Christian Reading

I received the Presbyterian Women's little catalog, "Best Books for Presbyterian Women," this week. There are some good books offered. For instance N.T. Wright's series, "For Everyone" is very good and easy reading. And although I haven' read it I Want To Live These Days With You: A Year of Daily Devotions, taken from the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, should be very devotional without being sentimental.

But such books as Jack Rogers' Jesus, the Bible and Homosexuality, and Douglas F. Ottati's Theology for Liberal Presbyterians and Other Endangered Species, were offered without counter arguments. These are books for some Presbyterian women without alternative books for other Presbyterian woman.

A Multitude of Blessings: A Christian Approach to Religious Diversity by Cynthia Campbell, which pushes pluralism, is listed under "Support the Mission of the Church Worldwide ."

Reading through this list I thought of a lot of books I would like to recommend to women and men in the Presbyterian Church USA. So here is the first "Naming His Grace," list of books.

PW's list begins with, "Nurture Faith through Prayer and Bible Study," and I will begin there also. And I will begin with Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Sylvia Dooling, President of Voices of Orthodox Women recommended this book to me.

• Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christmas Sermons. Editor, Edwin Robertson, Grand Rapids: Zondervan 2005.

This book gleams with devotional care in the midst of crisis. The sermons are placed in a sequence according to the years and the events happening in Bonhoeffer's life. There is also historical and theological value here because any time an orthodox believer addresses an issue in the midst of a crisis the reader often will experience deep clarity on issues.

For instance, on the coming of Christ, you have this passage written sometime between 1938-40. It was a time when the confessing seminary had been closed by the Nazis and sermons were written down and passed around. Bonhoeffer wrote of the fearfulness of those who rejected Christ at his coming and then he wrote:

"They [The congregation of Christ's people], know he comes to redeem them. They are like miners who have been trapped in the depths of the mine, who have suffered long, shut up in the dark, who hear the knocking and the breaking down of the walls coming closer. Is it the final caving-in of the mine or is the rescuer coming? 'lift up your heads because your redemption is drawing near.' For Christians this world is like a fetter, it is too narrow for them. 'Dearest Lord Jesus, why do you wait so long? Come, Lord! Here on earth, I am so frightened.' The earth, its suffering and temptation makes us anxious, but Christ makes us glad, he brings redemption."(133)

• High King of Heaven: Aspects of Early English Spirituality. Benedicta Ward. Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications 1999.

There are a lot of Celtic Spirituality books being published. Some of them promote an alternative spirituality. This one is a bit dated but good for two reasons. It deals with history which clarifies the issues, but it is also devotional in that it lifts up the true aspects of early English Spirituality.

Ward writing in the chapter "Anglo-Saxon Prayer," looks at some of the writings of Alcuin (735-804) on the psalter. Her quote:

"In the psalter to the end of your life you have material for reading, scrutinizing and teaching; in it you find the prophets, the evangelists, the apostles and all the divine books spiritually and intellectually treated and described and the first and second coming of the Lord in prophecy. You will find both the incarnation and the passion, resurrection and ascension of the Lord and all the power of divine words in the psalms if you peruse them with the intent of the mind and you will come by the grace of God to the marrow of intellectual understanding."

• Ecstasy and Intimacy: When the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit. Edith M. Humphrey. Forward by Eugene H. Peterson. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing 2006.

This is a trustworthy book on spirituality in the midst of other books which confuse the human spirit and human experience with the Holy Spirit and God's revelation.

My next listing moves away from the PW's list. I want to recomend a book that deals in an orthodox manner with Reformed Faith.

• Encountering God: Christian Faith in Turbulent Times. Andrew Purves and Charles Partee. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press 2000.

Andrew Purves and Charles Partee are both professors at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, as is Dr. Humphrey above. One of the joys of this book is that both Dr. Purves and Dr. Partee each share their experence of the Lord.

Then they go on to write about issues of faith such as "The Lordship of Christ," and "The Fatherhood of God."

Under "A Mid-Course Reflection," they write:

"The ferocious fights over doctrine that mark so much of the church's history were conducted not for the sake of a rigid orthodoxy, but for the sake of the needful discipline of true faith for the people of God. All doctrinal theology is eventually and inevitably pastoral theology. We are called, then, to doctrinal and theological commitments. Dangerous shoals reside on both sides of the ark of salvation. Conservatives, who ship out under colors of confessionalism, can easily sail into unlovely legalism. Liberals, who steam along with a passion for justice and ethics, may quickly veer off into antinomianism." (61)

Some of the books listed in the PW's catalog are on justice and economic issues. And they do not offer any alternatives pointing away from the extreme liberal viewpoint. I will offer a couple of alternatives.

I have not read the book yet, I have a pile of tomes ahead of the book, but Michael Kruse of Kruse Kronicle recommended this so I could hopefully understand economics a little better.

• Bulls, Bears & Golden Calves: Applying Christian Ethics in Economics. John E. Stapleford. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.

Also I will recommend a very ancient book by a church father, St. John Chrysostom.

• On Wealth and Poverty, St John Chrysostom.

For two good lists of books and even movies go to my web site, Naming The Grace at Books and Movies I Recommend, and to VOW's at VOW's List of Recommended Reading.