Well, firstly, I read the Bible over and over again, but that’s 66 books. And maybe such an answer is too obvious. On BBC’s Desert Island Discs, people are asked what 10 songs they’d choose if they were stranded on a desert island. It was always assumed that they’ll be given a Bible and the Complete Works of Shakespeare on their desert island, and then they’re asked what luxury they’d like as well as their 10 disks. Now and then, someone says that they don’t want a Bible. But I wouldn’t want to be without a Bible.
Yet, maybe I know the Bible so well at this stage that I’d survive without it. When you think about it, how many Christians over the last 2,000 years have had a personal copy of the Bible? And if they had access to one, how many had the ability to read it? But nowadays, Bibles are plentiful. I can even see huge changes in my own lifetime, for example, instant web access through Bible Gateway, where I can look up any verse. And in the last few years, I’ve been able to ask Microsoft Copilot and all the other AI apps about anything that I’m confused about. I’m generally pleased with the answers. I don’t necessarily agree with them, but I just like to know how they’re generally understood. And then, we have multiple resources on YouTube.
Anyway, let me get back to Alice. Try not to distract me again 🧐. Back in Easter 1983, I was staying in Brixham in Devon at a friends house. Just before going to sleep, I thought it might be good to do some reading. I saw Alice in Wonderland on the bookshelf. I had thought of it as a kid’s book, and perhaps it is. But I remembered back in 1978, I saw this philosophy student with “The Annotated Alice”. And Lewis Carroll was a mathematician, so I thought that it might be worth a look. And I did end up reading and listening to it over and over again. I also enjoy the Disney movie and other productions, including one produced in the Soviet Union that we watched back in the 1990s.
My favourite character from the book is the Cheshire cat. Everyone in the book seems to be so agitated, and he just smiles at everything. I wish that I were more like him.
Here’s a couple of songs from the Disney movie:
I’ve also read various books about the book. And back in 1992, BBC Radio 4 had a series of radio programs called Wonderlandscapes about the book and its background. I did record most of it on tape, but I’m always hoping to find it in digital form. And YouTube has numerous audio versions of the book, but my favourite was a BBC production from the 1980s, which featured a multiple cast. I think that I bought the cassette tape of it in Cambridge or Oxford back in 1993. Again, I never saw it in digital format, and I’m not sure if I’ve ever even seen it referenced, but it’s an excellent production. Maybe it just got forgotten because many other versions have been produced since.
The book that I have read most again and again, apart from the Bible is Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology. But like the Bible, I almost see it as a collection of books. It has about 57 chapters. I bought it in 1995, but I’ve bought it in other formats since, including audio from Audible, which is excellent value. And you can even hear his lectures on the topic for free on his website. I often recommend it.
And first and foremost, I recommend the Bible. Alice’s Wonderland wasn’t all that wonderful. But heaven will be!
Hibernia Gospel 