Friday, July 28, 2017

Review of Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis

One of the many covers of Mere Christianity
No copyright infringement intended.
Once, I had been an ideological crusader, dead-set on a certain view of family roles, economics, churches, politics—if you could name it, I had an opinion. After a long and painful chapter in my life, I finally realized the tyrant I was rapidly in the process of becoming. For more on that, read my story With Truth and Grace at http://defendingthelegacy.blogspot.com/2015/12/short-story-with-truth-and-grace.html. Disaster was compounded with disaster, and needless to say, this epoch in my life left me in a tail-spin. What did I believe anyway? Was true Christianity connected to a specific view of church or plans for the creation of a just society? What was essential, and what was personal preference?

Man proposes, but God disposes, says the old adage. God certainly knew exactly what I needed at this juncture, and He provided. I began to read Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis. My only acquaintance with Lewis’s writings was his Chronicles of Narnia, and I had read one (short) biography on him. However, I regarded these favorably enough to be willing to read Mere Christianity. Here was a Christian theologian whom I respected, and I was interested to read what he said about these issues.

Beginning with the forward, Mere Christianity was exactly what I needed. Here was an author who stated that he was an Anglican, but that more important than a denomination was a belief in Jesus Christ. The book slowly built from a universal human knowledge of right and wrong to a clear and concise explanation of Christian beliefs. Most importantly for me, these were universal Christian beliefs! There was much about the importance of Christ’s death and the importance of faith, hope, love, and prayer. Rather than railing at an anti-Christian culture, Lewis stated that the real enemy we have to fight is our own sinful nature. But the most part of Mere Christianity was Lewis’s joyful expectation of the glories and unspeakable delights of heaven—which, he contends, is something that we have had hints or glimpses into on earth.

If you have not yet read Mere Christianity, please take the time to find it and read it. It is an excellent book to show the basics of Christianity that all Christians have agreed on for almost 2,000 years. Despite its topic and its size, plenty of deep theological topics are contained inside as well.  5/5 stars.

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Flag of Armand's Legion (Completely Speculative)

Speculative Armand's Legion flag
Following on my flag reconstructions, here is a completely speculative one for Armand's Legion.  I have never run across any description of this legion's flag, or even if they were issued a flag.  However, we have descriptions/artifacts of the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons, the 3rd Continental, and Pulaski's Legion.


But onto the description of this fictional flag.  I chose a red ground as all three Continental cavalry standards (2nd, 3rd, and Pulaski's Legion) have red as their field.  An owl was chosen as an interesting classical symbol (the owl of Minerva) and also to evoke Armand's service with the Chouans in France.  The motto translates to "Vigilance is the price of Liberty," and the owl seemed to suggest vigilance and wakefulness.  The 13 stars and fleur-de-lis is taken from contemporary drawings of United States flags.


If you would like to deploy your wargame unit of Armand's Legion under this standard, please feel free; however, credit and a link back to this post is appreciated :)
Edit: A reader requested a proper doublesided flag of Armand's flag, and here it is!

If you like our flags, be sure to check out https://www.wargamevault.com/browse/pub/14586/Through-All-Ages-LLC for even more flags by the author, including many free ones!


Thursday, July 6, 2017

Video--Christians Studying History

This is a short (very short) video that I did for a college course I am enrolled in.  In less than two minutes, it touches on the question "How do Christians use their faith to influence their history?"  This topic is one that I am passionate about and I would have liked to write pages and pages on it...but instead the assignment required a 1-2 minute video.  Video recording was done by my sister Amara of Castles in Clouds (www.castlesinclouds.wordpress.com) Enjoy!