John's January Reading

Currently Reading:

The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

I saw the 2002 film recently, and that inspired me to read the story. I had a Phoenix 60p edition (these were cheap imitations of the Penguin 60's design) on my shelf, and I started reading it before I realised it was an abridgement - chapters 3 to 6 of a twelve chapter novel. Fortunately, the whole book is available on Wikisource, so I'm reading it online now.

The Message of Zechariah by Barry Webb

I heard Barry Webb speak in Melbourne last July as part of an MTS training day, and that inspired me to preach through Zechariah. So that's what I'm currently doing on Sunday mornings at Aspendale. We're looking at Zechariah 3 this Sunday, and aim to finish the series at Easter.

Cohabitation and Marriage: A Pastoral Response by Greg Forster

Reading this book was helpful in thinking through what I mean when I say a book is biblical or not. This book is not biblical. Forster does not, for example, explain how the covenantal nature of marriage (as seen in Malachi 2:14) makes it different to cohabitation, nor does he discuss the relevance of Genesis 1 and 2. Being biblical means looking at what the Bible says is the nature and purpose of marriage. This is not to say that a biblical response needs to be unpastoral, but the subtitle of Forster's book really ought to be "A Sociological Response". Forster adopts a functional definition of marriage - examining the difference it makes socially - rather than a biblical one.

His Truth is Marching On: Advanced Studies on Prophecy in the Light of History by Ralph Woodrow

This seems to be mainly a response to premillennial dispensationalism.


Finished Recently:

The Paideia of God by Douglas Wilson

This is, I believe, the 18th book I've read by Douglas Wilson.

The Everlasting Man by G. K. Chesterton

The first half of the book deals with prehistoric man and pagan religion, and is somewhat mediocre. The second half is much better, and talks about Jesus. Although never reaching the dizzying heights of Orthodoxy, GKC does have some good things to say concerning the Church:

Tolstoy or some great preacher of peace among peasants has been shot as a mutineer for defying conscription; and a little while afterwards his few followers meet together in an upper room in remembrance of him. They never had any reason for coming together except that common memory; they are men of many kinds with nothing to bind them, except that the greatest event in all their lives was this tragedy of the teacher of universal peace. They are always repeating his words, revolving his problems, trying to imitate his character. The Pacifists meet at their Pentecost and are possessed of a sudden ecstasy of enthusiasm and wild rush of the whirlwind of inspiration, in the course of which they proceed to establish universal Conscription, to increase the Navy Estimates, to insist on everybody going about armed to the teeth and on all the frontiers bristling with artillery; the proceedings concluded with the singing of 'Boys of the Bulldog Breed' and 'Don't let them scrap the British Navy.' That is something like a fair parallel to the theory of these critics; that the transition from their idea of Jesus to their idea of Catholicism could have been made in the little upper room at Pentecost. Surely anybody's commonsense would tell him that enthusiasts who only met through their common enthusiasm for a leader whom they loved, would not instantly rush away to establish everything that he hated. No, if the 'ecclesiastical and dogmatic system' is as old as Pentecost it is as old as Christmas. If we trace it back to such very early Christians we must trace it back to Christ.

Science & Its Limits: The Natural Sciences in Christian Perspective by Del Ratzsch and No Final Conflict by Francis A. Schaeffer

I read both these books in preparation for a workshop that I ran at PYV Summer Camp on Science and Christianity. Ratzsch discusses the nature and limits of science, while Schaeffer looks at Genesis in the light of a belief in the inerrancy of Scripture.

Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels by Arthur Conan Doyle

I decided to read all four Sherlock Holmes novels as a way of preparing to see the recent movie. I had read A Study in Scarlet and The Hound of the Baskervilles a long, long time ago, but now I read The Sign of Four and The Valley of Fear for the first time. Exciting stuff.

Kara's Reading Goals for 2010

In past years, my reading goals have been a bit ambitious. The lists were too long for someone who likes picking most of her books on the spur of the moment, and there were too many weighty titles. So this year, I've chosen only twelve books, each in a different category. I've included only one or two difficult titles, and to make things simpler, I've narrowed my options by choosing only from books we already have on our shelves.

Church history

The Story of the Church by A.M. Renwick and A. M. Harman

I realized the other day that church history is an area I'm a bit weak in. I've read lots of bits and pieces, but have never read a full-length overview. I'm spurred on to remedy my weakness by the realization that for me as a Christian, church history is family history.

Biography

Girl Meets God by Lauren Winner Finished February 2010

Novel

Watership Down by Richard Adams Finished September 2010

Play

Hamlet by Shakespeare

I intend to read this in conjunction with the study notes from Peter Leithart's Brightest Heaven of Invention.

Poetry

Works of G. K. Chesterton

Children's Book

Scout: The Secret of the Swamp by Piet Prins

I wanted to read something that my husband read as a child, and he said this was a good place to start.

Science Fiction

Changing Planes by Ursula Le Guin Finished March 2010

Biblical Exposition

Wrestling with God: Lessons from the Life of Jacob by J. Douglas MacMillan

Education

Repairing the Ruins: The Classical and Christian Challenge to Modern Education by Douglas Wilson Finished August 2010

I read Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning years ago, and it was instrumental in forming my ideas about education. In this title, I hope to learn more about the specifics of the classical method.

Marriage

One Flesh: A Practical Guide to Honeymoon Sex and Beyond by Amelia and Greg Clarke Finished January 2010

Theology

To a Thousand Generations: Infant Baptism - Covenant Mercy to the Children of God by Douglas Wilson

Having recently joined the Presbyterian church, I want to develop my knowledge of the theology behind paedobaptism. I chose this particular book for two reasons: it is written specifically for readers of Baptist background (like myself), and it is by one of my favourite authors.

Book about Books

Soul Survivor: How Thirteen Unlikely Mentors Helped My Faith Survive the Church by Philip Yancey Finished January 2010

The mentors mentioned in the subtitle are authors such as Chesterton, Donne and Tolstoy.

2009 Books: The (almost) complete list

It's time to post another list of books I've read in the past twelve months.

I've included links to the books I reviewed here on the blog.

Passionate Housewives Desperate for God -- Stacy MacDonald and Jennie Chancey

Nothing particularly new to me here. I thought the story bookends were a bit superfluous.

Created to Be His Helpmeet -- Debbie Pearl

I don't really get what all the fuss is about. But then, maybe I was brought up in a patriarchal culture.

Intended for Pleasure --Ed Wheat

By far the best of the books my mom and I read together prior to my marriage. Very helpful preparation for marital intimacy.

Confessions --St. Augustine

John and I read this together while we were courting. I was struck by Augustine's humility.

Sketches of Home --Suzanne Clark

Black and Tan --Douglas Wilson

The Complete Stories --Dorothy Sayers

Finally, I've read all the short stories, including Montague Egg.

Persuasions --Douglas Wilson

Primeval Saints --James Jordan

84 Charing Cross Rd --Helene Hanff

Young, Restless, Reformed --Collin Hansen

Subtitled "A journalist's journey with the new Calvinists". I enjoyed reading about young people who are excited about the reformed faith.

Cold Comfort Farm --Stella Gibbon

Meet the Austins --Madeleine L'Engle

Fahrenheit 451 --Ray Bradbury

Disturbing.

Lincoln's Dreams --Connie Willis

Perhaps more disturbing! But I did enjoy it.

Publish and Perish --Sally S. Wright

From the Holy Mountain --William Dalrymple

The Daughter of Time -- Josephine Tey

The Paradoxes of Mr. Pond --G.K. Chesterton

Reaching Forward: From a Rich Heritage to a Certain Goal --Allan and Mairi Harman

Radical Refomission --Mark Driscoll

Her Father's Daughter --Gene Stratton Porter

I have to say I was quite shocked at the white supremacist philosophy expressed throughout Her Father's Daughter. That, and the fact that the story is overlong, makes this my least favourite of Porter's books.

The Labours of Hercules --Agatha Christie

A Murder is Announced --Agatha Christie

Glorious Things, A Protestant's Guide to London --Bob Thomas

Sheriff's Badge --Rebekah Brown

Bound for Glory --R. C. Sproul, Jr.

Death and Restoration --Iain Pears

Invisible Forms --Kevin Jackson

A Study in Scarlet --Arthur Conan Doyle

20 books John plans to read in 2010

Jean inspired me with her list of books to read in 2010.

Four novels:

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen 22nd January - 4th December

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin 6th - 14th March

My brother will probably be surprised that I haven't read this... but I received it as a Sinterklaas present from Kara, so I have no excuse now.

Bachelors Anonymous by P. G. Wodehouse 7th - 8th January

This is one of ten Wodehouse books that Kara brought into our marriage. :)

Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle 7th - 11th January

I've been getting back into Sherlock Holmes lately - maybe as a result of the recently released film. I read all the short stories when I was a kid, but I hadn't read this novel.

Four books of theology or Biblical studies:

Four Gospels, One Jesus: A Symbolic Reading by Richard Burridge 3rd January - 11th February

Three Views on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament 14th February - 16th May

This will be the third book I've read in Zondervan's Counterpoints series - and this is an important subject.

The Drama Of Doctrine: A Canonical-Linguistic Approach To Christian Theology by Kevin Vanhoozer Commenced 5th September

Deep Exegesis by Peter Leithart 27th May - 2nd July

I've read half a dozen books by Leithart now, and enjoyed every one.

Four books to help me in my work as a pastor:

Quitting Church: Why the Faithful Are Fleeing and What to Do about It by Julia Duin 1st - 10th May

Preaching That Speaks to Women by Alice Mathews 16th May - 30th June

This looks like a book that's worth reading, but I really don't know if I will agree with it at all. After all, Steve Schlissel says, "Preaching should be self-consciously directed to the men of the covenant... Preach to women, have women; preach to men, have men, women and children."

Church and the Older Person by Robert Gray and David Moberg 7th November - 15th December

Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman 13th November - 9th December

No, this isn't a book that discusses the need for evangelism - rather, it examines how we can evangelize by asking questions. "It worked for Jesus; it will work for you," proclaims the back cover.

Four more Christian books:

Wages of Spin by Carl Trueman 11th June - 18th July

I really liked Trueman's Minority Report, which I read a few months ago. I also heard Trueman speak in Melbourne last winter, and he was excellent.

Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller 7th - 30th January

This is by the author of Blue Like Jazz, which was great, and Searching for God Knows What, which was pretty good. I also read Miller's blog.

The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life by Joan Chittister 24th January - 20th March

This is a review copy from Thomas Nelson's Book Review Blogger scheme.

Brave New Family: G. K. Chesterton on Men and Women, Children, Sex, Divorce, Marriage and the Family 9th April - 19th June

This will be, I believe, the 18th book I've read by GKC. It's a fairly recent compilation of essays.

Four other books:

The Diary of Anne Frank Commenced 20th December

The Two Cultures by C. P. Snow 30th July - 13th August

The two cultures Snow refers to are the humanities and the sciences. He argues that our society's intellectual life is characterized by a division between the two.

Poincaré's Prize: The Hundred-Year Quest to Solve One of Math's Greatest Puzzles by George Szpiro Commenced 12th November

It's been a while since I've read a book on mathematics. This is about the Poincaré conjecture, the only one of the so-called Millennium Prize Problems to be solved.

The Unprejudiced Palate: Classic Thoughts on Food and the Good Life by Angelo Pellegrini 1st February - 30th April

Now that I live on gourmet food, I thought I might as well read about it. According to the back cover, this book "inspired a seismic culinary shift in how America eats."

Book giveaway at Kingdom People

Trevin Wax at Kingdom People is having his annual book giveaway at the moment. Trevin is giving away his ten favourite books of 2009 to one lucky winner. With interesting titles like The God Who Smokes and unpronouncable authors such as Tullian Tchividjian, this stack is a treasure trove for Reformed Christians.

To enter, subscribe to Trevin's blog, and send him an email.

John's December Reading

Currently Reading:

My Soul Magnifies the Lord: Meditations on the meaning of Christmas by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

This book consists of four expositions on the Magnificat - Mary's song in Luke 1. I've been reading one chapter in each Sunday of Advent.



Powers by John B. Olson

I received a copy of this as part of LibraryThing's Early Reviewers scheme. Stay tuned for the full-length review coming soon.

Science and Christianity: Four Views edited by Richard F. Carlson

This book is published by IVP, in apparent imitation of Zondervan's Counterpoints series. I'm reading this in preparation for a workshop I will be running at PYV Summer Camp on "Can I be a Christian and believe in science?"

The Faithful Sayings in the Pastoral Letters by George W. Knight III

I am in the middle of a series on the faithful sayings in the Aspendale evening services. Five times in the pastoral epistles (I & II Timothy and Titus), Paul says "this is a faithful [or, "trustworthy"] saying. The first one in particular is a great Christmas text: "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief," (1 Timothy 1:15)

Finished Recently:

The Path to Rome by Hilaire Belloc

Rather than being the story of Belloc's conversion (he was a life-long Catholic), this is a travel book, written in 1902. Read the book online here.

Belloc undertakes to walk from Toul (in France) to Rome. He does end up cheating, however - twice he catches a train, and twice he hitches a ride on a cart. Here is a Google map of Belloc's trip - I would love to follow in his footsteps one day. By car, of course - it's a 22 hour trip:



Dark Fire by C. J. Sansom

This is the sequel to Dissolution, which I read on my honeymoon. There are currently four books in this series of historical mystery novels, featuring a hunchbacked lawyer as the hero. "Dark Fire" is another name for Greek fire, the long-lost formula of which, in the book, has apparently been rediscovered.

Bound for Glory: A Practical Handbook for Raising a Victorious Family by R. C. Sproul, Jr.

This is the fourth and probably the best book I've read by R. C. Sproul Jr. This has some challenging things to say about Christian family life - and although I have read a fair bit on this subject, I found much in the book that I hadn't thought about before. For example, Sproul argues that a church Session can function as a sort of "court of appeal" for a wife (p. 93):

My wife and I have a dispute. We are not agreeing. I am asking her to do something she doesn't think we ought to be doing. So she goes to court. The court she comes to however, is the church, not the state. That I am not Jesus is painfully apparent. But here, in a church that is willing to exercise discipline and recognizes its rightful calling in these circumstances, she has protection.

The Old Church Book by Robin Langley Summer

This is coffee table book of churches in North America. Although it was a bit frustrating that not all the churches discussed were pictured, I was particularly interested in what it said about revival styles (Greek, Gothic, Romanesque), since they are also to be found in Australia. So, for example, when Kara and I visited Hobart last month, we saw St George's, Battery Point (left) whose pillars are clearly Greek revival. Notice the (architectural!) similarities to the United First Parish Church, Quincy, Massachusetts (right) which is one of the churches featured in the book:

John's November Reading

Currently Reading:

Face to Face: Meditations on Friendship and Hospitality by Steve Wilkins

I'm reading this with Kara. We're both keen on extending our hospitality over the next few years, and hopefully this book will help us to think theologically about the subject.

Preach or Perish, edited by Donald Howard

I like usually to have a book of preaching on the go, and this is a good one. Most of the contributions come from Sydney Anglicans, but there are a few Presbyterians in it as well.

1 Samuel by David Jobling

I've been preaching through 1 Samuel in our evening services at Aspendale, and this book has stimulated my thinking. Jobling provides us a good example of where liberal assumptions can take us in biblical interpretation - if the Bible is only a fallible record of human experience, there is no reason to believe it contains an accurate portrayal of God. Sure enough, Jobling believes that 1 Samuel portrays God as childish and irrational (p. 84). Despite this outrageous statement, Jobling raises some important questions that do need to be answered. For example, why does David remain king despite all his sin, whereas Saul is rejected after a trifling offence? Jobling puts it down to God's inconsistency, but there is a better explanation: the LORD made an everlasting covenant with David (2 Samuel 23:5), whereas he did not make one with Saul. All in all, this is a potentially dangerous book, and not one I can recommend to readers of this blog.

Teaching the Trivium: Christian Homeschooling in a Classical Style by Harvey and Laurie Bluedorn

This is a classic example of a controversial book. It has 29 reviews on Amazon: 17 give it five stars, while 10 give it 1 star.

Kara and I are planning to homeschool our kids, and this book looks like it's going to be very useful in helping us plan a curriculum.


Finished Recently:

Aussie Pilgrim's Progress by Kel Richards

This book is almost better than the original. I avoided getting Richards' Aussie Bible, but at just $3 at Borders, this was too good to pass up. I read it to Kara, and had the dual pleasure of sharing a devotional book with her, and teaching her the Australian language.

At a couple of places, Richards makes some positive theological adjustments to Bunyan's text. In Hopeful's account of his conversion, Richards includes an explanation of the Big Swap. In the original version, Hopeful has to wait for Christ to reveal himself to him, which he does in a special revelation to his soul, but in Richards' version, all Hopeful (or "Trusty", as he is now) has to do is pray a short simple prayer and really mean it, and he has made the first step on a lifelong journey.

The Sermon on the Mount: An Evangelical Exposition of Matthew 5-7 by Don Carson

I've just finished preaching through these chapters in our morning services, and this book was quite helpful. Not Carson's best, (that would be A Call to Spiritual Reformation) but still very good.

The Deceiver by Frederick Forsyth

Another spy novel, better than the one I read last month.

Miniatures and Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen by Peter Leithart

As the subtitle suggests, this book doesn't just look at Jane Austen from a Christian perspective - it actually argues that her novels are Christian. It has be admitted, however, that we don't know much about Austen's personal faith.

I must confess, I did not read all of this book - just the introductory chapter, and the two chapters on the two Jane Austen books I have read: Pride and Prejudice and Emma. But Leithart has encouraged me to keep on reading through the Austen corpus. Next stop: Mansfield Park, which Leithart claims is Austen's most theological novel.