An Offensive God

I think it was C.S. Lewis, one of my favorite authors, who wrote that every generation has it’s strengths and weaknesses. Often, the current generation feels superior to previous generations, not realizing that while they may be stronger in some characteristics, a previous generation was stronger in others. So one generation might understand the love of God better, but other generations understood God’s holiness better, or had more courage in suffering, or had a deeper humility, or better grasp of obedience. Lewis suggested that people read books from all generations, and not just modern books, because if we read only books from the current generation, we gain only its strengths and all of it’s weaknesses. In reading books from every generation, we learn from the strengths of every generation and minimize weaknesses. I think that is wise advice.