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An Exposition of this Publication Authors shape people’s character and thinking into the mold that they have created in their writing. Whether they write about the people who are involved in seemingly unjust terrorist attacks, or whether they write about a young boy’s troubles and triumphs in a little Missouri town, their words have a powerful affect on whoever reads them. A mind not carefully trained or cautious in its reading is likely to fall into the dangerous pit of believing and accepting whatever enters therein. Matthew 7:15 says, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” Many books come to us disguised as being of moral value, but inwardly they may cause us to believe unbiblical principles without our realizing it. Louisa May Alcott’s books are a good example of this. Dressed up with tid-bits of religion, as the author speaks of God and “our Heavenly Master” often, and as she makes her characters go to church and revere the Bible, the reader is led to believe that the views expressed are biblically accurate. However, between the lines of all of that are transcendentalist views. Though not at all intended (by the author) to eat away at the souls of Christian children, these books can slowly tear down the foundation set for us by our parents, if we are not careful to search out and discard what is false. Another series of books dressed in sheep’s clothing is the Elsie Dinsmore series. These books are not “ravenous wolves”’ for sure. They do uphold godly principles and are flocked with moral value. Moreover, they are very well written. The problem, however, is that they can be regarded too highly by readers. In other words, girls may get so absorbed in the “perfect” Elsie character that they become blinded to her flaws and strive to imitate every one of the child’s attributes, rather than only those that are pure. A second problem lies with readers who don’t like the series. These readers have such misgivings about Elsie that they tend to focus on her faults alone, ignoring what is good in her character. In their book, How to Read a Book, Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren say that once a person has read a story, he or she will then judge it. “Your first judgment,” they write, “will naturally be one of taste. You will say not only that you like or dislike the book, but also why. The reasons you give will, of course, have some critical relevance to the book itself, but in their first expression they are more likely to be about you—your preferences and prejudices—than about the book. Hence, to complete the task of criticism, you must objectify your reactions by pointing to those things in the book that caused them. You must pass from saying what you like or dislike and why, to saying what is good or bad about the book and why” (pg. 214; last emphasis added). We must go beyond our feelings about a book and its characters to discover what is right and what is wrong in that book. By reading this magazine I hope you will gain a better understanding of individual authors' worldviews, of how their backgrounds affect their writing, and of how to weed out the tares from the wheat without destroying the thriving crop. |