February Reading Report

It has been a good month to read. I hope that you have taken advantage of some of the inclement weather to spend more time in a good book or books.

Much of the work of ministry is reading. In addition to the following books there is an ongoing process of reading, reviewing, taking notes, comparing, assessing and incorporating reading materials for preaching. Some is informative some is for illustrative purposes. Currently I am preaching from Matthew so there is constant reference to multiple commentaries, periodical literature, monographs, lexical materials and other relevant resources. 

So, after a long day of reading in my study I like to go home and read whilst watching a ball game or some other type of diversionary activity. The following summarizes February.

The Two Georges

This is a work of alternative history by Harry Turtledove and…Richard Dreyfuss. Just a little candy to occupy my mind on cold winter nights. I have read this book countless times. Its premise is that the American Revolution never took place. George Washington went to England, met with King George and averted revolution. In the book a famous painting (The Two Georges) representing their meeting is stolen from an exhibition in New Liverpool (Los Angeles) and the book follows Thomas Bushell and his adjutant Samuel Stanley on numerous adventures to recover the painting. 

This book has some of the best descriptions of food, dining, the process of dining, the eating and/or consuming of food you will ever read. It is always interesting to consider how things are from the perspective of how they could have been.

Too Big to Know

Weinberger, David Basic Books. Another foray into “popular” epistemology. The premise of the book (to simplify) is that the internet is rewiring our brains. We have replaced thinking deeply and thoroughly with skimming the top of knowledge. This is made possible by the velocity of information which now comes at us as well as the inability anyone has to filter the flood.

The heart of his premise is that the network itself is now smarter than any individual which is a part of the network. This dovetails with last month’s reading of The Death of Expertise. If the room itself is smarter than anyone in the room, if the individuals in the network together have more knowledge than any possible expert then most of our assumptions about knowledge, how it is acquired and where  it is to be gotten need to be rethought. 

American Nations

Woodward, Colin American Nations: A History of the Eleven Regional Cultures of North America. Viking, New York, 2011. 

If you want to understand the current political landscape of our country. If you want to understand why New York and Los Angeles have so much in common or why living in Southern Illinois is pretty much the same as living in west Tennessee. READ THIS BOOK.

The premise. He whose culture arrives first controls the culture going forward. I had seen the map reprinted on the Internet and had a basic understating of the principles he is discussing but tracing these “nations” from their foundation to the current role they each play in our fractured political landscape was a true eye-opener. You will not agree with solutions and it may be that he gets a little preachy at times…but OH, my goodness.

Awakening the Evangelical Mind

Strachen, Owen. Awakening the Evangelical Mind: An Intellectual History of the Neo-Evangelical Movement. Grand Rapids, Zondervan. 2015.

Knocked this one off the day the big blizzard hit. It was an interesting read focusing on Harold Okenga, Carl F.H. Henry and their colleagues who studied and worked around Harvard in the mid-twentieth century. They went from evangelical students in the sometimes hostile campuses of the east coast to being the driving force behind the institutional growth of Ne0-Evangelicalism beyond the narrow structures of Fundamentalism. 

A good read. Found out some stuff I did not know. Would recommend. There were spots where it got a little hagiographical. 

The Benedict Option

Dreher, Rod. The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation. Penguin/Random House, New York. 2017. 

Premise, the culture war is lost. Our job is not to save the culture but to be the practicing Church in such a way that we can maintain fidelity to our witness as our world increasingly turns to barbarism. The best way to do this is to adopt a monastic approach to living in the PostChristian World. This involves intentionally living in such a way that we are able to be pure and focused as the world goes to hell in a handbasket. Of critical importance is the Church (in any tribal/denominational flavor) resisting the mindset that we must become like the culture to minister to it. 

I have been wanting to read this book for a long time. There is some intersection in my own developing thoughts about culture and the author’s. In the end whether we use a monastically derived model or simply describe our practice as truly being the incarnate presence of Christ it is abundantly clear that the Church must stop being a mere adjunct of culture and reclaim our place separate and apart from the world as a place where God’s voice-And His voice alone is heard.

A Month of Reading…

So. I hope that is helpful. I just try to read a little every day. My little and yours may be quite different. I am able to sustain reading of books I call “candy” while doing several other things. If I am reading in my study I try and stay more focused and “work reading” generally requires some kind of note-taking. My recommendation; be thirsty my friends! Spend time in God’s Word so that scripture can order the categories through which you see the world.