I John

I John is the longest encyclical letter that St. John the Apostle wrote to the early Church. Collected, St. John wrote five works in the New Testement, three of which were for a time considered to be the work of another author, now ascribed to him. St. John wrote the Gospel according to John, the First, Second, and Third Letters of John, and the Revelation to John.

I read I John last week and was struck by his literary style. He does not use the educated, impassioned rhetoric of St. Paul, the careful analytic writing of the author of Hebrews, nor yet the confident tone of St. Peter. Rather, St. John focuses on simple truth. Simple, profound truth, the most important of which is love - God's love for us, and therefore our love for one another.

I John is a New Testement Masterpiece for this reason. It tells us how to love. If you are unsure how to love, read this book. If you are not sure what Christian love is, read this book. If you want to know how crucial love is to the plan of God, read this book.

I John tends to repeat itself a bit, but it does not detract from the message at all. Rather, it enhances and emphasizes it.

What struck me the most were chapters 4 and 5. They focused exclusively on Christ and love - whoever confesses Christ is born of God, loves his brother, and so on. Those two chapters are very powerful passages. More and more I believe that people need to hear the message of St. John in his epistle.

It is an amazing epistle.

The Illiad, Part I

I am reading Homer's Illiad. It is very very different. I have only read the first few books, but it is incredible. I can see why it is considered one of the greatest works of all time. I don't fully understand its significance as a classic yet, but I am prepared to accept its status on authority.

One thing that shocked me was the lack of morals. Granted, this is a pre-Christian era; men behaved like savage brutes - rape his wife before he rapes yours. Still, I expected more.....'chivalrous' behavior. But Agamemnon and Achilles instantly fight over slave women - women whose sole purpose is to provide pleasure for their 'masters'. Nevermind that Agamemnon is married...

But perhaps I am overreacting. After all, I am a Roman Catholic.

Don't get me wrong - it is a great book. But I still feel dirtied after reading the fight between the two Greeks. They put the Achaians to shame.