Study The Great Books is expanding its offerings:
A paid subscriber level has been added! For just $5 a month you can gain access to what will be a continually growing archive of resources beyond what is already being posted for free on STGB. Benefits of a paid subscription will include:
The STGB-Teachers newsletter which will begin to provide downloadable PDF Student and Teacher Editions of the STGB Study Guides.
Access to periodic Live Online Hangouts to discuss great literature with other bibliophiles.
Access to periodic Live Online Teacher Training Events (crash courses in logic, rhetoric, great books seminar teaching, etc.).
Additionally I am adding two new FREE newsletters to the STGB family.
Consider Christianity: This is something I have wanted to do for years but have simply failed to make it a priority. So much of “apologetics” out there today is 1) written for Christians rather than non-Christians, which is kind of weird when you think about it, and 2) it is often condescending in tone toward non-Christians, polemic in nature, and bombastic. My desire and intention is to write an ongoing series of posts which earnestly, as if to a friend, implore people to carefully Consider Christianity, its message, the reason and evidence which support it, and the difference it makes in the lives of those who come to know and follow Jesus as Lord.
True Fiction: I have long had the desire to be a writer. I have a decent track record of writing non-fiction (e.g. research papers, theology, philosophy, apologetics, and reflections like you are used to seeing on STGB) but I want to write great stories too. I am certain I am no C. S. Lewis or Charles Dickens, and I may never even rise to the level of masterpieces like See Spot Run, but I want to give it a go. As such I am doing something crazy and sharing with you while I tinker around with the craft of story writing. I’ll let you roll your eyes at my cheesy plot lines, cringe at my diction, and scoff at my derivative drivel as I try to grow as a writer. I am calling it “True Fiction” because of my conviction that great stories, although not always literally true, are often profoundly true in their meaning and impact. This project of mine may never amount to much, and it will be sporadic at best, but…here goes nothing.
My entire goal on this site is to serve and encourage you. I want to help you in your own journey whether that be as a student of great books, a teacher of great books, a lover of truth, goodness, and beauty, a Christian seeking to go further and deeper with Christ, or a person who is willing to consider the merits of Christ and Christianity. I hope you have been blessed and will be blessed by this site. I appreciate the support and encouragement many of you have already given me in turn.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Jacob Allee