DEAD AUTHORS

“But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know the way to it and it is not found in the land of the living.” (Job 28:12-13 RSV)  

With no PGA golf on a September Sunday, I found myself on You Tube, flipping between Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf and a small dose of LIV Golf. The contrast was stark, and reminded me of the above verse from the ancient sage Job about wisdom,  

“Wisdom … it is not found in the land of the living.”  

I love the 1960’s YouTube versions of Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf. They are so much better than LIV Golf. (Imbed here?)

Maybe it is just my old age and sentimental personality but there is nothing more entertaining than Gene Sarazen commentating over Harry Bradshaw beating 32-year-old Billy Casper in 1963 at Portmarnock near Dublin, Ireland.

The portly fifty-year-old Harry’s swing looked more like a thirteen-handicap at your club than a golf champion who was a ten-time winner of the Irish PGA. Google Harry to discover he once lost the 1949 British Open to Bobby Locke because his ball rolled into a bottle. Way more interesting than how many millions the LIV guys made as they claim to ‘grow the game’.  

And outside golf, I agree with Job who tells us plainly that wisdom "cannot be found in the land of the living". (Job 28:13). Wisdom seems extinct among the living in 2022.  

So, then, where is wisdom found? Instead of the ‘living’, I mostly read dead authors. The search for wisdom comes from ancient sources like John Bunyan (1628-1688) who wrote Pilgrim’s Progress in 1678.   

I feast on E. Stanley Jones (1884-1973), Lettie Cowman (1870-1960), and Oswald Chambers (1874-1917). Other dead authors who have greatly influenced me are of G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936), C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), A.W. Tozer (1897-1963), Dennis Kinlaw (1922-2017) and more. My father Ford Philpot's voice (1917-1992) is ringing in my ears on some days.  

And of course, even more obvious, the real old-timers-- Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, and more. Not to mention the Old Testament scribes. 

So, why do I read ancient words from dead authors like E. Stanley Jones? 

I think I have figured it out.  

One, they have finished the race without tripping on the way to the finish line. My choice of reading is based more on respect for life-long character than the brilliance or popularity of the words. Sorry to say, but moral failures and high salaries of so many mega-pastor type authors has made me cynical.  

Second, many 21st century writers are enamored with the “news”. It doesn’t take long to figure out whether the author loves Trump or hates him, watches Fox or CNN, is Protestant or Catholic, or like me, loves LIV Golf or not. I for one am tired of the ‘news’.  Indeed, the word itself- 'news'- means the information is about Today! It is the latest from the 'land of the living'.      

I love the way Jeremiah says it: 

"Stop at the crossroads and look around, Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, 'No, that's not the road we want!’" (Jer. 6:16).  

So, I agree with Job. And Jeremiah.

Give me Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf. And the 1866 hymn from Kate Hankey who says she loves to tell “the old, old story, of Jesus and His love”.