Discussion Board ENGL

Discussion Board (250) words APA format. Please read instructions. No Plagiarism..

ENGL 102

The lessons for this module/week have explained many important reasons for Christians to study secular literature. Choose something from the lessons that you agree with or disagree with and explain your reasons. Your thread must be a minimum of 250 words. After posting your own opinion, read your classmates’ threads and post a 250-word reply to at least 1. Both the thread and reply must be well-planned, clearly articulated, and thorough.

Lesson Outline: Lesson 3

The Importance of the Study of Literature to the Christian

I. Church history provides much evidence for an antipathy and hostility on the

part of Christians toward literature.

A. The early Church

1. Tertullian

2. Augustine

B. The Puritans

1. Richard Baxter

2. Cotton Mather

3. Charles Spurgeon

C. Contemporary examples:

1. Bible institutes

2. Drug rehabilitation centers

II. Secular antipathy is also now growing against the study of literature.

A. The apotheosis (i.e., raising to the level of a god) of technology

B. The drift of liberal arts institutions toward vocational education

C. Economic pressures on the humanities (i.e., the argument of utilitarianism)

D. The drift toward an illiterate society

III. Arguments can be raised, however, in favor of the study of literature as a legitimate Christian pursuit.

A. A rescue from the trap of mindless amusement

B. A wealth of insight into the plight of our world and the needs of our

contemporaries

C. A hermeneutic aid to Bible study (N.B. – Christianity is a book religion. The Bible is a work of literature, and an understanding of literature increases our understanding of Scripture.)

D. A sharpening of our own theological focus

1. F. Scott Fitzgerald

2. D. H. Lawrence

3. G. B. Shaw

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