Giving Calvin Homework – How Would We Bring Calvin Up To Speed on 500 Years of History?

Given that Calvin’s 500 birthday is in July, I’ve played a time travel exercise in my mind.  If suddenly Calvin rode a time machine into our age and it was my job to bring him up to date on what has happened in the last 500 years, how would I go about it.

Here are some of the first books and assignments I would hand him:

  • I would require him to get an I-Phone and to Twitter his progress throughout each of the assignments.   John would also blog.
  • David Wells stuff beginning with No Place for Truth, but also The Courage to be Protestant.  Whatever you think of Wells, he traces how modernity has shaped the church.
  • The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman.  I wasn’t impressed by Friedman’s latest book, but The World is Flat would give Calvin a crash course on how the Internet and other factors have flattened the world.
  • I would make Calvin watch a documentary on the O.J. Simpson trial.  I doubt that he would have much interest in the NFL, but the Simpson trial is a study in the disintegration of the West:
    • struggles with racism,
    • an undermining of justice,
    • violence,
    • our pre-occupation with entertainment,
    • television etc.
  • I would have Calvin watch a season of Seinfeld.  He would learn a lot about television and our narcissistic culture.
  • Unspeakable by Os Guinness which summarizes the incredible evil of the 20th century – – the most murderous century.  Calvin would quickly learn about the Holocaust, Stalin, Mao etc.  And, he would see once again that he was right about original sin?
  • I would need something to catch him up on developments in the East.  And, a book that summarized the missions movement.
  • Something on Islam.
  • Karl Barth.  I would think we would want him to read Karl Barth’s stuff, which would allow him to appreciate developments within liberalism that took place in the 20th century.
  • I would have him watch an edited, I say again, edited, version of Titantic.
  • He would need to learn something about musical developments.  His capstone assignment might be an orginal rap summarizing what he has learned.

What should we assign Calvin to read to bring him up to speed on the last 500 years?

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As for the graphic – – HT: The Carbon Fibber via Amy’s Humble Musings

Published by Chris

8 thoughts on “Giving Calvin Homework – How Would We Bring Calvin Up To Speed on 500 Years of History?”

  1. Boy…I realize he’s a smart guy, but could he handle it all? I might get rid of the OJ stuff and add some more Seinfeld (though a lot of Seinfeld wouldn’t make sense to him, but it would give a foundation for some good talks). Perhaps Mike and I could walk him over to our alma mater (Calvin) to see what he thinks.

    Oh…and don’t forget about having him read Piper and Wright. But make sure he does that after he learns how to blog so he can throw his 2 cents in.

  2. Um, still kinda snagged on the image of Calvin watching a season of Seinfeld… and you explaining to him why you had him do it.

    “But… but this is about nothing!”

    “Well yes, sir, you see, that’s the point.”

  3. This is incredibly bizarre, and reminds me how far we and our culture have fallen. I think he would need to read some contemporary philosophy–something like James Livingston, “Modern Christian Thought,” and I’d really like to have a conversation with him after he read Machen’s “Christianity and Liberalism.” And just for fun, Schleiermacher’s “On Religion” and “The Christian Faith,” and when he finished I would tell him that Friedrich is a Reformed theologian. Shouldn’t we also make him participate in the RCA’s discussions over homosexuality? I’m going to stop now before I get too depressed.

  4. He should watch TBN for at least 4 hours, and attend a Benny Hinn Crusade and then cap it all off with a few viewings of The Believer’s Voice of Victory. Extra credit points if he hears them quote Calvin himself correctly.

  5. Dan, I pictured exactly that conversation with Calvin. Though, I think he would see me as such a dufus(sp?) for having him watch it that we would never get past that.

    If we put all these suggestions together, it might be enough to get him to change his eschatology one way or another.

  6. Pingback: the education of John Calvin « Don’t Stop Believing

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