Invitation to the Classics - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0801011566 ISBN 13: 9780801011566

Publisher: Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 1998

Synopsis

Provides introductions to such classic authors as Dante, Chaucer, Cervantes, Dostoyevsky, and Kafka for the Christian reader in particular

About this title

Review

One of the many purposes of Invitation To The Classics is to warm the heart toward the masterworks of Western civilisation. In doing so, editors Louise Cowan and O S Guinness hope to "reawaken...people to the vibrant heritage of these classics that are rich in themselves and in their 2000-year relationship to the Christian faith". From Homer to Chaucer, Dickens to C S Lewis, each author receives his own chapter including a biographical sketch, followed by a thorough summary of the classic(s) he or she penned. The "Issues To Explore" sections at the end of each chapter pose penetrating questions for interrogation of the text as well as varying recommendations for further study whether your scope is technical, theological, analytical, critical or biographical. After reading Invitation to the Classics one may soon agree with C S Lewis, that we must "keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books". --Jill Heatherly

From the Publisher

Endorsements for Invitation to the Classics
Invitation to the Classics immerses us in the wisdom of the ages, those noble thoughts that enrich society’s values and guide our youth along positive paths toward fruitful lives.

President Jimmy Carter

A magnificent resource, an urgently needed publication in an era when politically correct higher education is trying to deconstruct Western civilization. Wonderful!

Charles Colson, Prison Fellowship

There are classics, thank God, but not many. This important publication should be in every library and out on the table in every Christian home.

Dallas Willard, Department of Philosophy, University of Southern California

Take this book, follow its guidance, and discover your roots. This collection of brief, jewel-like introductions to the classics make accessible and compelling those great writings of the Western tradition on which Christians down through the ages have been nourished, and by which they have nourished others.

Nicholas Wolterstorff, Professor of Philosophical Theology, Yale Divinity School

The classics are the best that has been thought and written about the human experience; books about nobility and valor, ambition and treachery, political theory and human passions. Invitation to the Classics is just that—an invitation to read, or to read again, these wonderful books. It does so in a way that makes them accessible, provides useful insights, and demonstrates an unabashed love for the classics.

William J. Bennett, Author, The Book of Virtues

A useful tool for encouraging interest in the timeless achievements of our civilization, and as such it may prove a valuable weapon in the ongoing battle for the culture.

Michael Medved, SRN Radio Network

A classy book that may become itself a classic of its kind: a "matchmaker" between generations, a glue to help hold a culture together—engaging, clear, attractive (verbally and visually), and a living example of the result of apprenticeship to the classics in economy and winsomeness of style and judiciousness of selection.

Peter Kreeft, Department of Philosophy, Boston College

In an age of intellectual and cultural starvation, whether deliberate or unwitting, an invitation to a literary banquet as richly nourishing as Invitation to the Classics is doubly welcome, both as a stimulus to the Christian imagination and as a reminder that there are remedies for our moral and spiritual hungers.

Luci Shaw, Poet/author, Water My Soul

A publishing event of the first magnitude. The "culture wars" raging in our land have effectively cut us off from the life-giving power of Western culture: the Left attacks tradition because it is deemed "oppressive" while the Right praises the tradition, but fails to engage it at the deepest levels. This lucid and well-organized book enables us to join the Great Conversation once again—to become active participants in a living tradition.

Greggory Wolfe, Editor, Image: A Journal of Arts and Religion

Invitation to the Classics comes at just the right time. Those who are engaged in the work of recovering true education are returning to the much neglected literary heritage of the West. This is wise; the mine may have collapsed, but the ore is still there. Invitation provides a wonderful introduction for those involved in this critical work.

Douglas Wilson, Editor, Credenda/Agenda

The liberal arts in America today are like a burnt-out forest, in which academic stars busily clear-cut what fire has spared. Yet among the stumps a close observer finds new growth: flowers, moss, young saplings. There is reason to hope. Scattered across the country, people still gladly learn and gladly teach. Those who thirst for truth and beauty beyond the superficial moment may find small satisfaction in the wreckage of once-respected universities, but what prevents them from reading for themselves? Invitation to the Classics offers them wise and friendly guidance.

Anthony Low, Professor of English, New York University

Edition details

• Publisher: Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0801011566
• ISBN 13: 9780801011566
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 384
• Editor: Cowan Louise, Guinness O.S.