C. S. Lewis coined the phrase “chronological snobbery” to be:

“the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate common to our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that account discredited.”

J. I. Packer explains it this way:

the newer is the truer,

only what is recent is decent,

every shift of ground is a step forward,

and every latest word must be hailed as the last word on its subject.

As young people (I count myself in this category – I’m not 30 yet), we are particularly tempted to fall into this mindset. Not everything that is old is good, but that doesn’t mean that we should dismiss it all. We need to seek out wisdom from those who have gone before us – both the living ones and the dead ones.

I’ll be posting more on this subject.