Chronological Snobbery

C.S. Lewis, the great English professor and author, coined the term "chronological snobbery" for a trend which disturbed him in his day and continues to disturb many of us today. According to Lewis, chronological snobbery was "the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate of our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that count discredited." Lewis saw that there is a kind of snobbery, an arrogant attitude which believes that one's own standpoint in history makes everything from the past second-rate. Lewis recognized, however, that every age has its own cultural biases and that, therefore, it is necessary to learn from the past. He wrote the following in this regard:

"It's a good rule after reading a new book never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to three new ones... Every age has its own outlook. It is especially good at seeing certain truths and especially liable to make certain mistakes. We all therefore need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period... None of us can fully escape this blindness, but we shall certainly increase it, and weaken our guard against it, if we read only modern books... The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds and this can only be done by reading old books."

For our age and culture in particular, the Puritan church authors are perhaps some of the most helpful correctives to our own various blindspots. I have benefited greatly from the writings specifically of Jonathan Edwards, John Owen, and Samuel Rutherford. Currently I am reading a recent edition of three of John Owen's books combined, called "Overcoming Sin and Temptation," edited by Justin Taylor and Kelly Kapic. Reading many of the Puritan writers is like being called to battle by William Wallace after being accustomed to Mr. Rogers (no offense to Mr. Rogers; he hosted a childrens television program after all). Modern Christian authors are all too often shallow in their theology and either cold or happy-go-lucky in their religious emotions. The Puritans, on the other hand, took both solid doctrine and intensely fervent emotion seriously. I commend to all the writings of these great brothers of the past!

P.S.- The C.S. Lewis quotes were taken from the following web address:

http://www.cslewisinstitute.org/sites/www.cslewisinstitute.org/files/webfm/aboutcslewis/LewisChronologicalSnobbery.pdf