Book Review: American Creation by Joseph Ellis

I have determined to read more books of history this year. My favorite historical time period to study is colonial America, specifically the years from its colonization through the formative years of the Founding Fathers. Therefore, I selected Joseph Ellis’ book American Creation from the shelf at Borders to purchase and read.

Ellis wrote a magnificent book recounting several key events and players in the formation of the revolution, constitution, and executive powers. He spoke of how many a historian has written the story of the foundation of America. However, he claimed, most take a side either spinning a tale of Founders who were exempt from any failures of character or taking the side of characterizing the Founders as deplorable due to their handling of the Native American’s, slavery, and the rights of women.

Ellis seeks to present another view of the Founders that is neither naively esteemed nor unfairly deplored. He presents both the successes and the failures of the Founding Fathers and advocates that this is not only to be fair, but in reality most that have great successes also have great failures and we can learn from both. I found the book a fascinating read and thoroughly enjoyed his eloquence of style in his retelling of the events and notable people of the Founding era.

I will soon read Heroes by British historian Paul Johnson. Also I will read, Christianity’s Dangerous Idea, a history of Protestantism by Alister McGrath. I also may read Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis as well. But first I am going to read a book by Francis Schaeffer and then maybe one by A.W. Tozer.

Favorite Quotes

I've been tagged by DreamSwept to share five of my favorite quotes from the books I have read. As I am an avid reader who keeps a notebook handy to transcribe quotes I like as I read, therefore, I may provide more than five.

"There are a dozen views about everything until you know the answer. Then there's never more than one." --C.S. Lewis That Hideous Strength



". . . regardless of a man's system. he has to live in God's world."
--Francis Schaeffer The God Who is There



"I don't think you could dream anything that hadn't something real like it somewhere."
--George MacDonald At The Back of the North Wind




"Opinions are preferences amid options. Convictions are woven into one's conscience."
--Ravi Zacharias Beyond Opinion


"We must be willing to get to the foundations of our experience. If we remain content to decorate the interior of the house of knowledge and pay no attention to the structure and foundation stones of the that house, we will find that the dry rot of absurdity and the rising damp of the unexamined assumptions are fatal to the structure. "-- Joe Boot Why I Still Believe

"To posit evil presupposes an ultimate standard of good."
--Joe Boot Why I Still Believe

"And God acts justly from within, not in obedience to some imaginary law; He is the Author of all laws, and acts like Himself all of the time."
-- A. W. Tozer The Attributes of God, Vol 1


"Only Supernaturalists really see Nature. You must go a little away from her, and then turn around and look back. Then at last the true landscape will become visible. You must have tasted, however briefly the pure water from beyond the world before you can be distinctly conscious of the hot salty tang of Nature's current. To treat her as God, or as Everything, is to lose the whole pith and pleasure of her." --C.S. Lewis Miracles

Just For Fun

My cousin has tagged me to share six (6) unspectacular quirks of mine. So I'll take a breather from my philosophical musings to share a little lighthearted quirkiness.

1) My fascination with the color purple borders on quirkiness. Not the movie, but the actual color whether it be violet, plum or just plain purple I have loved the color since I was a child. I don't wear it as much these days, but I used to be drawn like a magnet to any rack of clothing that contained a purple article of attire. I often had a purple purse, a purple neckless, purple on my shoes, and purple in my hair with a purple blouse or skirt. There was this house in the neighborhood over from mine growing up that was painted lilac with plum shutters. I was curious as to who lived there and if I would end up with such a house one day. I have expanded my clothing colors in recent years and only those who know me well giggle when someone new ask me my favorite color. For most anyone who knows me knows the answer.

2) Secondly, I'm Trekkie or sorts. I don't dress up and attend Star Trek conventions. But I do enjoy the shows and movies and still have hundreds of Star Trek novels boxed away with collector cards and other collector items. I grew up on watching Kirk and Spock and the original series remains my favorite. I'm admittedly looking forward to the new movie being directed by J.J. Abrams.

3) I've developed a new quirk which I think has rubbed off on me from my husband. I have to have my books match. If a publisher puts out a new book and it doesn't match the previous book of that author, it bothers me. I like to have them all the same. There are books right now that I want that are only available in hard back and that simply will not do. I have two or three paper backs that preceded the newly released hardback in the series and I just cannot bring myself to buy a book that doesn't match the others. Thus, I wait in hope for a matching paperback. Now if I had all hardbacks, it would need to be a matching hardback. The same goes for DVD sets. If I am buying each season of a show and the last season comes out in a a new fangled case that is designed to save money and now doesn't match the rest of the seasons' boxes, it's bothersome.


4) I'm a planner. I seldom like spontaneity. I like things to be planned out way in advance. Once I was given a project in my high school Spanish class with no due date. I asked my teacher repeatedly for a due date. She said she was giving the class ample time and would announce a due date later in the semester. I finished the project immediately. The due date ended up being months later. I just can't wait until near deadline. I have to do my task upon it being given to me. The difficult thing is to resist expecting others to hold themselves to the same quirky habit. Is there a word that is the opposite of procrastination? If there is that would describe me.

5) I'm obsessed with the beach. I love to walk along the boardwalk. I love to lay out on the sand and listen to the waves crash upon the shore and watch the pelican dive into the ocean for their food. I love beach vacations and shells and beach houses. I have always dreamed of riding a horse down the beach along the ocean surf. The odd thing is I seldom get to enjoy this beach pleasure. I think that makes me yearn for the beach all the more.

6) As my blog readers have probably come to know, I like to think about thinking. I'm not sure if this is quirky, but it's probably pretty geeky. I like to look for what is behind a persons way of living and philosophy of life. I like to ponder deep theological and philosophical questions. I enjoy a good question as much as seeking out answers to the questions of life. I love to read, research, and write. I miss essay and research paper assignments from my college days. I want to learn why some ways of thinking work and some ways don't. I like to follow a train of thought out to its logical conclusion and then compare that with reality. I like to think about logic and reason and knowing and being and believing and not believing. I like to think about thinking. I like to think about worldviews instead of just with my worldview. I want to pull apart my worldview and examine it's foundations and inner workings and contrast that with other worldviews and other foundations and ways of thinking. I want to take the allegorical clock apart and see what makes it tick and how it comes to tell time, and question whether it is telling the correct time.

Okay that's my six quirks.

Here are the rules was following. I think I am going to keep the tag open ended and let readers take the ball and run with it if they want to since I don't know a lot of bloggers to tag at this point.

1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.