If someone asked you, “What one good thing has occurred since 2020 and the ‘new normal’?” What would be your answer? Mine would be the ability to get back into a routine so that I can pursue my love of reading. Since the onslaught of COVID, I have read over 20 books. I just finished reading the 3 volume set by William Gurnall, “The Christian in Complete Armor”.
John Newton, author of the hymn “Amazing Grace,” said, “If I might read only one book beside the Bible, I would choose The Christian in Complete Armour.” Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Gurnall’s work is peerless and priceless; every line is full of wisdom; every sentence is suggestive.” David Wilkerson, author of The Cross and the Switchblade, wrote, “The Christian in Complete Armour should be in the library of every man and woman of God.” Originally written in 1655, this Puritan classic on spiritual warfare has been updated into modern English and abridged for easy reading. This set includes volumes 1, 2, and 3 in Paperback.
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Now I’m reading another great writer, this time a little more contemporary. Alister McGrath, a leading theologian, has studied Clive Staples Lewis, or as most folks know him, C. S. Lewis. The book I’m enjoying is titled, “If I had Lunch with C. S. Lewis”. McGrath imagines having 8 luncheons with Lewis, and asks him questions on the various themes which he wrote about. Lewis is best known for his ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ series, and he is ‘asked’ to explain why he wrote the series and what was he trying to convey.
Here are a few of Lewis’ quotes to whet your interest: ‘I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because i see it, but because by it I see everything else’. ‘Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself (for God did not need to create). It has no survival value, rather it is one of those things which gives value to survival’. ‘The Apostles themselves…left their mark on Earth precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ”thrown in”: aim at earth and you will get neither”.
While this wasn’t part of McGrath’s book, an interesting note is: what do Aldous Huxley, John F. Kennedy and C.S. Lewis have in common? They all passed from this world on November 22, 1963! Even if there is no deeper meaning, it IS an interesting fact.