Why read old books?

Why read old books? Because they give our lives perspective. Why read old books? Because every piece of literature has some truth in it. Why read old books? Because the questions that the Classics raise apply to our generation just as much as they did hundreds of years ago when they were written to the audiences from ancient Rome to bustling St. Petersburg.

Dr. Burton proposed that Raskolnikov was the embodiement of Existentialism. Raskolnikov is a "tortured soul" and throughout the novel experiences redemption - he is Doestovsky's Lazarus being raised from the dead. Existentialism attempts to remove the mask from it's characters and from its readers. It focuses on the moment and quality existential writing will draw the reader into the plot so intensly that the reader will be forced to make split decisions along side the characters. I experienced this every time I turned a page in Crime and Punishment. He awakens the "nightmare quality of unredeemed existence". Dr. Burton also mentioned that existentialism percieves the paradoxes. We, as Christians, are "walking paradoxes". This intrigued me in class and I was impacted by the greatness of our God in transforming a SINNER into a SAINT. To use the phrase of our beloved C.S. Lewis, God has taken "the obstinate tin soldier" and brought him "beautifully and splendidly alive".

I appreciated hearing all this from a pastor. As a student and teacher of the most vital and transforming piece of literature available to man, the Bible, I expect pastors to be informed on modern literature and defend the Christian worldview when faced with challenging questions from the author.

Why read old books? Because every book, every article, every song, every poem, everything will have some shred of truth in it and as Christians we are challenged to discover God's truth within every culture, so that we may be that more informed about how to share His truth with the world...