Very little is known about the life and career of Gillaime Shakspar-- later dubiously presumed to be the playwright, William Shakespeare. Apparently, he was born into a tradesman's family in Stratford-upon-Avon on this day in 1564. When he was eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, who was ten years...

Just as it is generally assumed that religion and politics do not make for particularly pleasant dinner table conversation, it is generally assumed that they do not make for particularly pleasant poetry either.  John Milton sundered both assumptions in his masterful work, Paradise Lost....

Some men’s greatness may be seen in how largely they loom over the movements they launched. But greater men are they whose movements loom large over them—even to the point of obscuring them from view. Gerhard Groote was just such a man.

It would be difficult to find a single page of...

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874- 1936) penned around 80+ books, wrote hundreds of poems, an estimated 200 short stories, and about 4,000 essays (largely in the form of newspaper columns). He also wrote a handful of plays.

He was a critic (of literature and society itself, a historian, a novelist,...

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945) was a Lutheran pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident, and a founding member of the Confessing Church. His books on discipleship— particularly The Cost of Discipleship— have been referred to as “modern classics.”

Bonhoeffer is...

The number of truly masterful American writers can probably be numbered on a single hand—James Fenimore Cooper, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Mark Twain, Henry Adams, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and of course Herman Melville.  Each of these authors achieved great success during their lifetimes...

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) was a English writer, poet, and academic. He wrote many high fantasy works, including The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings— each carrying multiple layers of truth in parable form.

(Tolkien He was at one time a close friend of C.S. Lewis, both of  ...

In the final talk about righteous ruts we discuss the value of finding good books— and allowing others to inform our perspective. Rather than simply reading what’s popular, though, George gives us some tips on how to find the really good stuff…

The stuff that has stood...

The final step of Divine Reading (Lectio Divina) is to memorize the key verse of the chapter we’re studying. We hide it in our heart, recognizing that memorized Scripture was the exclusive means people throughout history have had to carry the Word with them.

As you allow the verse to take...

The final step of Divine Reading (Lectio Divina) is to memorize the key verse of the chapter we’re studying. We hide it in our heart, recognizing that memorized Scripture was the exclusive means people throughout history have had to carry the Word with them.

As you allow the verse to take...