Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Not new lamps for old

Our upbringing and the whole atmosphere of the world we live in make it certain that our main temptation will be that of yielding to winds of doctrine, not that of ignoring them. We are not at all likely to be hidebound; we are very likely to be the slaves of fashion. If one has to choose between reading the new books and reading the old, one must chose the old: not because they are necessarily better but because they contain precisely those truths of which our own age is neglectful. The standard of permanent Christianity must be kept clear in our minds and it is against that standard that we must test all contemporary thought. In fact, we must at all costs not move with the times. We serve One who said ‘Heaven and Earth shall move with the times, but my words shall not move with the times.’

C. S. Lewis, Christian Apologetics, 1945.

“Remember who your teachers were…”
2 Timothy 3:14

1 comment:

Jim Swindle said...

I've heard this quote before. I'll confess that I don't spend much time reading ancient books other than the Bible. Yet I've learned that much of what's in the typical Christian bookstore is useless or worse. Thank you for the reminder to spend more time with old books.