About Robert M. Woods

Robert M. Woods is the Headmaster at the Covenant School in Dallas, Texas, and teaches in the graduate program at Faulkner University. His work has been published in several journals and he writes regularly for his website Musings of a Christian Humanist.

Wisely Reading the Adages of Erasmus in Foolish Times

By |2020-03-22T11:59:18-05:00July 26th, 2013|Categories: Books, Christian Humanism, Christianity, Great Books, Literature, Robert M. Woods|Tags: |

The adages of Erasmus often provide philosophical and religious insight with social and political commentary. It is stunning how relevant many of the adages are to our own time. The Adages of Erasmus, compiled by William Barker (University of Toronto Press, 2001, 384 pages) Reading wisdom literature in any age is wise. Reading wise sayings [...]

Andrew Klavan’s “If We Survive”….A Political Morality Tale

By |2016-02-12T15:28:23-06:00June 16th, 2013|Categories: Books, Christian Humanism, Christianity, Robert M. Woods|Tags: , |

Andrew Klavan has started writing young adult fiction and for a Christian publishing house. While this may be a bad move for some writers, Klavan has navigated the move very well. In truth, Klavan is a fine popular contemporary novelist. The extra benefit of this enjoyable read is that it may indeed have an additional application in light [...]

When I’m Not Reading Great Books…Andrew Klavan’s A Killer in the Wind

By |2013-12-20T21:45:31-06:00June 1st, 2013|Categories: Books, Robert M. Woods|Tags: , |

My students regularly ask me about books and authors and also frequently ask, “what do you read when you are not reading Great Books?” It surprises them when I mention certain science-fiction and fantasy authors and I am always open for recommendations. Not long ago I was reading a blog, and novelist Andrew Klavan was mentioned. I was aware [...]

The Humane and The Inhumane

By |2019-02-07T12:40:02-06:00May 18th, 2013|Categories: Aldous Huxley, Books, Robert M. Woods, Truth|Tags: |

Over the years I’ve seen countless book lists and there are two books on “must read lists” that speak to the modern world insightfully, but in differing manners. As dystopian works, people have tended to see them both as “prophetic” and yet, of the two, most think that the one literary vision was closer to [...]

Religion & Culture: Christopher Dawson as Superlative Guide

By |2016-08-03T10:37:11-05:00May 10th, 2013|Categories: Christendom, Christian Humanism, Christianity, Christopher Dawson, Culture, Featured, Religion, Robert M. Woods|

There is a popular series of books entitled, “Eat This, Not That.” The premise of the series is that of all the foods out there, some are healthier for you than others or some are not as unhealthy as others. We can classify this essay as a “Read This, Not That.” With the growing number [...]

Incarnational Humanism: A Philosophy of Culture

By |2016-02-12T15:28:26-06:00April 28th, 2013|Categories: Books, Christian Humanism, Christianity, Robert M. Woods|Tags: |

Incarnational Humanism, by Jens Zimerman This work is thoroughly grounded in Christian theology and biblical reflection. At the very heart of Zimmerman's case is the incarnation of Christ. Possibly the most explicit assertion defended throughout the book is “True humanity is the heart of the Gospel and the goal of Christ's redemptive work…” This is [...]

Humans Fully Living…Why I Love Books by James Schall

By |2016-02-12T15:28:28-06:00March 13th, 2013|Categories: Books, Christianity, Fr. James Schall, Robert M. Woods|

On the Unseriousness of Human Affairs: Teaching, Writing, Playing, Believing, Lecturing, Philosophizing, Singing, Dancing by James V. Schall Ever since God commanded His creation to rest, humans have managed to busy themselves to near oblivion. James Schall has long been recognized as one of the great masters of the essay. In his most recent collection of [...]

A Few Modest Observations for One Against the Great Books

By |2016-02-12T15:28:28-06:00March 6th, 2013|Categories: Christian Humanism, Christianity, Great Books, Robert M. Woods|

A colleague in our Great Books program shared an article with me over the Christmas break, and as I was buried in reading some of the Great Books and a few seasonal works, I was hard pressed to read this article. The article, by Patrick Deneen, was published in First Things and entitled, Against Great Books Questioning [...]

Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

By |2014-01-04T14:43:34-06:00March 4th, 2013|Categories: Books, Film, Robert M. Woods, TIC Featured Book|

Featured Book: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. For all bibliovores, regardless of age, this book is for you. It is beautiful in form and content, it is good in form and content, and it is true in form and content. Rarely does one find a children’s picture book that so throughly celebrates a bookish life, [...]

A Christian Humanistic Devotional? Hallowed Be This House

By |2016-02-12T15:28:30-06:00February 10th, 2013|Categories: Books, Christian Humanism, Christianity, Robert M. Woods|

As with Erasmus, I affirm that The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A’Kempis is the grandest of devotional reads. The devotional books that litter the bookstores, especially the local Christian bookstore are more shaped by the lowest common denominator of trivial therapeutic drivel, the “cutting edge” madness of the management class, or silly self-help books that know [...]

Why Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles Is a Great Book

By |2014-04-27T10:09:06-05:00February 3rd, 2013|Categories: Books, Great Books, Literature, Mortimer Adler, Ray Bradbury, Robert M. Woods|

On numerous occasions, Mortimer Adler wrote about the criteria that were used to determine which books of all the books written in the West would be placed within The Great Books of the Western World.  Contrary to confusion and many misstatements I've read over the years, Adler says it was essentially three criteria and they [...]

Humanism and Religion: Renewing Western Culture

By |2016-02-12T15:28:32-06:00January 6th, 2013|Categories: Books, Christian Humanism, Christianity, Robert M. Woods|

Humanism and Religion: A Call for the Renewal of Western Culture, by Jens Zimmermann, Oxford University Press, 2012. As a number of books from important thinkers (Etienne Gilson, Jeffrey Burton Russell) have sought to educate open-minded readers to a most enlightened Middle Ages, Zimmermann seeks, in part, to challenge some misinterpretations and terrible damage done to [...]

A Picture Book That Calls Us to Books and Living: Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

By |2015-05-18T15:18:58-05:00December 4th, 2012|Categories: Books, Education, Film, Robert M. Woods|

My wife is a librarian and daily interacts with children and books. If I were not a Professor, I cannot think of a more appealing calling. We talk daily about the little ones in her school, books, and the relationship between bookish children and their overall demeanor. A picture book that we recently became aware [...]

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