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Book Giveaway at Everyday Theology

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Brotherly Wisdom: Lewis on Your Reading List

"It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between."
-C.S. Lewis in his introduction to St. Athanasius' De Incarnatione Verbi Dei

Last year I decided to put into practice the brotherly wisdom shared by Dr. Lewis. This advice works well for me, since I treat books much like a multi-course meal. I cannot move on to one course until I've completely finished the previous one. (There was one exception to this rule in 2010...sorry, Sam.) My experience in doing this was wonderful, and I highly recommend it to everyone. Four suggestions I would make coming out of 2010:
1. Read the Bible cover-to-cover in a relatively short period of time. I read it during Lent (40 days, plus Sundays), which amounted to 22 pages/day in my NIV thinline Bible. There are tons of reading plans out there, Chronological, Biographical, Topical, etc., but cover-to-cover, or you might say Canonical, can't be beat. I believe there is a reason the Bible is bound the way it is.
2. Use free resources for the older books. Most older books are in the public domain, which means the text itself is free. As a result websites like ccel.org can offer them free of charge.
3. Utilize your commute. Listening to books can be a beneficial way to pass the time in the car or at the gym, and can actually make the time pass more quickly. Christianaudio.com offers a free download of a professionally produced audiobook every month. Librivox.org has a huge audio library of public domain literature (read by amateurs) for free.
4. Broaden your definition of "old." I once heard a friend refer to the Puritan Era (400 years ago) as "the Early Church." This would be the equivalent of a 70 year old man referring to his late 50's as his childhood. Folks, our family tree is a lot taller than we think, and honestly, things are a lot flimsier out on the limbs. The branches are much stronger closer to the trunk, and we do well to spend some time there.

Below are the books I read in 2010, in order (I think):
Origen, On First Principles (I think I started this one in 2009)
Hans Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method
The Holy Spirit, The Bible
Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies
J.I. Packer, Knowing God (Summer Staff book)
Joshua Harris, Dug Down Deep (TAG Team book)
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Audiobook)
Kevin DeYoung, Just Do Something
Jaroslav Pelikan, The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600)
Daniel Treier, Introducing Theological Interpretation of Scripture
Augustine of Hippo, On Christian Doctrine (Audiobook)
Robert Letham, The Holy Trinity
John Calvin, Of Prayer and the Christian Life (Audiobook)
Justin Martyr, First Apology
Justin Martyr, Second Apology

*It may appear that I failed to keep Lewis' standard, but if you consider that the work by Origen actually consists of four books, and the work of Irenaeus five, I actually came out a little heavy on the old book side.

What did you read this year? What recommendations do you have for 2011?

Brotherly Wisdom

"I've often reflected on the rather obvious thought that when his disciples were about to have the world collapse in on them, our Lord spent so much time in the Upper Room speaking to them about the mystery of the Trinity. If anything could underline the necessity of Trinitarianism for practical Christianity, that must surely be it!"
-Sinclair Ferguson, in a person email to Robert Letham (cited in The Holy Trinity, p. 375)

Two things scare us away from considering the Trinity as a practical truth of the Bible:
1. Its status as a "mystery." We think a doctrine's being mysterious excludes it from our contemplation and adoration. (Note how many prayers of our could easily be prayed by Jesus Only Pentacostals, and how many of our hymns and praise songs could be sung to a unitarian god) Add to this the fact that the cross is a mystery, and we must conclude that a. we've overestimated our ability to comprehend the cross or b. mysteries can be and, in fact, do belong at the heart of a vibrant faith in an ineffable God.
2. A cultural separation between academic and devotional knowledge. (Historians, I know, our culture didn't create this, Scholasticism and then the Enlightenment did, but it thrives in our atheological climate.) Somewhere, someone started the ridiculous notion that there are some truths of the Bible that belong exclusively to seminary professors and academics. Nevermind the fact that they will nurture your faith, enrich your prayers, and vivify your affections for a God who so loved the world that He gave His Son so believers in Him could have His Spirit, the Giver of Life...you can't have those truths, they belong in the academy, and if they escape and creep their way into sermons, devotional materials, or favorite evangelistic Bible verses, those materials will become stale and cold.
I suggest an alternative. Worship, pray to, and know the God of the Bible. The God(the Father) in whose Light(the Spirit) we see Light(the Son). Ps. 36:9

Brotherly Wisdom: Niebuhr on the Source of American Propserity

"From the [Puritans' days] to this it has remained one of the most difficult achievements for our nation to recognize the fortuitous and the providential element in our good fortune. If either moral pride or the spirit of rationalism tried to draw every element in an historic situation into rational coherence, and persuades us to draw a direct continuity between our good fortune and our virtue and skill, we will inevitably claim more for our contribution to our prosperity than the facts warrant." Reinold Niebuhr, The Irony of American History, p. 48.

I've often been impressed with the Christian double talk that refers to their material wealth as their "being blessed," but clings tightly to those resources as if they belonged to them...as if they earned them. Allow me illustrate. It's no mystery that my family lives on support from generous donors. What would my supporters think if I bought a Corvette? Whose money am I spending on that Corvette? Would it be more appropriate for one of my supporters to buy a Corvette? Why? Whose money are they spending?

Brotherly Wisdom

"The measure of church effectiveness has to be different than 'Do people like it?' and 'Are more people coming?' Radically different."
-Mike Holmes

Mike Holmes is neither the CNN anchor nor (as you might expect from this blog) the NT and patristics scholar from Bethel. He is my former ministry leader and mentor. I love this statement because too often "effectiveness" is evaluated on these bases, however, the question is begged, "What is the measure of church effectiveness?" And yet the language of effectiveness itself, I think, betrays a cultural bent. The church is seldom evaluated on the basis of what it is. Rather, the starting point always seems to be what it does (or should do). A lot of ink has been spilled as of late over the "purpose" of the church. Very little on the nature of the church. Is this valid?