Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
—ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING
How do I love you? Let me count the ways.
I love you to the depth and breadth and height
Of the sexual relationship
Our bodies can reach, when feeling out of sight
For ends of sense and pleasure.
I love you to the level of your own
Most vocal need, for me to submit and obey.
I love you manipulatively, as men strive for Power
I love you as your every whim desires.
I love you with the boots and clothing put to use
To pander to your pleasure and conceal my griefs,
And with my childish faith, I love you with a love I seem to spend
Upon your being—I love you with the meals,
Chores, screaming unshared needs of all my life!
And if God choose, I shall love you even after
You desert me for a younger woman.
EUTYCHUS VIII
First Rate Furniture
At several times in my readings of CHRISTIANITY TODAY, I have been prompted to write and thank you and your staff for the superb work rendered to the evangelical community through the journal. I anticipate each issue eagerly, and find much to challenge my mind and spirit. As a teacher of literature and language, the journal also provides examples of precise, well-reasoned argument. I must thank you, too, for focusing on the liberal arts from time to time, for they provide “furniture for the mind” and vision for the soul as each of us contemplates the wisdom and majesty of God our redeemer.
DAVID G. LALKA
Associate Professor of English
Columbia Bible College
Columbia, S.C.
The Coming Issue
I rarely write letters of appreciation for articles but when I read “Whither Biblical Inerrancy?” (Current Religious Thought, July 29) I very much felt the desire to do so. I do want to express my appreciation deeply.… There is no question in my mind that this whole question of Scripture and whether it is going to be taken as without error not only when it speaks of salvation matters but when it speaks of the cosmos and history as well, is going to be the issue of the coming few years. I am also convinced that if evangelicalism does not take a clear position on this that the next generation will be completely swept away.
After having read the September 23 article on Star Wars (Refiner’s Fire), I feel the writer missed the real reason for the movie’s appeal. It isn’t because people with “crippled” imaginations want to see something on the screen they cannot understand in literature. We who enjoy science fiction and fantasy are fortunate to be able to visualize what we read, hence our enjoyment. But we also enjoy a good movie.
I see the movie much as I see the Bible, good versus evil; a continuing battle from Genesis to Revelation, where at last evil is conquered.
Harold O. J. Brown said the evil in Star Wars as well as Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings was “undefined and unclarified.” He stated further of Star Wars that “why it is evil or wherein its evil consists is not specified.” His key statement was that “Evil is recognized as evil, good as good.”
There is no need to specify the evil in either Star Wars or Tolkien’s trilogy. God has given man a conscience. When we are presented with evil, we recognize it for what it is.
The beauty of the simplistic Star Wars, and the more involved Lord of the Rings, is that one can temporarily escape to a world of the future, or a world of fantasy adventure, where good overcomes evil. In our present world it sometimes appears that evil is winning. The success of Star Wars indicates that people, especially the young, are hoping good will win out in their lives and in the world. We as Christians should point the way through every media to show these seekers that Jesus Christ is winning indeed, and there is hope and life in him.
(MRS.) PAULA L. JONES
Fridley, Minn.
“Star Wars” is a particularly effective and dangerous film, in that it forsakes the common fare of lust and gore to express in a positive framework spiritual concepts having nothing to do with Christianity. Absent is the concept of a personal Saviour, forgiveness for sins, reward for the faithful and judgment for the wicked, among other points.… The impact of Star Wars has only barely begun to be felt. The film has spawned a new cult of devotees, many of whom are steeping themselves in every essence of the presentation. Enough is left unstated in Star Wars that adults—particularly of college age—can and do discuss for hours the film’s ramifications. Children often now bid each other goodbye in the fashion advanced in the film: “May the Force be with you!” Parents soon will have a chance to measure the film’s commercial impact, by assessing the availability of toys based on Star Wars themes.
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GENE B. CRUM
Bloomington, Ind.
Brown’s lack of criticism of the obvious anti-Christian, rationalistic, humanistic, evolutionistic belief system underlying the large percentage of good science fiction, not to mention the eastern-mystical and occultic overtones of such works as the Dune Trilogy, left me somewhat adrift as to the exact purpose of his review. I have seen Star Wars three times and consider the implications of the inevitable sequels as posing a tremendous threat to the orthodox evangelical presuppositions about God, man, and the universe. Far from being a “contentless mysticism,” the idea behind the Force fits in perfectly with modern scientific research on the electro-magnetic spectrum, which, they are postulating, holds everything together, as well as every pantheistic conceptualization of reality in history. George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, stated in a recent issue of Rolling Stone that the Force was originally based on Tales of Power by Carlos Casteneda. Science fiction is without a doubt the modern mythology of our modern Babylonian tower building. We must confront this mythology in the same way the early church confronted the pagan mythologies of their day: with the full biblical revelation of Jesus Christ and the real “Force” that holds everything together.
WOODROW NICHOLS
Spiritual Counterfeits Projects
Berkeley, Calif.
Short, But Informative
In her enjoyable and informative (but too short) interview with Clyde Kilby (Sept. 9), Cheryl Forbes asked why C. S. Lewis had not produced a following like that of Francis Schaeffer or Bill Gothard. While we may not perceive of Lewis as a “guru,” such a following indeed exists and carries on an active program. Any readers who may be interested can write for information to the New York C. S. Lewis Society, in care of Mrs. John Kirkpatrick, 466 Orange Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06511. The society meets monthly in New York City and produces an excellent monthly newsletter with articles pertaining to Lewis’s life and works.
WILLIAM A. PALMER, Jr.
Glen Cove Christian Church
Glen Cove, N.Y.
Clyde Kilby is quoted as saying that although several years ago Wheaton College had over 150 literature majors, the number then “dropped way off.” This statement, while reflecting national trends, is untrue of Wheaton College. During the last decade the number of English majors at Wheaton College, with an enrollment of under 2,000 students, has never been lower than 142, has been as high as 177, and has averaged 155 per year, not including freshmen.
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LELAND RYKEN
Wheaton College
Wheaton, Ill.
I have only lately been able to read your interview with me. Someone has told me that I sounded as if I were somehow opposed to missions.… I do feel that the criticism about missions is rather valid. I am and always have been enthusiastic about missions.
CLYDE KILBY
Wheaton College
Wheaton, Ill.
A Case Of Invention
So “The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings alone run to several thousand words” (Editorials, “The Paradox of J.R.R. Tolkien”). What was that intended to be, a masterly understatement? (On the basis of a quick count, I estimate The Lord of the Rings at some 600,000 words.)
Also I had to laugh when you castigated Tolkien for taking twice as long over The Lord of the Rings as Lewis had over the Narnia series. Both works are masterpieces of their kind, but Tolkien’s trilogy is well over twice as long as the Narnia books (250,000 words?) and is much more complex and sophisticated. Aside from the greater ease afforded him by seven plots which needed to be only loosely tied together, Lewis didn’t have to invent two Elven languages, not to mention Dwarvish and Orkish and Black Speech, nor did he tangle with calendars, runic writing systems, genealogies, chronologies, and poetry. It’s a wonder Tolkien didn’t take four times as long.
DAVID H. TUGGY
Tetelcingo, Morelos, México
“Dilatory in productivity.” “Higgledy-piggledy work habits.” I wasn’t sure the Tolkien I knew was being discussed. If Tolkien’s example teaches us anything, it’s the value of quality over quantity.
MARK BARCLIFT
Mill Valley, Calif.
On Taiwan
Just a word to express appreciation for the article about Taiwan in the August 26 issue. In 1972 I visited Taiwan for about two and a half months and was greatly impressed by the buoyancy in the country, by the industrious character of the people, and by the many efforts which were made to meet the needs of all the people. My wife and I felt that there was an attitude of friendship toward the United States also, which we seldom encountered elsewhere in the course of our travels. It would be a pity to disappoint these faithful friends, and it would, of course, be unethical to renege on our commitments. In this way I heartily concur with what Dr. Lindsell has written.
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ROGER NICOLE
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
South Hamilton, Mass.
Your report was timely and informative. I have lived in Taiwan for the past five years as an educational missionary. I am surprised at the variety of your sources of information, and the honesty with which you present your findings. I have lived in the Far East fifteen of the past thirty years. I have lived in China, on the Mainland, under both the Nationalists and the Communists, and I have lived in Taiwan under the Nationalists at two different periods. I have also lived in Japan and South Korea. I have taught Chinese at the University of Michigan and Columbia University, and worked closely with the Summer Institute of Linguistics. I am not trying to blow my own horn, but to assure you that I am no amateur in this area, yet I am surprised by the depth and quality of your reporting. Your readers are indeed fortunate.
PAUL B. DENLINGER
Soochow University
Taipei, Taiwan
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