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).