The Bibliovore's Wife

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Roots of Anglican Streams: Part 1 (Anglo Catholic)

Husband, Child, and I have been in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) for almost two years as of the writing of this post. One of the interesting things we learned about the denomination is its emphasis on having a "wide tent" in worship. What does this mean? What is Anglicanism, Anyway? A simple definition of Anglicanism is the broad Christian tradition originating in England (consistent with the word's etymology) and identifiable as similar to today's church body starting in the Protestant Reformation. That said, depending on location the various branches of Anglicanism, practices and doctrines can vary quite widely, so long as each congregation holds to the Thirty-Nine Articles and uses the Book of Common Prayer for individual, family, and corporate worship. What do the Thirty-Nine Articles Teach? The Articles (which have varied in number over the years) are an outline of Anglicanism's core doctrines--those without believing and agreeing with which o

How to Use Audiobooks: An Educational Reflection

Do you use audiobooks, or wish you did? Before a few years ago, I was of the mindset that audiobooks were a "lazy" option. Then Child came around, and I realized that the only way I could keep up with my reading addiction while integrating parenthood was to allow at least some personal audiobook use. In the spirit of Mortimer Adler's classic, How to Read a Book , I present you with How to Use Audiobooks (especially if you're a potential or current home educator). Why Should(n't) You Use Audiobooks? There are practical and philosophical reasons to consider whether or not to use audiobooks for yourself or for your family members. I'll consider a few reasons to use them and a few reasons not to. There's a whole debate in other circles about the proper role of technology in a Christian's or generic human's life, which is beyond the scope of this post. Good Reasons Audiobooks can help you get through more material than you would be able to get through

The Hobbit: A Book Reflection

It had been quipped on social media that my generation (Millennial) should really be called the Hobbit generation, in small part because a film adaptation of said book came out when we were still at theater-going age. Indeed, one of the few movies I saw in theaters before college was Two Towers. I re-read both Hobbit and Lord of the Rings last year, and wanted to reflect more on the former. As a reminder, here's the general outline of this post: I will . . . Contextualize the author's writings as a whole (bibliography) Bring the author's major ideas to the present day Comment on major sections of the book, or important chapters, depending on organization **Pin 1: Literary Themes in The Hobbit **Pin 2: The Hobbit Within Tolkien's Universe Tolkien's Other Writings The Tolkien Society has a complete list of his written and edited/contributor books. Since there are around 60 of them, I will list just a few here. Translations of Old English and Middle English texts, inc

Narration in Lifestyle and Oral Cultures

One of my themes on this blog is Charlotte Mason education and surrounding conversations. Narration is a central aspect of guiding children using the philosophy into actively learning and processing content. A historical phenomenon that comes to mind lately when I consider narration is the existence of oral cultures in the past and present, especially in cultures whose writings resulted in the canonical Scriptures. Let's explore how these two things fit together. Overview of the Charlotte Mason Philosophy Briefly, Charlotte Mason is not so much a curriculum as a philosophy, that is, a way of thinking about education and implementing that education in a way consistent with thinking and congruent with the individual's family environment. The CMEC has multiple pages devoted to resources and philosophical description of how many families implement CM. Subsections below outline major "physical" components of the outworking of CM philosophy. (Here's a link to her core

Where Our Finances Go: Blending Financial Personalities

In our years of marriage, Husband and I have determined that our financial "personalities," while quite different, are compatible. Since he was a philosophy major in college, one outgrowth is that we are both conscious of how our worldviews shape what we do with the money God provides through work and gifts. How have we blended our two personalities in this aspect of married life? How Do People Deal with Money? I grew up in a debt-free, no-credit-card family, with parents with opposing money personalities. So, that clash influenced what I heard and what I internalized in childhood in terms of what my money values turned out to be. Financial Personalities There are quite a few classification systems for financial "personalities." I've highlighted a few here: Investopedia and Refinery29 say 5: Big Spenders/Risk-Takers = spend a lot, don't search for bargains, risk-tolerant in investing Savers = opposite, debt-free, "frugal", risk-averse in investi

Beginnings of Sunday School

In our parish, Sunday school is the generic term for Sunday morning pre-service classes offered for all ages. The book discussion on Surprised by Hope (N. T. Wright) has been for one of the adult groups, and a new member catechesis class and church history class being offered at the same time for other adults. This week, though, I'd like to look at the Sunday school from the ground up--starting at 18 months. How do Christians Look at Sunday School? Like many of my readers, I grew up in churches with Sunday school but without children's church . At the outset, it helps to define both of these, before diving into more of the US context of Sunday school. Please note that the linked article described a survey that had much more diverse opinions than those reported. "Sunday school," for the purposes of this post and based on the article, denotes an instructional time on Sunday mornings for children who are usually segregated by age or age group. "Children's chur