie slightly beyond our capacity. The authors claim that reading purely for entertainment or information will not stretch you. You must read books that are above you and are read for understanding. The authors notes that these type of books will reward you in two ways. First, your reading skills will improve. Second, "a good book can teach you about the world and about yourself" (340-341). It will help you to grow in wisdom. In addition, the authors states that the mind is a muscle. A muscle requires exercise to grow. The mind can "atrophy if it is not used." The authors end their book with this encouragement: "Reading well, which means reading actively, is thus not only a good in itself, nor is it merely a means to advancement in our work or career. It also helps to keep our minds alive and growing" (346). I hope this short survey of this book will motivate you to read it.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
How to Read a Book, Part 4
How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren. Simon & Schuster, 1972. ISBN 0671212095
The first few posts looked at the first two levels of reading: Elementary Reading and Inspectional Reading. These two levels are to assist the reader to ask the first two questions: "What is the book about as a whole and What is being said in detail and How." The third level of reading is analytical reading and this is covered in part two of the book. This part includes seven chapters. It is the meat of the book. Analytical reading of a book will assist the reader to answer the other two questions that must be answered about a book: Is it true? Why does it matter. In addition, it will help the reader to know what is being said in detail and how.
Adler provides seven rules for analytical reading:
The First Stage of Analytical Reading
1. Classify the book according to kind and subject matter.
What is the book about? What kind of book is it? Is it history, philosophy, or science?
2. State what the whole book is about with the utmost brevity.
Why did the author write the book? What problem is he trying to solve?
3. Enumerate its major parts in their order and relation, and outline these parts as you have outlined the whole.
You are creating your outline of the book. You are showing the overall structure of the book and how it supports the author's argument.
4. Define the problem or problems the author is trying to solve.
Usually the thesis or the overall argument of an expository book is an answer to a research question.
The Second Stage of Reading Analytically
5. Come to terms with the author by interpreting his key words.
Not all of the words of a book are of equal importance. Finding the key words will help you to find the key terms of the book. Words and terms are not the same thing. A term is a word with special qualifications. The author usually specifies how he will be using a term. Adler says a term is a word used "unambiguously."
6. Grasp the author's leading propositions by dealing with his most important sentences.
In rule five the reader looks for the key words to find the key terms used by the author. In this step the reader looks for the key sentences to find the important propositions of the book. Adler notes, "But the heart of his communication lies in his major affirmations and denials he is making, and the reasons he gives for so doing" (121). These are the propositions are claims made by the author.
7. Know the author's arguments, by finding them in, or constructing them out of sequences of sentences.
Basically, an argument "is a sequence of propositions, some of which give reasons for another" (129). In other words, a book is organized around its arguments. An argument is a set of reasons given to support an opinion.
8. Determine which of the problems the author has solved, and which he has not; and as to the latter, decide which the author knew he had failed to solve.
The author set out to solve a research problem. Did he solve it? What are the author's solution?
The Second Stage of Analytical Reading allows you to answer the second question: What is being said in detail, and how? The Third Stage of Analytical reading helps you critique a book fairly. It is not enough to just interpret the book. You must judje it or evaluate it in the next stage. Adler provides seven rules for critiquing a book. They are highlighted below.
A. General Maxims of Intellectual Etiquette
9. Do not begin criticism until you have completed your outline and interpretation of the book.
You must understand the book before you critique it.
10. Do not disagree disputatiously or contentiously.
You are not in a debate to win an argument. The reader must be willing to agree or disagree depending on the validity of the arguments and evidence provided by the author.
11. Demonstrate that you recognize the difference between knowledge and mere personal opinion by presenting good reasons for any critical judgment you make.
It is not enough to say I agree or disagree. You must be able to give reasons why you agree or disagree. Reading a book is like having a conversation with the author.
There are only three reasons for disagreeing with an author and a fourth reason for delaying judgment:
B. Special Criteria for Points of Criticism
12. Show where the author is uninformed.
To say the author is uninformed you are saying he is lacking important knowledge that is relevant to his argument.
13. Show where the author is misinformed.
In this situation you are saying the author is incorrect. There is something faulty about his knowledge.
14. Show where the author is illogical.
In this case the reader is faulting the author for some type of logical fallacy.
15. Show wherein the author's analysis or account is incomplete.
This point argues that something is missing in the author's claim. He has not solved all the problems he purposed to solve or there are problems in his handling of evidence and objections.
Adler and Doren does a good job in providing the reader with tips or rules on reading an expository work analytically. In the next section of the book they show how to apply analytical reading to different kinds of books: philosophy, fiction and literature, history, science, and social science.
The first few posts looked at the first two levels of reading: Elementary Reading and Inspectional Reading. These two levels are to assist the reader to ask the first two questions: "What is the book about as a whole and What is being said in detail and How." The third level of reading is analytical reading and this is covered in part two of the book. This part includes seven chapters. It is the meat of the book. Analytical reading of a book will assist the reader to answer the other two questions that must be answered about a book: Is it true? Why does it matter. In addition, it will help the reader to know what is being said in detail and how.
Adler provides seven rules for analytical reading:
The First Stage of Analytical Reading
1. Classify the book according to kind and subject matter.
What is the book about? What kind of book is it? Is it history, philosophy, or science?
2. State what the whole book is about with the utmost brevity.
Why did the author write the book? What problem is he trying to solve?
3. Enumerate its major parts in their order and relation, and outline these parts as you have outlined the whole.
You are creating your outline of the book. You are showing the overall structure of the book and how it supports the author's argument.
4. Define the problem or problems the author is trying to solve.
Usually the thesis or the overall argument of an expository book is an answer to a research question.
The Second Stage of Reading Analytically
5. Come to terms with the author by interpreting his key words.
Not all of the words of a book are of equal importance. Finding the key words will help you to find the key terms of the book. Words and terms are not the same thing. A term is a word with special qualifications. The author usually specifies how he will be using a term. Adler says a term is a word used "unambiguously."
6. Grasp the author's leading propositions by dealing with his most important sentences.
In rule five the reader looks for the key words to find the key terms used by the author. In this step the reader looks for the key sentences to find the important propositions of the book. Adler notes, "But the heart of his communication lies in his major affirmations and denials he is making, and the reasons he gives for so doing" (121). These are the propositions are claims made by the author.
7. Know the author's arguments, by finding them in, or constructing them out of sequences of sentences.
Basically, an argument "is a sequence of propositions, some of which give reasons for another" (129). In other words, a book is organized around its arguments. An argument is a set of reasons given to support an opinion.
8. Determine which of the problems the author has solved, and which he has not; and as to the latter, decide which the author knew he had failed to solve.
The author set out to solve a research problem. Did he solve it? What are the author's solution?
The Second Stage of Analytical Reading allows you to answer the second question: What is being said in detail, and how? The Third Stage of Analytical reading helps you critique a book fairly. It is not enough to just interpret the book. You must judje it or evaluate it in the next stage. Adler provides seven rules for critiquing a book. They are highlighted below.
A. General Maxims of Intellectual Etiquette
9. Do not begin criticism until you have completed your outline and interpretation of the book.
You must understand the book before you critique it.
10. Do not disagree disputatiously or contentiously.
You are not in a debate to win an argument. The reader must be willing to agree or disagree depending on the validity of the arguments and evidence provided by the author.
11. Demonstrate that you recognize the difference between knowledge and mere personal opinion by presenting good reasons for any critical judgment you make.
It is not enough to say I agree or disagree. You must be able to give reasons why you agree or disagree. Reading a book is like having a conversation with the author.
There are only three reasons for disagreeing with an author and a fourth reason for delaying judgment:
B. Special Criteria for Points of Criticism
12. Show where the author is uninformed.
To say the author is uninformed you are saying he is lacking important knowledge that is relevant to his argument.
13. Show where the author is misinformed.
In this situation you are saying the author is incorrect. There is something faulty about his knowledge.
14. Show where the author is illogical.
In this case the reader is faulting the author for some type of logical fallacy.
15. Show wherein the author's analysis or account is incomplete.
This point argues that something is missing in the author's claim. He has not solved all the problems he purposed to solve or there are problems in his handling of evidence and objections.
Adler and Doren does a good job in providing the reader with tips or rules on reading an expository work analytically. In the next section of the book they show how to apply analytical reading to different kinds of books: philosophy, fiction and literature, history, science, and social science.
Monday, March 9, 2015
How to Read a Book, Part 3
How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren.
Chapter five, "How to be a Demanding Reader," is the last chapter of part one. It is meant to prepare the reader for the meat of the book, how to read a book analytically. The title of the chapter refers to active reading. How to stay awake while reading. Adler thinks the reader can stay awake by asking the text questions. He list four questions that every reader need to answer while reading a book.
1. What is the Book about as a Whole?
What is the main point of the book. What is the one point the author is trying to get across. This could be the thesis of the book or the one question it is seeking to answer. This could be found in the preface, introduction, and conclusion of the book.
2. What is Being Said in Detail, and How?
How is the book structured. The table of contents can help the reader here. What are the main ideas and arguments of the book.
3. Is the Book True, in Whole or Part?
The first two questions must be answered before answering this question. You must understand what the book is saying before you can judge whether it is true or not. You must make up your own mind about the book. It is not enough to know what the author thinks.
4. What of it?
What are the implications of the book. Is what the author saying significant or not? Does it matter?
The rest of the book discusses these four questions in more detail.
The second part of chapter five shows "how to make the book your own." This is done mainly through marking up the book. Marking the book and asking the book questions will help you to be an active reader. Marking up the book will help you to have a conversation with the author. Adler notes, "Marking a book is literally an expression of your differences or your agreements with the author" (49). You are paying the author the highest compliment you can pay him.
There are many ways to mark up a book. Adler just gives some he likes, but the reader can use them or select other ones he might like. Here are some of Adler's recommendations:
1. Underlining--of major points; of important or forceful statements.
I have a tendency to underline too much. How do you know what are the important points of the book before you have read it through? Maybe, the pre-reading will help here.
2. Vertical Lines at the Margin--to emphasize a statement already underlined or to point to a passage too long to be underlined.
3. Star, Asterisk, or Other Doodad at the Margin--to be used sparingly, to emphasize the ten or dozen most important statements or passages in the book.
4.Numbers in the Margin--to indicate a sequence of points made by the author in developing an argument.
Arguments are used to support the major claim of the book. A book can be outlined by the arguments it makes.
5.Numbers of Other Pages in the Margin--to indicate where else in the book the author makes the same points, or points relevant to or in contradiction of those marked here.
In some sense, you are making your own index of the point. You can use "CF" or some other symbol.
Circling of Key Words and Phrases. This is similar to underlining.
Writing in the Margin, or at the Top or Bottom of the Page--to record questions (and perhaps answers) which a passage raises to your mind; to reduce a complicated discussion to a simple statement; to record the sequence of the major points right through the book.
Both front pages and back pages of the book can be used to make additional notes. You can create your own outline on the table of contents.
The author lists three kinds of note-making. First their are notes about the structure of the book, how it is organized. These are mostly discovered in the inspectional reading. Inspectional reading can help you with the first two questions, but not the last two. The type of notes you take reading analytically is more about the concepts of the book. A third type of note-taking occurs when reading syntopically. You are taking notes on the conversation that is occurring between multiple books.
Chapter five, "How to be a Demanding Reader," is the last chapter of part one. It is meant to prepare the reader for the meat of the book, how to read a book analytically. The title of the chapter refers to active reading. How to stay awake while reading. Adler thinks the reader can stay awake by asking the text questions. He list four questions that every reader need to answer while reading a book.
1. What is the Book about as a Whole?
What is the main point of the book. What is the one point the author is trying to get across. This could be the thesis of the book or the one question it is seeking to answer. This could be found in the preface, introduction, and conclusion of the book.
2. What is Being Said in Detail, and How?
How is the book structured. The table of contents can help the reader here. What are the main ideas and arguments of the book.
3. Is the Book True, in Whole or Part?
The first two questions must be answered before answering this question. You must understand what the book is saying before you can judge whether it is true or not. You must make up your own mind about the book. It is not enough to know what the author thinks.
4. What of it?
What are the implications of the book. Is what the author saying significant or not? Does it matter?
The rest of the book discusses these four questions in more detail.
The second part of chapter five shows "how to make the book your own." This is done mainly through marking up the book. Marking the book and asking the book questions will help you to be an active reader. Marking up the book will help you to have a conversation with the author. Adler notes, "Marking a book is literally an expression of your differences or your agreements with the author" (49). You are paying the author the highest compliment you can pay him.
There are many ways to mark up a book. Adler just gives some he likes, but the reader can use them or select other ones he might like. Here are some of Adler's recommendations:
1. Underlining--of major points; of important or forceful statements.
I have a tendency to underline too much. How do you know what are the important points of the book before you have read it through? Maybe, the pre-reading will help here.
2. Vertical Lines at the Margin--to emphasize a statement already underlined or to point to a passage too long to be underlined.
3. Star, Asterisk, or Other Doodad at the Margin--to be used sparingly, to emphasize the ten or dozen most important statements or passages in the book.
4.Numbers in the Margin--to indicate a sequence of points made by the author in developing an argument.
Arguments are used to support the major claim of the book. A book can be outlined by the arguments it makes.
5.Numbers of Other Pages in the Margin--to indicate where else in the book the author makes the same points, or points relevant to or in contradiction of those marked here.
In some sense, you are making your own index of the point. You can use "CF" or some other symbol.
Circling of Key Words and Phrases. This is similar to underlining.
Writing in the Margin, or at the Top or Bottom of the Page--to record questions (and perhaps answers) which a passage raises to your mind; to reduce a complicated discussion to a simple statement; to record the sequence of the major points right through the book.
Both front pages and back pages of the book can be used to make additional notes. You can create your own outline on the table of contents.
The author lists three kinds of note-making. First their are notes about the structure of the book, how it is organized. These are mostly discovered in the inspectional reading. Inspectional reading can help you with the first two questions, but not the last two. The type of notes you take reading analytically is more about the concepts of the book. A third type of note-taking occurs when reading syntopically. You are taking notes on the conversation that is occurring between multiple books.
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Who are our Heroes?
There is a popular song that says all my heroes are cowboys. Another one says tells mommas not to let their sons be cowboys, but to be doctors and lawyers instead. I enjoy country music and like watching westerns, but my heroes are not cowboys. My heroes are people of faith, virtue, and intellectual excellences. One of my heroes is Father James V. Schall. He was a professor of Government at Georgetown University for 35 years. He retired in December 2012 from teaching. He now lives in a Jesuit retirement home and continues writing. When asked about retirement, he replied that retirement did not mean to "stop doing anything." I have read many of Schall's books over the years and I am sure I will continue to read them in the future.
One thing that have puzzled me over the years is his warning about the Great Books. His recent comment in a review of Fesar's Scholastic Metaphysics made sense to me. Schall notes, "It is not so much that anything is wrong with studying 'great books.' We need and want to know what they contain. But by themselves, they contradict each other. So without a foundation in philosophy itself, students of 'great books' ended up in relativism with no real way to understand and defend the truth of things." It is because of my reading of Thomas Aquinas, C.S. Lewis, Josef Pieper and Father Schall that I have this foundation in philosophy which keeps me from being captured by relativism.
Father Schall was recently interviewed in the National Review online. He made some interesting comments about the world, his life, and works. He thinks that the "elimination of all non-Muslim peoples from what are called Muslim lands is part of the overall vision of Islam." He thinks thinking about Islam is fuzzy. This is because of "unclarity about what Islam is. He states, "Some desperately, in spite of evidence, hold that it is a simple religion of peace." Others read the history of Islam and see it is a religion of jihad. Muslims are caught in this contradiction.
In this interview he speaks of his book, The Classical Moment: Selected Essays on Knowledge and its Pleasures. He says that the book is a defense of the short essay. He has always been "fascinated, with how much you can put in such a short space." Schall is great both at writing the light, short essay and also writing the longer, more serious essay. The book's title refers to intellectual pleasures. Schall notes, "I have often been struck by Aristotle's teaching that the activity of knowing is itself a pleasure, perhaps our highest pleasure, in which all other pleasures take their order. The pleasure of knowing, it has always struck me as both a student and a professor, is at the heart of education and through it of life itself." It is interesting that Schall makes this point because Thomas Aquinas made the same point in my reading in the Summa this morning. Isn't this a new idea that there is pleasure in learning. Learning has its own rewards. I have experienced this many times. Schall in his review of Feser's book notes, "In Feser's little 'manual,' we have the seeds of something great, the realization that, on philosophical grounds themselves, the scholastic tradition in the heritage of Aristotle and Aquinas is in fact the newest thing in academia." In other words, the permanent things are never out of date.
One thing that have puzzled me over the years is his warning about the Great Books. His recent comment in a review of Fesar's Scholastic Metaphysics made sense to me. Schall notes, "It is not so much that anything is wrong with studying 'great books.' We need and want to know what they contain. But by themselves, they contradict each other. So without a foundation in philosophy itself, students of 'great books' ended up in relativism with no real way to understand and defend the truth of things." It is because of my reading of Thomas Aquinas, C.S. Lewis, Josef Pieper and Father Schall that I have this foundation in philosophy which keeps me from being captured by relativism.
Father Schall was recently interviewed in the National Review online. He made some interesting comments about the world, his life, and works. He thinks that the "elimination of all non-Muslim peoples from what are called Muslim lands is part of the overall vision of Islam." He thinks thinking about Islam is fuzzy. This is because of "unclarity about what Islam is. He states, "Some desperately, in spite of evidence, hold that it is a simple religion of peace." Others read the history of Islam and see it is a religion of jihad. Muslims are caught in this contradiction.
In this interview he speaks of his book, The Classical Moment: Selected Essays on Knowledge and its Pleasures. He says that the book is a defense of the short essay. He has always been "fascinated, with how much you can put in such a short space." Schall is great both at writing the light, short essay and also writing the longer, more serious essay. The book's title refers to intellectual pleasures. Schall notes, "I have often been struck by Aristotle's teaching that the activity of knowing is itself a pleasure, perhaps our highest pleasure, in which all other pleasures take their order. The pleasure of knowing, it has always struck me as both a student and a professor, is at the heart of education and through it of life itself." It is interesting that Schall makes this point because Thomas Aquinas made the same point in my reading in the Summa this morning. Isn't this a new idea that there is pleasure in learning. Learning has its own rewards. I have experienced this many times. Schall in his review of Feser's book notes, "In Feser's little 'manual,' we have the seeds of something great, the realization that, on philosophical grounds themselves, the scholastic tradition in the heritage of Aristotle and Aquinas is in fact the newest thing in academia." In other words, the permanent things are never out of date.
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