A What and Why List

Just over a week ago, Jess wrote her first post in a long time, Amusing Ourselves to Death. In commenting on the post one of our friends, Steve, said, “I would be interested in a list (from John and Jess) of music, books, movies, plays, TV shows, etc. that you found to be entertaining and also worthwhile of some very serious thought. A what and why kind of a list.” So here is our response, our what and why list.

Jessica and I spent some time discussing this topic at length together and decided to answer this request in this manner. These are our personal views and convictions and of course do not have the same weight as Biblical commands. We’re not judging anyone who doesn’t view things exactly as we do, and we trust that will be reciprocated when you consider your comments (Romans 14:12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.). Now to the list that we promised.

When it comes to television, well, we hardly ever watch any, except sports or news on rare occasions. We have developed this conviction over time for the following reasons:

• We find TV to be a great time waster.
• We find the content to be either too worldly or too trivial, and therefore, not worth bothering with.
• We don’t wish to be bombarded with consumerist, materialistic commercial messages. Nor do we want our son to think the ways of the world are the norm.
• We have too many books to read.
• We would rather spend meaningful time together as a family.

John Piper, who holds to an even higher personal standard than we do develops his reasons here. We echo his sentiments with a hearty amen.

We do on occasion watch a movie. We feel that we can control the time that we are giving to a movie as we choose the movie we will watch and we set aside the time to watch it. This helps us be better stewards of our time. However, again, we don’t want to waste our lives watching images flash across a screen, so we limit ourselves and our son to how much we do this. As far as the what and why is concerned, we like to choose movies that have either beautiful cinematic features, top-notch acting, are well-scripted, thought provoking, entertaining in a fresh and creative way, and where the overarching quality is neither sentimental (too banal) or immoral. Some of the movies we have enjoyed are:

• Saving Private Ryan – superb acting, well scripted and gripping plot, a piece of history brought home to life by using ordinary men and a real story.
• Gettysburg – for the same reasons as above, as well as great film work and music.
• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington & It’s A Wonderful Life – We are Jimmy Stewart fans, however, we do not think just because something is old, that something is good; many black and whites and Disney movies have humanistic worldviews.
• The Pixar movies – We loved Up, the most recent release. Pixar knows how to tell a good story and how to use graphics. They capture what we all have imagined – like toys talking while their owners are gone etc.
• Pride and Prejudice – the BBC production; we both like, but especially Jess, masterpieces when they are enacted on the screen and true to the book, though the books are always better. The book gives you more insight into the thoughts of the characters – there is no way a movie can do that.
• Foyles War – this may be cheating, but it is a TV miniseries that aired on PBS. We borrowed the DVD’s after all the seasons had aired. It is a British detective show, set during World War II, staring Michael Kitchen, who does an amazing job. Nothing has ever quite opened up to us the psychological effects of the the Blitz on the Brits as much as this show did. Plus, Kitchen has all the penetrating insight into human nature, as any good English detective.

When it comes to plays, we really do not have enough knowledge ot expertise in this area so we will pass on that one.

In regards to music, again, we do not listen to a lot of music. In fact, we hardly ever listen to music except in the car, and we sometimes keep the same CD in for weeks on end. This is an area that we are lacking as we like the classics but do not always know why we like some of them other than because we are supposed to as they are great works of art. When it comes to contemporary Christian artists, the Getty’s are by far our favorite. We just got their new CD, Awake the Dawn, and have not yet tired of listening to it. We love Irish instruments and we love the idea that they are carrying on the traditions and hymnwriting of the past.

Books would be our true love and when it comes to making a short list, probably the hardest thing we had to do for this post. We confess, we are addicts, theology, history, literature, we love them all. We both love theology books, both past and present. We both read history and literature, but John is the true history Geek and Jess is the true literature lover (you can tell who came up with this line). Books are links to the greatest thoughts and ideas of the past and present. They are “windows,” as C.S. Lewis puts it, “Our own eyes are not enough.” We want to know what has happened (history) and what happens (literature). As I said earlier, it is very hard for us to narrow down what has most influenced or entertained us, but we will try to give three each (this is besides the Word of God, of course):

John -

• Theology
  • Confessions by Augustine
  • The Sovereignty of God by A.W. Pink
  • The Beatitudes by Thomas Watson
• History
  • Manhunt by James Swanson
  • John Adams by David McCullough
  • The Passionate Sage by Joseph Ellis
• Literature
  • The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
  • The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (Favorite one: The Last Battle)
  • Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Jess -

• Theology
  • The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis
  • The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis
  • The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis has fed me the most – his signpost has been the largest in my life, pointing me to God.

• History
  • The Story of Christianity by Justo Gonzalez
  • Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis
  • Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick
• Literature
  • Paradise Lost by John Milton
  • Howard’s End by E.M. Forster
  • Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis

Blogging was an area not in the original request, but one we felt like adding. We spend time on our blog (John also on the church blog). It is a private yet public journal. It helps keep us fresh in our writing habits and there is nothing like writing to help you remember and apply what you have learned.

I thought of our ipods as well. We both have an ipod shuffle, and we use them as we exercise or do other routine tasks around the house. What is on our ipods? Well, for me it will be either sermons or a series of lectures, I am listening to a series of messages by Mark Dever on Revelation as well as Sinclair Ferguson preaching through Luke. When I have caught up there I also have some interesting lectures that were given at the Gospel Coalition Conference. Jessica largely keeps music for when she exercises, Joshua Bell or the Getty’s; and she also has a class from Reformed Theological Seminary on guess who, C.S. Lewis.

Well, there you have our “what and why list” when it comes to of music, books, movies, plays, TV shows, etc. Please feel free to comment and add your thoughts. And Steve, thanks again for the suggestion, we really enjoyed thinking about and discussing this together. Though my name is listed as the author, this article is genuinely by both Jessica and I.