Learning the Good Life: Wisdom from the Great Hearts and Minds that Came Before

Discover the Good Life as You Learn from the Wise Voices of the Past

We've lost ourselves. Disconnected from the past and uncertain about the future, we are anxious about what our lives will be and troubled by a nagging sense of meaninglessness. Adrift in the world, many Christians have their identity completely wrapped up in work and their definition of the "good life" is financial success. Fewer of are staying committed to the Christian faith, finding it difficult to reconcile their experience with their longings and desires. With so much uncertainty, where can we find a true vision of "the Good Life"?

Learning the Good Life speaks to this malaise with trusted and assured voices from the past, inviting Christians into an age-old conversation with some of history's wisest hearts and minds as their dialogue companions. Featuring classic writings from a diverse lineup of over 35 writers and thinkers including Confucius, Augustine, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, W.E.B. DuBois, Flannery O'Connor, and Wendell Berry. Together these sages of the past address important issues such as:

VocationCallingMeaningSufferingBeautyVirtueLearningWisdomCritical ThinkingCommunityWonderReflectionAnd more

Each of these texts are introduced by experts who are teachers, from a variety of Christian colleges and universities, to help providing a broader, richer, and more cohesive narrative in which Christians may participate. In addition to a substantive introduction, each text is accompanied by discussion questions to provoke further thought and contemplation and also to facilitate discussion when used in groups. Ideal for any Christian seeking a deeper connection to the wisdom of the past and wanting a more cohesive and beautiful vision of the good life. All the writers have a message for you. All of them are calling you to die to yourself, to your habits of indulgence, to your pride and ambition, and instead, dedicate your time to learning, thinking, and loving.

Writers and writings featured in Learning the Good Life include:

Lao Tzu, From Tao Te ChingConfucius, From The AnalectsPlato, "The Allegory of the Cave"Seneca the Younger, From "On the Shortness of Life"Athanasius, From On the IncarnationGregory of Nazianzus, On My Own VersesAugustine, From On the TeacherAugustine, From On Christian Doctrine, Book 1Pope Gregory the Great, Life of Saint Benedict, Dialogues, Book 2Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy, Inferno 1Nezahualcoyotl, "A Flower Song of Nezahualcoyotl"Anonymous, "The Peace Prayer of Saint Francis"Margery Kempe, From "The Book of Margery Kempe"William Shakespeare, From King LearJohn Amos Comenius, From The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the HeartGeorge Herbert, Five PoemsMatsuo Basho, Three Haiku PoemsRené Descartes, From Meditations on First PhilosophyBlaise Pascal, From The PenséesSor Juana Ines de la Cruz, "Respuesta a Sor Filotea de la Cruz"John Milton, From AreopagiticaJonathan Edwards, From "Personal Narrative"Edmund Burke, From Reflections on the Revolution in FranceLord Alfred Tennyson, From "Ulysses"Frederick Douglass, From Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, an American SlaveElizabeth Barrett Browning, From Aurora LeighHenry David Thoreau, From "Life Without Principle"Gerard Manley Hopkins, "As Kingfishers Catch Fire"Jarena Lee, From Religious ExperienceFredrich Nietzsche, From Use and Abuse of HistoryAnna Julia Cooper, From Womanhood: A Vital Element in the Regeneration and Progress of a RaceW. E. B. DuBois, From The Souls of Black FolkVirginia Woolf, From A Room of One's OwnG.K. Chesterton, "Modern Elfland"T.S. Eliot, "Preludes"C.S. Lewis, "Learning in War-Time"Dietrich Bonhoeffer, From Life TogetherSimone Weil, "Reflections on the Right Use of School Studies"Dorothy L. Sayers, From "The Lost Tools of Learning"Flannery O'Connor, "Enduring Chill"Josef Pieper, From Leisure: The Basis of Culture and "Learning How to See Again"David Foster Wallace, "This Is Water"Marilynne Robinson, "Reclaiming a Sense of the Sacred"Wendell Berry, "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front"