How to Read Rushdoony
Tackling the extensive library of R. J. Rushdoony can appear a daunting task. Not only is the page count enormous, but his work is replete with obscure references from historians, philosophers, theologians, and dime store novels. Rushdoony read broadly, and that expansive reading is present throughout all of his books.
You might be somewhat familiar with Christian Reconstruction, or theonomy, but that doesn't make the trek through Rushdoony necessarily simpler. There are great differences between Rushdoony and some of the other theonomic writers. For example, the divergence between Rushdoony and Gary North regarding ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) has fantastic implications for much of what they both write. In addition, Rushdoony's hermenuetic (method of interpretation) is unique to himself as his idealism provides him a masterful tool for gleaning truth.
However, for the serious Christian, reading Rushdoony is sure to be one of the most unique literary experiences you'll ever have. It's not for the faint of heart. You'll perpetually be challenged with the ultimatum, "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve."
Rushdoony's Writing Style
Rushdoony's distinguished himself through his writing style. He reads much like the puritans, or Calvin, with a confident prose absent of insecure syntax. He meant what he wrote, and he wrote what he meant. You won't find words like "maybe" or "if." Everything is in the affirmative.
Rushdoony's thesis is also persuasive. He does not seek to inform his reader of facts. His approach to facts is that they are God-created and God-determined. Therefore, Rushdoony is apologetic (defender of the faith) in his approach. He does not waste paper providing you with what can easily be lifted from an encyclopedia.
How Rushdoony Wrote His Books
A most important point to remember is how Rushdoony put together the majority of his books. Most of them are topical compilations of essays and sermons. Why is this important? Because most academic books present the reader with a basic thesis which the author then seeks to establish in the subsequent pages. Each chapter builds from the previous one, and at the end there is usually some sort of summary to recap the entire the discussion. Most of Rushdoony's books are NOT written this way.
Only a few of his books are written in the standard academic fashion. Most of them are "studies" within a certain discipline. It's not that the individual chapters are unrelated. They do not, however, necessarily lead into one another. The chapters are self-contained and can often be read alone with great benefit.
The Reading Method
A now famous volume given to most college students is Adler and Van Doren's How to Read a Book. It is a most helpful discussion on the details of tackling difficult books, and I recommend it to anyone who'd like to become a better reader. The sage advice of Adler and Van Doren when inspecting a book for the first time is to peruse the entirety of a book spending no more than a few seconds per page. This is after reading the title, back cover blurb, table of contents and index. The objective is to familiarize yourself with a book so that the initial reading is not completely unfamiliar territory. For very difficult books, Adler and Van Doren recommend the following:
(At the recommendation of Adler and Van Doren, I read with a pointer, or pencil, in order to increase my reading speed. Our eyes have a tendency to jump around and often miss the next line and such. This can really slow you down after a while. By allowing your eye to follow the pointer you can both stay on track and increase your speed. Try to make your eye keep up as you accelerate the speed the pointer is moving across each line.)
Once you finish marking the chapter I encourage you to write a brief summary of the chapter in the space left over at the end of the chapter. If there is no space, you can use a piece of paper instead. The goal is to comprehend the content, and this is best achieved by writing down what you perceive to be the thrust of Rushdoony's discussion in your own words. A further advantage to this is that you can come back to the book at a later date and quickly read your summaries to refresh your mind on the subject.
I realize this is asking a lot of yourself when reading an individual writer. After all, it's not like Rushdoony's books are equal to the Bible. My advice is for those who desire to learn the system of teaching that Rushdoony presented. Although critics of Rushdoony scream "anathema," I believe Rushdoony is one of the most important Protestant thinkers since Dabney and Warfield. I would include Van Til in this lineage, but Rushdoony is just Van Til sharpened to a point.
What you'll enjoy most is that regardless of your previous education a proper method of reading will help you better comprehend books you might otherwise avoid. As the first president of Harvard once said, "you can get a world class education from a shelf of books five feet long." I hope this is helpful advice to you.
You might be somewhat familiar with Christian Reconstruction, or theonomy, but that doesn't make the trek through Rushdoony necessarily simpler. There are great differences between Rushdoony and some of the other theonomic writers. For example, the divergence between Rushdoony and Gary North regarding ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) has fantastic implications for much of what they both write. In addition, Rushdoony's hermenuetic (method of interpretation) is unique to himself as his idealism provides him a masterful tool for gleaning truth.
However, for the serious Christian, reading Rushdoony is sure to be one of the most unique literary experiences you'll ever have. It's not for the faint of heart. You'll perpetually be challenged with the ultimatum, "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve."
Rushdoony's Writing Style
Rushdoony's distinguished himself through his writing style. He reads much like the puritans, or Calvin, with a confident prose absent of insecure syntax. He meant what he wrote, and he wrote what he meant. You won't find words like "maybe" or "if." Everything is in the affirmative.
Rushdoony's thesis is also persuasive. He does not seek to inform his reader of facts. His approach to facts is that they are God-created and God-determined. Therefore, Rushdoony is apologetic (defender of the faith) in his approach. He does not waste paper providing you with what can easily be lifted from an encyclopedia.
How Rushdoony Wrote His Books
A most important point to remember is how Rushdoony put together the majority of his books. Most of them are topical compilations of essays and sermons. Why is this important? Because most academic books present the reader with a basic thesis which the author then seeks to establish in the subsequent pages. Each chapter builds from the previous one, and at the end there is usually some sort of summary to recap the entire the discussion. Most of Rushdoony's books are NOT written this way.
Only a few of his books are written in the standard academic fashion. Most of them are "studies" within a certain discipline. It's not that the individual chapters are unrelated. They do not, however, necessarily lead into one another. The chapters are self-contained and can often be read alone with great benefit.
The Reading Method
A now famous volume given to most college students is Adler and Van Doren's How to Read a Book. It is a most helpful discussion on the details of tackling difficult books, and I recommend it to anyone who'd like to become a better reader. The sage advice of Adler and Van Doren when inspecting a book for the first time is to peruse the entirety of a book spending no more than a few seconds per page. This is after reading the title, back cover blurb, table of contents and index. The objective is to familiarize yourself with a book so that the initial reading is not completely unfamiliar territory. For very difficult books, Adler and Van Doren recommend the following:
In tackling a difficult book for the first time, read it through without ever stopping to look up or ponder the things you do not understand right away. Pay attention to what you can understand and do not be stopped by what you cannot immediately grasp. Go right on reading past the point where you have difficulties in understanding, and you will soon come to things you do understand. Concentrate on these. Keep on in this way. Read the book through, undeterred and undismayed by the paragraphs, footnotes, comments, and references that escape you. If you let yourself get stalled, if you allow yourself to be tripped up by any one of these stumbling blocks, you are lost. In most cases, you will not be able to puzzle the thing out by sticking to it. You will have a much better chance of understanding it on a second reading, but that requires you to have read the book through at least once. (Mortimer Adler & Charles Van Doren, How to Read a Book, p. 36f)Most of us will need these principles in order to best learn from Rushdoony's books. The only difference is that since most of his books are studies, I recommend the same approach, only instead of reading through the entire book, I suggest rereading the individual chapters. For example, you would first go through the chapter reading only the first sentence of each paragraph. This will take a few minutes. Then you will read through the entire chapter in the manner Adler and Van Doren suggest. You don't stop to ponder, you just keep reading. After that, read the chapter again more carefully with a pencil and straightedge in hand. What you want to do is highlight the pertinent elements of his discussion.
(At the recommendation of Adler and Van Doren, I read with a pointer, or pencil, in order to increase my reading speed. Our eyes have a tendency to jump around and often miss the next line and such. This can really slow you down after a while. By allowing your eye to follow the pointer you can both stay on track and increase your speed. Try to make your eye keep up as you accelerate the speed the pointer is moving across each line.)
Once you finish marking the chapter I encourage you to write a brief summary of the chapter in the space left over at the end of the chapter. If there is no space, you can use a piece of paper instead. The goal is to comprehend the content, and this is best achieved by writing down what you perceive to be the thrust of Rushdoony's discussion in your own words. A further advantage to this is that you can come back to the book at a later date and quickly read your summaries to refresh your mind on the subject.
I realize this is asking a lot of yourself when reading an individual writer. After all, it's not like Rushdoony's books are equal to the Bible. My advice is for those who desire to learn the system of teaching that Rushdoony presented. Although critics of Rushdoony scream "anathema," I believe Rushdoony is one of the most important Protestant thinkers since Dabney and Warfield. I would include Van Til in this lineage, but Rushdoony is just Van Til sharpened to a point.
What you'll enjoy most is that regardless of your previous education a proper method of reading will help you better comprehend books you might otherwise avoid. As the first president of Harvard once said, "you can get a world class education from a shelf of books five feet long." I hope this is helpful advice to you.
