The similar phrase 'Worldly Christianity' is one used by Bonhoeffer. It's J Gresham Machen that I want to line up most closely with. See his Christianity and culture here. Having done commentaries on Proverbs (Heavenly Wisdom) and Song of Songs (Heavenly Love), a matching title for Ecclesiastes would be Heavenly Worldliness. For my stance on worldliness, see 3 posts here.

Day off Week 40


Yesterday's day off didn't quite go right somehow. Not sure where I went wrong. I did have a project that needed to be finished so that cut into my time, I guess. I didn't do much of a walk either although it worked well in that I was in for the parcels that arrived, including new shoes, before heading out to walk the dog and for coffee and newspaper puzzles.  I think the main thing was that I decided to finish reading a novel I'd started and it was longer than I had expected and so I was not able to get on to the next thing I wish to read. The novel is by Patricia Highsmith, one of her later ones People who knock on the door. Highsmith has over 20 novels and I have read half of them now. In my opinion she is not Division 1, if I might put it that way, but she is high up in Division 2 and her books are always interesting. This one I bought just because I want to read them all and was interested to find that it deals with the subject of abortion and the moral majority and religion. She shows no great insight into the subject (or of US alcohol laws) and is a little confused on some things in this Reagan era novel. She puts forward an attempted pro-abortion, anti-religion story that is highly unconvincing. At one point she gives the gist of an evangelical sermon on marriage and highlights well how it might sound to a feminist such as herself. As ever, Highsmith is unusual as a detective novelist in that there are no detectives present until the book is almost over. Watched a BBC drama with Eleri before bed.

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