{"id":157,"date":"2014-04-10T23:31:58","date_gmt":"2014-04-10T23:31:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.dminlgp.com\/?p=157"},"modified":"2014-08-11T22:04:18","modified_gmt":"2014-08-11T22:04:18","slug":"what-books-have-impacted-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/what-books-have-impacted-your-life\/","title":{"rendered":"What Books Have Impacted Your Life?"},"content":{"rendered":"
The title of this week\u2019s reading is\u00a012 Books That Changed The World<\/span>\u00a0by Melvyn Bragg and the title he chose made me think about books I have read that had a significant influence on my life. \u00a0Mutiny on The Bounty<\/span>\u00a0impacted me and also Richard Baxter\u2019s\u00a0The\u00a0<\/span>Reformed Pastor<\/span>. The introduction of Bragg\u2019s book is important as it explains why the title is not \u201cThe\u201d 12 Books That Changed The World and also how he determined the books he chose. \u00a0Using the definite article would have caused more criticism than he would already receive! \u00a0He chose books representing various disciplines and aspects of culture within the context of the United Kingdom. \u00a0He wrote, \u201c\u201cI eventually saw that a number of books by British authors had a fair claim to have changed the world\u201d (page 2). \u00a0I did not read the entire book but skimmed various books and then I chose three to read completely.<\/div>\n
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I chose to read Magna Carta because of its contribution to the law in the United States. \u00a0It was fascinating to learn more how the Magna Carta came into being in the context of a poorly administrated kingship. \u00a0Bragg wrote, \u201cMagna Carta came out of the failings of King John\u201d (page 71). \u00a0His comment that the document \u201cis in the bloodstream of our politics; it\u00a0is the\u00a0<\/em>bloodstream\u201d (page 70). \u00a0It was particularly interesting to me to learn that the due process expressed by the 5th amendment and the timely justice mandate of the 6th amendment both come from the Magna Carta (page 81).<\/div>\n
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I watch a news oriented opinion show occasionally which has a segment in which a reporter goes into various communities and asks questions to see how people are informed. \u00a0I remember the reporter asking people if there were any document(s) that were foundational to our government and legal system. \u00a0Many people who were asked did not even mention the Constitution, let alone the Magna Carta. \u00a0However, the Magna Carta has indeed provided many governments of the free world the basis upon which to frame a culture of law.<\/div>\n
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I also read the chapter on\u00a0The Origin of Species<\/span>\u00a0by Charles Darwin. \u00a0Bragg wrote of Darwin\u2019s book \u201cThe core of it is Darwin\u2019s theory of natural selection\u201d (page 124). \u00a0It was interesting to read how that the book immediately received both praise and rebuke (page 137). \u00a0Bragg related that the book stirred passion in every reader and usually ended up causing polarizing effects upon the readership. \u00a0I read with interest how Karl Marx \u00a0referred to the book, \u201c\u2019Although developed in the crude English fashion,\u2019 he wrote, \u2018this is the book which in the field of natural history provides the basis for my views \u2026 Darwin\u2019s work is most important and suits my purpose in that it provides a basis in natural science for the historic class struggle\u2019\u201d (pages 140-141). \u00a0I was surprised how that Bragg often used the word \u201ctheory\u201d in relation to the idea of natural selection and in the context of the competing idea of intelligent design (pages 147-148). \u00a0I would have thought he might not use the word theory since he seemed to try to distinguish a non-scientific position over against a scientific position (natural selection). \u00a0If indeed it were true science then the word \u201ctheory\u201d need not be used.<\/div>\n
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The third chapter I read was about the book\u00a0An Inquiry into The Nature and Causes of The Wealth of Nations<\/span>\u00a0by Adam Smith. \u00a0I found this the most interesting to me personally. \u00a0Adam Smith was an amazing individual whose \u201cmind was said to be an immense library, his memory phenomenal\u201d (page 293). \u00a0He was well read and educated and his acquaintances included David Hume and Voltaire. \u00a0Smith\u2019s first book,\u00a0The Theory of Moral Sentiments<\/span>\u00a0is the precursor to the book discussed in this chapter. \u00a0In \u201cSentiments\u201d he lays out his personal moral philosophy which serves as a foundation for his economic ideas, even though \u201che not regard himself as an economist but as a philosopher\u201d (page 296).<\/div>\n
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I always wondered where \u201ctrickle down economics\u201d came from. \u00a0Smith wrote, \u201cthey (the rich) divide with the poor the produce of all their improvements\u201d (page 297). \u00a0I am presently very interested in how capitalism might fare into the future and how it can be improved to benefit more of society. \u00a0Bragg was similarly curious and wrote, \u201cDid Smith fully attend to the reality of the lives of those at the bottom of the heap?\u201d (page 297). \u00a0The idea behind Smiths construct of trickily down economics, according to Bragg, was \u201cScottish Enlightenment\u2019s optimism of the human nature and the force of self interest\u201d (page 298). \u00a0Like Bragg, I am a bit cynical concerning the optimism of the human nature and agree with him that the hellish wars and inhuman tirades of the twentieth century do little to encourage one that there is a winning innate drive towards betterment (page 298).<\/div>\n
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I was disappointed that Bragg did not say more about the relationship between Smith\u2019s economic construct and his faith perspective. \u00a0I would like to read more about Smith\u2019s theology to find more connections to his economic theory if any exist.<\/div>\n
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What books have changed your life? \u00a0How?<\/div>\n
Would you have not chosen any that Bragg chose? \u00a0Why?<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The title of this week\u2019s reading is\u00a012 Books That Changed The World\u00a0by Melvyn Bragg and the title he chose made me think about books I have read that had a significant influence on my life. \u00a0Mutiny on The Bounty\u00a0impacted me and also Richard Baxter\u2019s\u00a0The\u00a0Reformed Pastor. The introduction of Bragg\u2019s book is important as it explains […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[66,2],"class_list":["post-157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bragg","tag-dminlgp","cohort-lgp3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1477,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157\/revisions\/1477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}