Someday–maybe next year, who knows?–I’ll get better about tracking the books I read. Heaven knows I read a bunch of stuff this year that has already slipped into the misty recesses of memory. But until I get my act together, I thought I’d note some books in theology and religion that stuck with me for various reasons:
- Keith Ward, The Christian Idea of God (I blogged about it here.)
- Amy Plantinga Pauw, Church in Ordinary Time (more here)
- Ben Dueholm, Sacred Signposts (more here)
- Elizabeth Johnson, Creation and the Cross
- Kira Schlesinger, Pro-Choice and Christian
- Peter Schmiechen, Saving Power
- Charles Marsh, Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (technically a biography, but rich with theological significance)
- Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love
While I don’t necessarily agree with all their conclusions, these were all books that made me think more deeply about various aspects of the Christian faith–the doctrine of God (Ward, Johnson), the mission of the church (Plantinga Pauw, Dueholm, Marsh), the nature of salvation (Johnson, Schmiechen) and ethics (Johnson, Schlesinger, Marsh).
Julian is, of course, in a category all her own. Not only did I re-read her Revelations, but I got to lead a discussion of her work at my church back in February, which was well received if I do say so myself. I currently have Denys Turner’s book on Julian on my shelf, which I’m hoping to get to sometime in the new year. And I may even remember something about it by next December.
A Thinking Reed 