52 in 25: #42-44 - "Research reading"

I am slogging through my “fun” reading right now, but remember I should mention the reading I am doing for “research.”  Here’s “3” books that I have read for a project I am working on.

The first is Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers by Christian Smith with Melinda Lundquist Denton.  I first came across this book while listening to the Bible in a Year podcast.  It is a little bit dated, since it is focused on teenagers at the turn of the century and a lot has happened since then, but it is an insight into how many Americans still view God.  Essentially, it is based on a survey and a series of interviews with teenagers around the year 2005.  The end result was their conceptualization of a new belief system they call “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.”  Moralistic means that God wants us to be good, nice to each other.  It is Therapeutic because it is all about being “happy” – and rejects things like repentance from sin, observing the Sabbath or holy days, and redemptive suffering.  Deism is a revision of 18^th century deism in that God is distant, but intervenes when needed to solve a problem.  The sad thing is how much I see this in so many people I encounter today, especially from my generation.  So, again, while it is dated, it remains important for understanding how to evangelize or re-evangelize some people who still hold this worldview.

Next is After Evil by Robert Meister.  The less I say about this the better.  Meister is a professor of social and political thought in California, and a Marxist.  This particular book is about so-called Human Rights Discourse following the evils of the 20^th century, and the search for true justice.  Some of it is good – calling into question moral logic that states that suffering is never good.  Most of it is really bad – essentially arguing that colonialism led to racism, which lead to genocide, and all because of democracy.  And to make matters worse, he writes in such a way that you know he is looking down his nose on anyone who is reading this; he is much smarter than you.  Again, the less I say the better (he should have heeded that advice).

 

Finally there are two small booklets which I will consider together a book.  A Catechism of Modernism by the Reverend J.B. Lemius, O.M.I., originally published in 1908, is basically a copy of Pope Pius X’s encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis (“On the Doctrines of Modernists”).  But it is a “catechism” in that it breaks up the encyclical into questions and answers, as old catechisms did.  Honestly, this format does not do anything to help clarify, and in fact is probably less helpful (IMHO) than just reading the encyclical.  Then again, how available were encyclicals at the time?

Then there is Hope for Hard Times by Scott Hahn.  It is a self-titled “30-minute read” (probably, if you’re not taking notes).  I love Hahn, and this is no exception.  He breaks down hope and how it should be a remedy for suffering (hence the title) into eight chapters, which essentially consist of a premise, some teaching, usually using saints, and a take away.  Simple and effective.  It is also a direct contrast to Dr. Meister: suffering makes us holy.