Thoughts on heroism

ProfessorBainbridge writes:

Heroes Whilst surfing the web last night, I ran across a provocative article entitled Why Are Victims Our Only War Heroes?:

One comment

I did read an excellent book on Heroism a few months back. Heroism and the Christian Life: Reclaiming Excellence by Brian Hook and RR Reno. Highly recommended.

Today our hero's are all watered down. A man diving in a river to save a drowning child is not a hero. A moments sacrifice does not a hero make, more correctly it would be an "act of heroism". Granted it takes bravery and courage, but heroism demands more. It takes a lifelong commitment. There are sacrifices a person must make if he commits himself to the life of a hero. Reno and Hook examine some Hero's from literature through the ages starting with pagan antiquity first to understand heroism more fully. Their three pagan hero's are: Achilles, Socrates, and Aeneas. Then they examine some Christian hero's from the literature (Milton and Chaucer pen some of the first Christian hero's). If I recall, being a Christian hero entails becoming "transparent to Christ", i.e., living your life fully as Christ intends. Anyhow, I've lent my copy out, or I'd provide some quotes and describe the book more fully..

Just my 2 cent