Easley Library Bookworms discussion

For most college students today, and for many of the faculty and staff, the idea of magazine and journal articles suggests a database search focused on some specific topic you want to investigate for a paper. And indeed, for that type of search, electronic databases are the most efficient venue. But that type of search doesn't tap all of the riches that periodicals may have to offer!

To do a subject search, you have to already know the subject exists, and know something about it. But by browsing magazines and journals in their print form, you can discover subjects you didn't know existed, and encounter ideas and perspectives that would never have occurred to you. Current periodicals are a great way to keep up with breaking news, current thought and commentary, fresh research, and the latest developments in a particular field. But even older periodicals may contain information that's completely new to you, and ideas and insights that will stimulate your thinking in ways that you couldn't have imagined on your own (which is why we retain a lot of back issues of periodicals, sometimes going back almost a century).

As time permits, come and explore what Easley Library has to offer in this format. You'll be glad you did!

This year, I thought it might be fun, once a month, to highlight a particularly significant or stimulating general interest periodical article that's available in our print collection. These won't necessarily be articles published in the month I post about them; I hope to introduce both publications we currently take, and those we don't take any more, but still keep back issues filled with fascinating content.

We live in a shrinking world, where those of us who are Christians find ourselves interacting with those of other faiths. One of the most important of those faiths is obviously Islam. A Dec. 2009 Christianity Today article by evangelical scholar Joseph Cumming, director of the Reconciliation Program at Yale Divinity School's Center for Faith and Culture, deals with a unique facet of Christian-Muslim relations (and one I knew nothing about before reading the article!), that of the growing group --now numbering in the tens of thousands-- of Muslims who continue to see themselves as faithful to Islam, but who recognize Jesus as their savior from sin.

At a point in time where Christian perceptions of Muslims often view them monolithically as strictly ISIS or Taliban types, and the view many Muslims often have of Christians is as prejudiced enemies, it might be eye-opening for readers of both faiths to get a glimpse of the enormous diversity there is in the other. I'd heartily recommend this article to anyone with an interest in either faith, in evangelism in the modern world, in issues of faith and culture, and in our common life in a very diverse world!.

Founded in 1949, under the editorship of Anthony Boucher The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction became America's leading periodical for speculative fiction in the 1950s, and has maintained that position ever since. Some of the greatest names in the speculative genres have been published in its pages, and some of the most important works in the field --for instance, A Canticle for Leibowitz was serialized there before being published as a book.

Our holdings of this title don't go back to the 50s, and we've never subscribed to it. But we do hold a number of scattered back issues from 1973-74 and 1976-82. if you like science fiction, fantasy, or supernatural fiction, these issues would be a treasure trove of good reading for personal enjoyment, or even source material for a project in an American Literature class.

One story that I can personally enthusiastically recommend, in this month that brings us both Halloween and Easley Library's annual Terrifying Tales event, is Manly Wade Wellman's "Toad's Foot," from the April 1979 issue. Set in the Missouri Ozarks not long after the Civil War, it pits a magic-savvy preacher against witchcraft and devil worship. (it's actually a sequel to the author's "Fearful Rock," set in the same area during the war, which appeared in Weird Tales in 1939; but can be appreciated without having read the earlier story --I discovered and read the later one first myself.)

New Oxford Review is a monthly journal of conservative Roman Catholic religious, cultural, political and social commentary, intended for intelligent lay and clerical readers. (We haven't subscribed to this for several years, but we do get new donated issues occasionally.) While Catholics would be the main target audience, it's of interest to readers of all Christian faiths, as well as anyone who cares about the important issues of the day. Frankly, the editors and contributors have more in common with evangelical Christians than they do with "liberal" nominal Catholics --and those of us who are evangelical have more in common with them than with "mainline" Protestants.

A fascinating article in our Oct. 2016 issue is Andrew M. Seddon's "Is There Such a Thing as Catholic Ghost Stories?" (To provide full disclosure, I had the privilege of beta reading it before it was published.) Andrew sketches the history of Roman Catholic writing in this genre, and perceptively analyzes the many ways in which stories in this mode are particularly suited to convey Catholic --and more broadly Christian-- spiritual themes. A must-read for Christian readers interested in supernatural fiction!

In my first post on this thread, I noted that I was going to highlight an article from one of Easley Library's print periodicals each month. Just recently, I realized that what with everything going on in the month of December, and with all the time I was off work and/or the library closed, I never followed through on that intention for the month of December. So, I'll plan to post twice this month. This particular post highlights an article that has a distinct relevance to the Christmas season.

Bible and Spade is an evangelical publication devoted mostly to Biblical archaeology and other studies of Bible background material. The Fall 2016 issue has a fascinating article, "The Star of Bethlehem," by Dr. Gerald Culley (who taught classical languages and literature for over 40 years at the Univ. of Delaware). He focuses on an explanation of the star phenomenon, suggested primarily by Frederick Larson, that I found completely credible, and which is confirmed by modern astronomy as having actually occurred within the correct time frame. This was a highly educational article for me, and I'd highly recommend it as a solution to a perplexing Scriptural mystery that's long eluded interpreters!

In the Aug. 30, 2004 edition of The American Conservative, there's a really eye-opening article, "Wal-Mart Cometh," by New York writer Bill Kauffman (some of whose books we have in our collection) which, with wit and insight, presents a compelling case study of the effects on Batavia, New York after Wal-Mart located one of its box stores there in 1992. Although it's an older article, because it's describing specific events that actually occurred, it's not at all dated; and the message it presents has only increased in immediacy and relevance in the years since it was written. This is an article I wish everybody on this campus (and in the country!) would read, from a publication that consistently provides some of the best political and socio-cultural analysis and commentary being written today

Well, February is almost gone; I've been sidetracked for some time in highlighting a periodical article this month. Mea culpa! However, I finally do have an article to call attention to.

We've had some discussion earlier this month on campus about the importance of religious freedom. Sadly, we live in a world where the idea of religious freedom isn't universally accepted. The current (Jan./Feb. 2017) issue of Liberty magazine has an article, "The Cries of the Persecuted," which is an excerpt from the keynote address by former U.S. Congressman Frank R. Wolf, who is an evangelical Christian, at last year's International Religious Liberty Summit in Washington D.C. It paints a grim picture of a contemporary world in which religious persecution is the norm rather than the exception, and literally millions of Christians, Jews, and members of other religious minorities daily face a threat of abuse, imprisonment and even death for their faith. IMO, this is an eye-opener that everyone in the BC family ought to read.

March is Women's History Month, and Easley Library has a number of resources for exploring that important topic. One of the best of these is the Fall/Winter 2014 issue of The American Feminist (the publication of Feminists for Life of America), which is devoted to highlighting a virtually forgotten chapter of women's history: the unanimous prolife stance of the 18th and 19th century first-wave feminists, who recognized that abortion is fundamentally anti-woman, and strongly opposed it. The material you'll find in these 39 pages will give you a whole new perspective on what feminism truly means.

The school year's drawing to a close, so this will be the last article I highlight in this series of posts. In "Gone and Forgotten," Anthony Esolen of Providence College, writing in the May/June 2014 issue of Touchstone, uses some of the 19th-century materials in an old local history book as a window to view the vast gulf between the world of 19th-century America and the present day. It's a searching look that illuminates the degree of spiritual, moral and cultural degeneracy to which we've fallen --and that might be an inspiration and lighthouse for the long and painful journey back to wholeness and sanity, one person at a time.

Subtitled A Journal of Mere Christianity, Touchstone is the journal of the Fellowship of St. James, an organization of "High-Church" Protestants, Roman Catholic and Orthodox believers, dedicated to promoting a conservative and traditional form of classical Christianity. We subscribed to it from 2005-2014, but were able to reinstate it at the beginning of this year. Check it out, for theological and cultural commentary that's always interesting and thought-provoking, whether you agree or disagree!

Back in the 2016-17 school year, I did one post each month on this thread highlighting particular articles (sometimes recent, sometimes older, but always of continuing interest) from our rich collection of print periodicals which would repay a read from intellectually curious readers. It's been a while now since I did that; so I thought it might be worthwhile to do the same thing for the new calendar year of 2023. So, I'll be calling attention to a different article each month this year. Stay tuned! :-)

The current (February 2023) issue of First Things has a substantial article by the publication's poetry editor, Micah Mattix, on "The Integrity of Poetry." It's a reflection on the still pretty sorry state of poetry in American popular culture and letters today, 30 years after the publication of Dana Gioia's Can Poetry Matter?: Essays on Poetry and American Culture; and makes the point (among others) that poetry has an intrinsic value of its own, apart from any utilitarian purpose that it might serve. It's an article, IMO, that would be of interest to any reader who likes poetry --and might motivate some folks who haven't tried reading poetry to give it a chance.

Segueing from my comment of last month, Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture includes one or two serious, quality poems in each monthly issue. Any number of these could be mentioned; but among the ones I've thought are particularly good are the two in the November 2022 issue, "Fossebridge Inn, Gloucestershire 2019" and "Ghost Fence." Both are by J. M. Jordan, a contemporary poet who's a resident of Virginia; and both are traditional in form, meaningful, accessible, and achingly beautiful.

I'm running a little late on posting my entry for March (see message 10); but better late than never! Old Testament scholar Philip Stern has an article in the Winter 2023 issue of Bible and Spade, "Is 'Spirit of God' the Correct Translation in Genesis 1:2 After All?" which I found quite interesting. It deals with the vexed question of whether the Hebrew word ruach in this context means "spirit" or "wind;" but Stern makes a convincing case for the former in a way which is totally understandable to lay readers.

Again, I'm running late in posting an entry (this time for April). But I'll make up for it by highlighting not one, but two, articles. :-) (They both deal with the same general subject.)

Citing, as their authorization, the biblical prohibition of sorcerous practices aimed at divination or at coercing or wheedling superhuman powers (whether Divine or demonic) to do the bidding of humans, for generations many Christians have condemned any writing or reading of supernatural-themed fiction. Dramatic representation of supernatural-themed plots on the stage, movies or TV has also been included in this condemnation.

Two articles, by Christian authors in Christian periodicals, make a serious case for the moral and theological legitimacy of fictional and dramatic depictions of the supernatural, employed as a medium for the depiction of Christian or Christian-compatible themes and messages. These are "Of Heroes and Devils: The Supernatural on Film" by Paul Leggett (of the Seminario Biblica Latinoamericano in San Jose, Costa Rica) in the Nov. 18, 1977 issue of Christianity Today, and "The Truth That Is Out There: The X-Files and the Return of Metaphysical Horror" by Lint Hatcher in the Oct. 1995 issue of Rutherford. Although these are older articles, they both have continuing relevance; the Leggett article was a particularly germinal influence for my own writing and my own approach to the literature and drama of the supernatural. (Both articles concentrate on the screen, but the older one deals with the literary source material as well.)

Published since the 1950s, Christianity Today is the flagship publication for modern American evangelicalism, the most-widely read forum for popular level Christian cultural and social commentary, discussion of current events, and Christian thought. Though no longer published, Rutherford was the voice of the Rutherford Institute, and addressed a similar range of Christian concerns. Even the older back issues of both of these can be well worth reading for current reflection.

I've only recently realized that i missed posting here in May! It's becoming apparent that trying to post a comment here every month isn't very practical --not because there isn't an abundance of worthwhile articles to post about (there is), but because I usually don't remember to do it, and don't have time to seek them out, It will be more practical, i think, to call attention to meaningful articles just on an ad hoc basis, as I happen to read or hear about them.

In my previous post, I wrote: "It will be more practical, I think, to call attention to meaningful articles just on an ad hoc basis, as I happen to read or hear about them."

One article that's imminently worthy of such a mention is "The Death of the Amateur: When College Athletics Abandons the Spirit of Play for the Reality of Pay," by retired college professor Jack Trotter in the current (Jan. 2024) issue of Chronicles. It's a serious look at current trends in college sports, informed by historical and even philosophical perspective. IMO, it ought to be of serious interest to BU athletes and coaches, in particular; but it's relevant for the whole BU community.