29 July 2017

Susanna Spencer on Literature That Will Feed One's Soul

"A couple of months ago I explained why fellow mothers in my situation in life (lots of little kids, lots of mundane tasks) should make an effort to exercise their brains through reading books on a regular basis. And while I was targeting moms in that post, all Christians need to take seriously the call to form our minds and seek truth. Yet, most of us do not realize the immense value we can draw from reading good literature in the form of novels and short stories.

"I have always been a lover of novel reading, but as my reading has been largely self-directed I have always had trouble choosing good books to read. I came across a list of novels compiled by John Senior, a great professor of the humanities, which he called 'the Good Books List' in the appendix of his book The Death of Christian Culture, and it is from this list that I have drawn most of my reading choices of late. Through reading these good books I have been slowly discovering how a novel forms one's moral sense by allowing a reader to enter into various scenarios and seeing how characters are affected by those choices. This is helpful because we can learn so much about sin and the human condition through our imaginations to help us form our consciences without muddying our souls."

In a recent commentary in the National Catholic Register, writer Susanna Spencer offered a list of good books that, in her opinion, have "stood the test of time, and help one understand more deeply good, evil, truth, beauty and the human condition."

To access Ms. Spencer's complete post, please visit:

National Catholic Register: Blogs: Susan Spencer: 15 Suggestions for Literature That Will Feed Your Soul (28 JUL 17)

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