Great Reads from 2015, Part II

In my last post I mentioned seven of the best books that I had read in 2015. This is part two of that original list. As I stated in the original posting, these books are in no particular order. They are all wonderful and I commend them all to you, the reader, both for knowledge and for enjoyment.

The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick, 288 pages.

Philip Dick wrote this alternative history novel in 1962. The Allies have lost World War II and the Nazi's occupy the United States from the East Coast to the Rocky Mountain States. The Empire of Japan occupies the Pacific States up to the Rocky Mountains. The Rockies act as a neutral zone between these two powerful forces.

This Hugo Award winning novel was made into a steaming video series by Amazon this past year. While I immensely enjoyed the Amazon series (I read this book after binge watching the series!), this novel, to put it simply, is not the series. The storyline of the novel can be found within the series, but it is but one of many plot lines unfolding in that ten week storyline. Basically, if you love history, you'll devour this book. I read it quickly--indeed, I had a hard time putting it down!

Geneva Two: A Parable of Christian Community and Calling, by Russell D. Smith, 150 pages.

Full disclosure: I know the author of this wonderful story and consider him to be my friend. That being said, Russell Smith is one heck of a story teller. He is also a very thoughtful, deep, intentional, thinker. This book is about the concept of living in an intentionally Christian community. Geneva Two, we learn early on in the story, is an organic community living within the Cincinnati metro where many of the residents have made a decision to live as Christians. This idea may puzzle some of you reading this post-- after all, aren't a majority of Americans Christian?

The short answer to that question is that most Americans don't intentionally live their faith in a holistic fashion. While I would hesitate to classify this book in the "Utopian" genre, the author does flirt with that idea throughout. This is a fast moving story written from the perspective of a reporter who has come to Geneva Two to learn more about this unique community. He learns that Geneva Two is not a perfect place, but it is a beautiful place...HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Fools Rush In: Where Monkey Fear to Tread-Taking Aim at Everyone, by Carl R. Trueman, 241 pages.

This is a fun book. Truman is Professor of Historical Theology and Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia. He is also the host of the podcast, "The Mortification of Spin."

For those who have not been introduced to Dr. Trueman, you will need to know that he is brilliant, funny, English, Reformed, and confessional. The forward to the book, written by Rodney Trotter, perhaps sums up this book the best, "The essays, aphorisms, and brief jottings in this book are not united by any internal theme beyond being reflections, whether direct, satirical, or merely subversive, or contemporary Western and particularly American culture, especially as it bleeds into the Christian world and receives inadequate responses therein. To the literal-minded, there is much here that will simply confuse; to those who prefer emoticons rather than whole sentences with built-in irony, I would simply suggest that you look elsewhere for inspiration." (page ix).

This is a great read that is funny and will make you think. If you don't want to ponder serious issues with a touch of satire and irony, stay away from Trueman!

Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering, by Timothy Keller, 353 pages.

I first became acquainted with Dr. Keller when I read, The Reason for God several years ago. Since that time I have read several of his books and been blessed by every one of them. This particular book addresses the ancient question of theodicy. That is, why do bad things happen to seemingly good people? Or perhaps viewed through a different lens, why does God permit evil and suffering to exist?

After a thoughtful introduction by Keller, he divides this book into three sections: Part One-Understanding the Furnace; Part Two-Facing the Furnace; and Part Three-Walking with God in the Furnace.  To grab the readers attention, Dr. Keller opens this book with the following lines, "Suffering is everywhere, unavoidable, and its scope often overwhelms. If you spend one hour reading this book, more that five children throughout the world will have died from abuse and violence during that time. If you give the entire day to reading, more than one hundred children will die violently...Thousands die from traffic accidents or cancer every hour, and hundreds of thousands learn that their loves ones are suddenly gone. That is comparable to the population of a small city being swept away every day, leaving families and friends devastated in the wake..." (page 1).

If you are looking for a deep reflection on the question of pain and suffering from a distinctly Christian perspective, this book is highly recommended. Keller is not a "name it and claim it" preacher. Rather, he is a deeply compassion pastor with a heart for God and God's people. This work is immersed in Scripture, prayer, study, and reflection. It is written in lay man's prose so most people can easily handle it. It has been a blessing to me.

Robert Frost: Selected Poems, by Robert Frost, 128 pages.

I have had a love-hate relationship with poetry since I was first introduced to the genre in Mrs. Pat Aegerter's sixth grade class at Central Elementary School in Hannibal, Missouri. Mrs. Aegerter had us memorize Henry Van Dyke's America For Me as homework, which I loved. This new found love for verse followed me through junior high and high school and remained with me until my college years at Western Illinois University (Go Leathernecks!).

It was at WIU, in literature classes, that the professors began to press their political agendas into the poetry--even choosing poems that to me didn't say anything worthwhile, yet claiming they were fantastic works of prose. Crazy lefty-literature professors (and their political agenda!) drove me away from a budding love of poetry for many years. [DISCLAIMER: Dr. John Hallwas, Professor of American Literature at WIU was the sole teacher who actually grew my love of this medium. His was the sole, lonely voice in a dark plain of activism that embraced the author for who their were--not what we desired for them to be and say.]

It was not until I began reading Eugene Peterson in seminary that I rediscovered an appreciation for the great poets. Peterson pointed me to Gerard Manley Hopkins. I found Billy Collins on my own, completely by chance, and an old memory of seventh grade English class, studying "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost that brought me back to this American Titan. It has been stated that in his poetry, "Robert Frost made plainspoken men and women eloquent philosophers of the human condition." If you have an interest in "earthy" poetry and prose, I encourage you to read some Frost.

Great Reads from 2015

As 2015 finds herself winding down and finding closure with each progressively darker day, there is much on my heart and mind that I find troubling. I have not blogged for several months, I believe, because my heart is heavy regarding a number of sensitive moral, political, and religious issues that are being debated in our country today. Perhaps it would be more accurate to state that my heart is heavy regarding a lack of moral and religious considerations taking place in our political discussions today.  

Rather than dwell on those heavy subjects I have put together a list of some of the best books that I read in 2015. Please note that many of these were not written in 2015 but simply read in that year. While I read other books that were very good, these were the ones that really stood out above the others.

These books are not in any particular order other than this is the order they are stacked up on my desk next to me as I type. I welcome your thoughts on these books and any suggestions that you may have for great reading in 2016.  

Looking Through The Cross by Graham Tomlin. Dr. Tomlin, Dean of St. Mellitus College in London. 217 pages.

This book is a delightful, thought-provoking meditation on the meaning of Jesus' cross in today's complex and increasingly syncretistic religious environment. The church I serve used this book for a Lenten study this past year and it was very well received. 

Chapter titles include: The Cross and Wisdom; The Cross and Evil; The Cross and Power; The Cross and Identity; The Cross and Suffering; The Cross and Ambition; The Cross and Failure; The Cross and Reconciliation; The Cross and Life.

God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades by Rodney Stark, Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences, Baylor University. 276 pages.

This was probably my favorite book from 2015. While it is a heavily end-noted, deeply researched academic book, this text reads like an action-adventure novel. 

Over the past several years many politicians, including our president, have cited The Crusades as being one of the primary causes of radical Islamic terrorist groups hatred toward the West. The crusaders are often portrayed in the media as being little more than blood-thirsty savages hell-bent on killing the Muslim infidel, filling entire cities with rivers of blood. Dr. Stark STRONGLY refutes and rebukes that generalization of the crusaders. 

These men (and some women) left their homes, families, lands, and aristocratic responsibilities not to be killers, but to serve God. They accepted the offer of the pope to take up holy orders through military service to preserve and protect the Holy Land for Christian pilgrims. Yes, there was bloodshed--but it occurred on both sides of the battlefield. If you are looking for a book that pushes back against the popular stigmatized portrayal of the crusaders, then this is the book for you!

How Dante Can Save Your Life: The Life-Changing Wisdom of History's Greatest Poem by Rod Dreher. 300 pages.

This remarkable book is Rod Dreher's sequel to his bestselling story The Little Way of Ruthie Leming: A Southern Girl, A Small Town, and the Secret of a Good Life. If you have not read Ruthie Leming (which is a true story about his sister's battle with cancer and how his family and home community responded to her), I STRONGLY suggest you read that title first. It is a wonderful story.

Rod Dreher tells us, in this book, that he came to the topic completely by accident. He had recently moved his wife and children from Philadelphia, where he was a highly successful writer, back to his hometown of St. Francisville, Louisiana. At first everything went well, but then a deep depression set in on his life. I don't want to give the story away, but know that he began to read Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy during this traumatic experience in his life and he was forever changed.  

What is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense by Sherif Girgis, Ryan T. Anderson, and Robert P. George. 130 pages.

One of the more divisive issues facing our country today is the question of marriage. What is marriage? What constitutes a marriage? Who can be married? As an orthodox Christian who attempts earnestly to uphold the historic faith of the church, I hold to the historic definition of marriage as between one man and one woman. I realize that many of you just labeled me an intolerant bigot who hates gay people--that is unfortunate. It is also not true.  As a people, for the common good, we must learn to stop labeling people and start listening to one another. 

One thing I have noticed in various conversations I have had with people regarding marriage is that we are basically talking about two different understandings of one institution. There is the conjugal view, and the revisionist view. The conjugal vision of marriage is one that has long informed the law, along with literature, art, philosophy, religion, and social practice. The revisionist vision understands marriage as a loving, emotional bond; one distinguished by its intensity. (page 1) The authors do a very nice job of describing both views fairly--and then advocating for the conjugal understanding.

This short book is not an easy read but people with a high school reading level should be able to handle it if they work through it. I don't make that statement to sound condescending. It took me multiple efforts to work my way through the book. Whether you hold to a traditional view of marriage (conjugal) or are a revisionist, this book is worth your time and effort.

Institutes of the Christian Religion: 1541 French Edition (The First English Translation) Translated by Dr. Elsie Anne McKee. 735 pages.

As a student at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary years ago I took a class on John Calvin where we read the two volume 1559 edition of his Institutes of the Christian Religion translated by John McNeill. That edition, while a true gift to the church, is a massive tome, originally written in Latin--the language of the academy in the 16th century.

This particular edition, which was written in Calvin's native French, is a much smaller window into his this theological thought process. I did not read this book initially for fun and pleasure. Rather, I am in a theological reading seminar group sponsored by the Foundation for Reformed Theology and this is the text my group decided to study for our week together in Dubuque this past August. Dr. McKee has done a wonderful job in translating the French into easily readable English prose while protecting the thought process of Calvin.  I was blessed by both the reading and the discussion around the table regarding this book. If you are looking for an academic read that lifts up the historic faith of the church from a theologically Reformed perspective, this text is highly recommended.

Special thanks to Dr. James Goodloe IV of the Foundation, and to my seminar brothers: Will Shurley, Jim Gunn, Matt Wright, and David Webster for reading and discussing this book with me. 

God Dwells Among Us: Expanding Eden to the Ends of the Earth by Greg K. Beale and Mitchell Kim. 211 pages.

I received this book earlier in 2015 because I forgot to return my card to the IVP Book Club telling them not to send it to me as the book of the month selection. I am glad that I made that mistake...

For those unaware, Dr. Beale is among the foremost Biblical Theologians in the United States today. Biblical Theology, simply stated, is the intentional process of reading the Holy Bible as one unified story of salvation. There isn't a "Hebrew Bible" and a "Christian New Testament." Rather, there is one Bible in two testaments that both bear witness to the Lordship of Jesus, and his primary intent: to bring new creation out of the old; to restore that which has been broken through sin, both in humanity (God's greatest act of creation) as well as in the created world/cosmos.

This doctrine of new creation has been the hobby horse of Dr. Beale for many years and I have a number of his books already on my shelves. These include: Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New, The Temple and the Church's Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, The Book of Revelation (NIGTC Series) [Beale brings an amillenial perspective] and Handbook on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament: Exegesis and Interpretation.

After reading this book, it seems that the co-author, Dr. Mitchell Kim, has helped Beale to write a book that is more friendly to lay people.If you are a lay person who understands the basic storyline of the Bible I think you will find this book highly enlightening. If you are excited about the Christian faith, and want some protein (as opposed to milky fluff like Joel Oesteen) consider this book. You will be blessed!

Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee. 288 pages.

Scout is in her late twenties, Jem has died young, and Atticus is an old man.

I don't want to share much more than that if you haven't read this book yet. One of my favorite novels of all time is To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Go Set a Watchman, released fifty-five years after Mockingbird is part two of that wonderful story.

I have read all of the bad press about this book. Critics state that Lee takes the readers to places that make them emotionally uncomfortable. There is also the contention that Harper Lee didn't actually write the book at all. My thought is that if you have read To Kill a Mockingbird and felt it had any kind of impact on your life, then you need to read this book. It will take you out of your comfort zone. It will make you struggle with issues that you don't want to struggle with. It will make you think....