READING AT THE WADE
ROLLAND HEIN, LEADER
FALL 2012

                                                           SYLLABUS

TIME AND PLACE: Saturdays, 10 - 11 a.m., meeting room, The Marion E. Wade Center, corner of Washington and Lincoln, Wheaton, IL.

TEXTS:  C. S. Lewis.  The Magician’s Nephew; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.                               HarperCollins.  
 George MacDonald.  At the Back of the North Wind.  Anamchara Books: Harding.

Note: Books are available at the Wheaton College Bookstore at 20% discount with coupon

DESCRIPTION:  Considered by many as George MacDonald’s most successful mythic tale, At the Back of the North Wind is the story of the nocturnal adventures of the child Diamond, a London cabman’s son who--in dreams occurring during periods of illness--is visited by the beautiful and mysteriously supernatural North Wind.   She takes him with her, sheltered amidst her long and lovely hair, as she performs providential errands, some of which excite Diamond’s dismay.  But to be at North Wind’s back is to be in tune with the nature of things, to see and know that God in his loving purposes oversees the creation of both prosperity and adversity in people’s lives (Isa 45:7) , that “although he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love, for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone” (Lam. 3:32, 33).   The story offers provocative  insights into the purposes of God’s working in His world.

The books for which C. S. Lewis is most well-known by the larger public today are the set for young people, The Chronicles of Narnia.  We will be reading the first two in the series.

READINGS:
Sept. 8:  At the Back of the North Wind, Chapters 1 - 4
15:  Chapters 5 - 9
22:  10 - 19
29:  20 - 30
Oct. 6: 31 - end
13:  The Magician’s Nephew, Chapters 1 - 5
20:  6 - 11
27:  12 - end
Nov. 3: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Chapters 1 - 6
10: 7 - 12
17: 13 - end

Classics at the Wade: Fall 2012 Syllabus

CLASSICS AT THE WADE
ROLLAND HEIN, LEADER
FALL 2012
www.drhein.blogspot.com
630-443-6807

SYLLABUS

TIME AND LOCATION: Wednesday afternoons, 2:00 - 3:00, Lecture room at the Wade Center, corner of Washington and Lincoln Streets, Wheaton, Il.

TEXTS: Michael D. O’Brien: Father Elijah.  Ignatius.
             Rebecca Skloot: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.  Broadway.
             Richard Foster, et. al.: 25 Books Every Christian Should Read.  HarperOne.

DESCRIPTION:   The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is the incredible but true story of  how so many of the amazing strides of medical science in the last fifty years derived from cells taken from the tissue of Henrietta Lacks, a poverty-stricken black tobacco farmer, without her knowledge or consent.  Rebecca Skloot deftly recounts both the discoveries of  medical science and also the devastating effects on the Lacks children as they try to understand the nature of what has happened to their mother’s cells.   Pondering the story raises many pertinent issues concerning race, medical ethics, and individual rights.

Father Elijah is a gripping apocalyptic novel detailing the life and experiences of David Schafer who as a Jewish child narrowly escapes the Holocaust, in which his entire family is killed, and eventually converts to Christianity.  He becomes a Roman Catholic priest and, with an interest in archaeology, takes residence upon Mt. Carmel, from which he is summoned by the Vatican and commissioned to penetrate stealthily into the inner circles of a powerful political figure who has all the markings of the Anti-Christ.  O’Brien shows a remarkable mastery of Scriptural prophecy and incorporates into an excellently constructed tale many essential aspects of spiritual truth.

25 Books Every Christian Should Read is an extremely helpful introduction to 25 great classics of the Christian tradition, including such essential works as Augustine’s Confessions and G. K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy.   The text includes helpful summaries, excerpts, and study questions.  

READINGS:
Sept.  5:  Introduction.
12:  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Part One
19:  Part Two
26:  Part Three

Oct. 3:  25 Books Every Christian Should Read.  On the Incarnation.  St. Athanasius.
10:  Father Elijah: Chapters 1 - 4 (p. 84)
17:  Chapters 5 - 7 (p. 159)
24:  Chapters 8 - 9 (p. 237)
31:  Chapters 10 - 12 (p. 316)

Nov. 7:  25 Books: Confessions.  St. Augustine.
14:  Father Elijah.  Chapters 13 - 15 (p. 390)
21:  Chapters 16 - 18 (p. 492)
28:  Chapters 19 - 22 (p. 596).

As I See It

The Christian lives in two zones of being, the temporal and the eternal, and the mature Christian life consists in making the former serve the later.  This makes for a compelling duality in one's consciousness, something an unbeliever does not experience.  The inner prayer, "Lord, what would you have me to do?" is the best response for each decision we confront.

Scripture gives us many reminders of this reality.  Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil 3:20); we are to set our minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth (Col 3:2); we look not to the the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (II Cor. 4:18).