LITERARY UPDATE

I haven't updated all the books that I have read lately. I have finished several hard backs and Kindle downloads. I finally finished THE STRUCTURE OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS by Thomas S. Kuhn. I have been reading it off and on for several months preparing for the books I am writing on creation science. When I first read this book back in the '60s I couldn't help but think that evolution should be removed as an acceptable scientific paradigm as he went through the requirements for a good paradigm. (His first edition was the book that introduced his creation of the word-paradigm.) In this revised up-dated edition he doesn't mention evolution hardly at all. I clipped a lot of his statements but haven't been able to download them to my computer because the formats are incompatible.

Another book that I just finished is one that came with the Kindle so it took me a year to read it. The AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN gave me some new insights into his religious practices. He believed in God and supported both churches and many missions like orphanages, schools and hospitals for the poor. He liked good preaching but was bored with most of the preachers and didn't attend one church continuously but contributed to churches all of his life. He measured the distance that he could hear Whitefield by moving back down the street until sounds drowned out the preacher and measuring the area predicted that 15,000 could have heard him that confirmed what he had heard about him preaching to 25,000 in an open field away from city traffic. He developed and tried to practice a set of principles based on his Christian beliefs that included #1Temperance, eat not to dullness, drink not to elevation; #2 Silence, speak not but what may benefit others or yourself, avoid trifling conversation; and #13 Humility, imitate Jesus and Socrates. I had seen an opinion piece referring to Dr. B. Franklin. He only went to school for two years, but entered the printing business and started writing and reading extensively as a teen. He received honorary Master's degrees from English and Scottish universities after he was recognized for his electrical experiments and finally an LLD from an American University before he died. He used the power of the press to influence the public thinking and was always looking at every thing with an inventive mindset. He developed fire departments, the post office, raised troops and even lead an army into battle against the French and Indians. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

For lighter reading I downloaded a Western: Mobley's Law, A Mobley Meadows Novel by Gerald Lane Summers who sent an email telling me I could read his novel for 99cents and I downloaded it. I really enjoyed the story of a bachelor lawyer appointed as a Federal Judge by President Grant to go to Texas and report on the events as the reconstruction Governor is facing a reelection campaign he can't win. This is a real shoot-em up frontier western story that was historical and fascinating. I recommend it for you Kindle readers.

I have used the Methodist Book of Discipline to answer questions even as late as last week. I searched the Bible on the Kindle to find that there are 255 times Light appears in the Bible.

One book I am still working through is Observations upon the Prophesies of Daniel, and the Apocolypse of St. John by Sir Issac Newton. I read many years ago that Newton thought his most important writing were his writings on the Bible but he is much better known for his contributions to calculus, physics, astronomy, gravity and electromagnetics. His biblical commentaries include quotes from the Latin as well as a thorough knowledge of the Bible and history of the Middle East and Europe from Christ to his time.

I also downloaded Wesley's Notes of the Bible and was disappointed to find that the download was only the New Testament notes that doesn't help me teaching the Old Testament in my SS class. I still look him up on the net to read his Old Testament comments often. I like to quote John Wesley to my Methodist students and preacher friends.

I will have to report on real books I have read later.