A Bombastic Top 6 from Dr. Snell

Posted on November 20th, 2009 under Uncategorized

Greetings Friends.  Here are Dr. Snell’s Top 6 recommendations.  Enjoy!

Plato’s Republic

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics

Augustine’s De Trinitate

Aquinas’s  Summa Theologica

Heidegger’s Being and Time

Lonergan’s Insight

Thanks Dr. Snell!

5 Great Authors on Life with God, Dr. Hall

Posted on November 17th, 2009 under Uncategorized

Dr. Hall is now serving as Chancellor at Eastern University and Dean of the Honors College, but he still enjoys teaching a class on the spiritual disciplines.  Take a chance to explore these 5 recommended authors from Dr. Hall!

Richard Foster

Dallas Willard

Henri Nouwen

Mother Teresa

John Chrysostom

Happy Reading!

A Sunday List: Dr. Cary’s Top 5 Theologians to Dive Into

Posted on November 15th, 2009 under Uncategorized

I’ve emailed a few professors and friends asking for their Top 5 book recommendations in their particular areas of study.  We’ll begin with Dr. Cary’s recommendations in Theology, a good place to begin any day of the week, but especially on a Sunday.  Dr. Cary is Scholar-in-Residence at the Templeton Honors College and teaches classes in Western Civilization, Philosophy and Theology.

He writes, “The important thing here, I think, is to make
your acquaintance with key authors.”  Here are recommendations about
where to start:

Augustine–Confessions (try the Hackett edition)
Thomas  Aquinas–Anton Pegis’ anthology, Introduction to St. Thomas Aquinas.
Martin Luther–Freedom of a Christian (in the anthology edited by
John Dillenberger).
John Calvin–Start browsing in the Institutes.
Karl Barth–Start with Evangelical Theology: An Introduction.

Thanks Dr. Cary!

Inauguration of the Top 5

Posted on November 13th, 2009 under Uncategorized

Greetings All!  I hope you’re doing well.  I’m doing well here in St. Andrews.  Things are pretty quiet here at the end of Reading Week, but I’ve been keeping busy with some good books, some stimulating (and humiliating) games of chess and the best fish and chips in the UK.  Today I finally visited Anstruther, which is an absolutely lovely fishing village about a half hour (ἡμιώριον, Greek has its own word for half hour, fyi) bus ride from St. Andrews.  Anstruther is legendary for its fish and chips, which, having personally tested, I can faithfully say, are magnificent.  I ordered the traditional haddock, which was caught in local waters, fried to a golden brown and served on a bed of locally-grown and freshly fried chips.

On the bus ride back, I concocted a list of 5 ways to know you’re in St. Andrews.  This list will inaugurate what, I hope, will be the beginning of a series of Top 5s.  I’ve got some good things coming down the pipe so stay tuned.  Here goes:

Top 5 Ways to Know You’re in St. Andrews.

5. Meeting friends and/or professors in Tesco. Tesco is the local grocery store, so in a town this size, it becomes pretty central.  Everybody’s got to eat, so sooner or later you will run into them in Testco. (True story, I first felt like I belonged in St. Andrews when I recognized someone grocery shopping.)

4. Charity shopping. In St. Andrews, the charity shops are better than retail, hands down.  Not only are the prices better but the quality is too, assuming a moderate level of serendipity.  And, if at first you find nothing, just keep popping in, eventually you will hit pay dirt.

3. Academic Gowns.  On Sundays, the bright red academic gowns dotting the streets are a dead giveaway.

2. Chariots of Fire.   Only in St. Andrews can you go for run or a leisurely walk along West Sands, the famous chariots of fire beach.  (I think my friends in Philly understand the feeling; it’s what you feel running up the Art Museum steps singing the Rocky theme song).

1. Golf.  Of course, no list of Top 5s of St. Andrews would be complete without golf, that Royal and Ancient game (which you can play at old course of the same name).

So there you have it.

Cheers, KG