Last week on our episode we were with Dr. Michael Reeves and I believe we left him somewhere on a deserted island

But he seemed to be happy he had his books and I think I heard from him recently that he's already made his way through Tolkien so he's having a good time.

Well one of the books that he mentioned is the book by Athanasius on the incarnation.

And as we were talking about that book, we also spoke of an addition of that book that was put out with an introduction or a preface by CS Lewis.

I thought it would be good to return to that preface. This is not just any

preface. It is a preface by CS Lewis and it is not just any book. It is to this

classic work Athanasious's on the incarnation.

The very first sentence of Lewis's preface reads,

there is a strange idea abroad that in every subject the ancient books should be read only by the

professionals and that the amateur should content himself with the modern books.

He goes on to say how take for instance Plato you want to read

Plato well the the modern reader would never think of simply reading

Plato they would all read about Plato Lewis says this is topsy-turvy. We should remind ourselves

that these ancient writers and these old books, well, they don't bite. They're not as harmful as we think they might be. They're not as dangerous. We shouldn't fear to tread.

But Lewis suspects there is more than fear that keeps us from old books. It might be our misguided

contentment with our own age and with the perspectives of our own age and so Lewis

continues in his preface. Every age has its own outlook. It is

especially good at seeing certain truths and especially liable to make certain mistakes.

We all therefore need the books that will correct the characteristic

mistakes of our own period and that means the old books. All contemporary writers share to some

extent the contemporary outlook. even those like myself who seem

most opposed to it. He proceeds to speak of our blindness to our own assumptions.

...