Ten Must-Read Books

My friend John Hay inspired me to think about the 10 most influential books in my life so far.  He posted his list in a newsletter he sends out so now I've created my own.  I'd be interested to hear from my friends what your top 10 list would look like.  Here is mine:

 

10.  Life of the Beloved - Henri Nouwen.  A book that reminds me of the most basic truth of Christianity:  I am loved.  All of Nouwen’s writings speak to my heart and my head.

 

9.  The Doors of the Sea - David Bentley Hart.  I've wrestled more with what is called "the problem of evil" in my life than any other question.  No other intellectual challenge to theism seems so viscerally powerful to me as this one.  This book made me weep with its poetic beauty and philosophical reflections on the tsunami off the coast of Indonesia in late 2004.

 

8.  Life Together - Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  This is a must read for American Christians who constantly underestimate the communal nature of the Christian faith.  You’ll never see the church the same again.

 

7.  The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux.  This classic of Roman Catholic spirituality won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but reading this book was a mystical encounter with God for me as I entered into the life and struggles of this young saint and committed my own life to being a “little flower” in God’s great garden.

 

6.  Brave New World – Aldous Huxley.  Huxley still needs to be grappled with by people of faith.  His frightening portrayal of where technology and addiction to pleasure is leading humanity remains as pertinent today as when it was written.

 

5.  Surprised by Hope – N. T. Wright.  In this one book, Wright summarized much of my theological education at Asbury for three years.  The book is sweeping in scope as it examines where the church has gone wrong in its mission as a result of drifting from the historic Christian commitment to the doctrine of the resurrection of the body.

 

4.  East of Eden – John Steinbeck.  Aside from being a fantastic novel in its own right, Steinbeck explores rich themes of predestination, free will, sin, freedom, and redemption.  I couldn’t put it down.

 

3.  Exclusion and Embrace – Miroslav Volf.  How do both love and justice work together?  How can forgiveness become a reality in the midst of such massive evils like genocide?  This book does better than any I’ve ever read in calling our world toward reconciliation. 

 

2.  The Politics of Jesus – John Howard Yoder.  A fresh reading of the New Testament which allows the teachings of Jesus to take their proper place in Christian ethics.  This literally re-shaped the way I read the Bible and will continue to do so for years to come.

 

1.  The Great Divorce - C. S. Lewis.  Lewis saved my faith with this book.  I find here the only adequate account of God’s justice and God’s love in complete harmony with one another.  You can skip Rob Bell’s Love Wins and just go straight to this one.  I’ve read The Great Divorce seven times in the last decade and will read it again soon in all likelihood.

Book Review: Chuck Gutenson's "Christians and the Common Good"

How ought the Christian faith to inform political dialog and interaction?  Dr. Chuck Gutenson refuses to bow to the popular view that the gospel of Jesus Christ and modern political discussions have little or nothing to do with one another.  The gospel is inherently political in that a proper understanding of salvation will include more than a personal pass out of hell and instead embrace the redemption of all of human society.  Gutenson's method is rooted first and foremost in the Bible:  What values emerge from the biblical narrative which ought to drive our own priorities in engaging the political realities of 21st century America?  By helpfully deconstructing some of the most commonly proof-texted passages of the Bible, Gutenson frees us to engage the whole of Scripture instead of participating in the all-too-familiar games of "Bible verse ping-pong."  Fans of Walter Brueggemann, Brian McLaren, Walter Wink, Jim Wallis, Tony Campolo, and Ron Sider will be pleased with this concise, accessible introduction to God's heart for matters of social justice as revealed in Scripture.  Hopefully, Christians from both sides of the political spectrum will find in Gutenson's commitment to solid exegesis and application of Scripture a call for civil dialog and repentance from our tendency to too narrowly define God's purposes according to our own biases.  All thoughtful Christians who want to reflect biblically on a justly ordered society will do well to read this book carefully.