McCain Library

03/16/2020

Due to the shutdown of all public SC colleges and universities, PASCAL Delivers service is temporarily suspended until further notice.

03/16/2020

Temporary McCain Library Hours:

Mon-Fri, 8am-4:30pm
Sat-Sun, Closed

These hours will remain in effect for the immediate future until further notice.

11/11/2019

Happy Veteteran's Day. Thank you to all those who have and are serving in our military.

Trivia: Do you know what Vetertan's Day was called orginally? (Don't look it up on Google.) Go.

08/13/2019

On August 19, McCain Library hours will be 1:30pm – 4:30pm.

We will be closed that morning for a campuswide "One Erskine" meeting.

02/27/2019

https://erskinelibrarynews.wordpress.com/2019/02/12/library-schedule-for-spring-break-2019/

McCain Library (Due West) Schedule: March 2-3 (Sat-Sun) Closed March 4-8 (Mon-Fri) 8:00 am – 4:30 pm March 9-10 (Sat-Sun) Closed McCain’s regular hours will resume Monday, March 11 The ET…

02/18/2019

On this day in the field of chemistry...The term ‘isotope’ was introduced on February 18, 1913 (106 years ago).

09/24/2018

As a result of some issues that we are needing to address, the upper level of McCain Library (excluding the Mezzanine) is temporarily closed to library users. If you need assistance with any materials from the upper level (Circulating Collection of books with call number PS-Z or back issues of journals/magazines) please see a library staff member for assistance.

We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to have this area reopened as soon as possible.

09/11/2018

Due to Hurricane Florence, PASCAL Delivers patron requesting and courier services will be suspended effective today, Tuesday, September 11th until further notice. In the meantime, students have the option of either waiting until patron requesting is reinstated with PASCAL or requesting items through Interlibrary Loan. Feel free to reach out to one of the librarians if you have any questions about how to put in a request. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

09/06/2018

Today I am reading… a journal article entitled, “Augustine’s Analysis of Amor Laudis: A Case Study of the Supreme Drive in Roman Political Life.” Here is a link to it:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwilyLiW5KbdAhWimeAKHfawCZ4QFjABegQICRAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjournal.radicalorthodoxy.org%2Findex.php%2FROTPP%2Farticle%2Fdownload%2F145%2F111&usg=AOvVaw3T3y5LFya0mJYMwmhk8Vpb

Augustine’s analysis of amor laudis [love of praise/desire for praise] can be regarded as a case study of the supreme drive of Roman political life. Augustine shows how amor laudis, which is sometimes considered good, eventually develops into libido dominandi [the lust for power/the desire to dominate others] which he takes to be the greatest evil confronting morality and politics. Moreover, Augustine’s study of amor laudis has a more profound significance than establishing an overall judgment about Rome. According to Augustine, pagan ethics has no knowledge of the true God, and eventually, widespread hypocrisy prepares a social environment that seduces people into gradually dissolving the vulnerable link between virtues and glory. What the Christian tradition teaches, however, is that the goal is not merely to appear to be good, but to know the source of true goodness and to become more like Him. “There is none good but one, that is, God” (Mark 10:18).

08/24/2018

Today I am reading… an essay by Lynne Hinojosa, “John Ames as Historiographer: Pacifism, Racial Reconciliation, and Agape in Marilynne Robinson's Gilead.” Religion & Literature 47, no. 2 (2015): 117-142.
Robinson's book, 'Gilead', is an epistolary novel. John Ames, a 76-year-old minister, is writing a letter to his son, to be read after his death. The novel discusses many theological themes as they have emerged in the family's history, going back to about 1850. John 's grandfather was also a minister who felt a special closeness to Jesus. On the eve of the Civil War he preached abolitionism and emancipation. After the war, he was deeply committed to keeping the Fifth Commandment ("Thou shalt not kill"). What is the novel about? Fathers and sons and their mysterious and maddening relationships: loving, prodigal, forgiving. In the Bible, the land of Gilead is described as a site of war and bloodshed. Can it also be a place of healing and reconciliation?

08/21/2018

Today I am reading... an essay, "God Accepts a Broken spirit and a Contrite Heart – Thoughts on Penitence, Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Psalm 51” Verbum et Ecclesia (2005):114-132. (Author: D. J. Human)

A concern with reconciliation amid broken relationships permeates the Psalms. Psalm 51 is King David’s prayer of repentance. David is acutely aware of his transgressions against God, and against Uriah and Bathsheba. He confesses his own sinfulness and acknowledges his guilt. Psalm 51 can become our prayer, too, helping us to discover our need of God, and to enter into a process of repentance, forgiveness, renewal and reconciliation.

08/20/2018

Today I am reading...Humanity's End: Why We Should Reject Radical Enhancement, by Nicholas Agar. Agar examines four proposals for the enhancement of human capabilities: Ray Kurzweil, who argues that technology will enable our escape from human biology; Aubrey de Grey, who calls for extreme anti-aging therapies; Nick Bostrom, who defends the morality and rationality of enhancement; and James Hughes, who envisions a harmonious democracy of the enhanced and the unenhanced. But the radical extension of our life span could eliminate experiences of great value from our lives, and a society in which some humans are radically enhanced and others are not could lead to tyranny of post-humans over humans... How does our faith help us think about proposals of this sort? Fred G.