Books I Read in 2017

I have used Goodreads' feature for the last couple of years to share what I have read in a year.  However, I cannot distinguish specifically what types of books that I have read.  So, here is what I have read categorically in 2017.  I hope you find some inspiration here!

- Fiction

• **Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale
• *Philip Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
• Philip Dick, The Man in the High Castle
• T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland and Other Writings
• James Hannah, The A to Z of You and Me
• *Madeline L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time
• John LeCarre, Our Kind of Traitor
• Dennis Lehane, Live by Night
• Cormac McCarthy, Child of God
• *Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men
• Arthur Miller, Broken Glass
• **George Orwell, 1984
• Philip Roth, The Plot Against America
• William Shakespeare, Macbeth
• *William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing
• William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
• Jeff Vandermeer, Annihilation

- Biblical Studies

• *David Bartlett, Romans
• *Dave Bland, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon
• *Charles Cousar, Reading Galatians, Philippians and 1 Thessalonians
• **Peter Enns, The Bible Told Me So
• Beverly Gaventa, First and Second Thessalonians
• Robert Jewett, The Thessalonian Correspondence 
• Derek Kidner, The Message of Ecclesiastes
• Thomas Mann, Deuteronomy
• Bonnie Thurston, Reading Ephesians, Colossians and 2 Thessalonians
• N.T. Wright, Galatians and Thessalonians
• N.T. Wright, Romans, Part One: Romans 1-8
• N.T. Wright, Romans, Part Two: Romans 9-16

- Education

• *Lorrie Blair, Writing a Graduate Thesis or Dissertation
• Leisyte and Wilkesmann, Organizing Academic Work in Higher Education
• *Stabile and Ershler, Constructivism Revisited in the Age of Social Media
• *Ernest Stringer, Action Research
• Marshall Welch, Engaging Higher Education

- Ministry

• *Herring and Elton, Leading Congregations and Nonprofits in a Connected World
• Ron Susek, Firestorm
• **Thomas Tumblin, AdMinistry

- Preaching/Communication

• *Jeffrey Arthurs, Preaching with Variety
• Decker and York, Speaking with Bold Assurance
• Gonzalez and Jimenez, Pulpito
• *Hogan and Reid, Connecting with the Congregation
• Eunjoo Mary Kim, Preaching the Presence of God
• *Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media
• Lane Sebring, Preaching Killer Sermons
• Frank A. Thomas, They Like To Never Quit Praisin' God

- Psychology/Leadership

• *Brene Brown, Daring Greatly
• *Angela Duckworth, Grit
• **Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
• *Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed
• Sebastian Junger, Tribe

- Theology (Systematic, Spiritual)

• *Bland and Webb, Creation, Character, and Wisdom
• *Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Creation and Fall/Temptation
• **David Congdon, The God Who Saves
• *Zach Hoag, The Light is Winning
• Kyle Idleman, Grace is Greater
• *Kelly Kapic, Embodied Hope
• *C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed
• *Kevin C. Neese, The Gospel According to Star Trek
• John Walton, The Lost World of Adam and Eve
• Lisa Whittle, 5-Word Prayers
• *Brian Zahnd, Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God

- Miscellaneous

• Harriot Castor, Starting Chess
• *Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law

The books marked with an (*) are the ones that I enjoyed a little more, and the ones marked with an (**) were my favorites from 2017.  What did you read?  Did you read any that I did?  What recommendations do you have?  Leave your comments below or connect with me on Twitter.  And happy reading in 2018!

Book Review: 'Near Christianity' by Anthony Le Donne

While I was working on my doctorate, I traveled back and forth between Huntington, West Virginia (where I lived), and Memphis, Tennessee (where I was attending).  On one of my flights to Memphis, I was seated next to an older gentlemen who was traveling to Memphis for business.  He was a lawyer from Boston, and was traveling to Memphis for a board meeting at St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.  As we begin talking during the flight, the question of religion eventually came up.  He discerned quite easily that I was a Christian, probably by noting what I was reading.  He, then, noted that he was Jewish.  As we continued talking, we noted the number of areas that we had in common—a love for God, a respect for creation, a concern for ethical living and social justice, and a desire to meditate on Scripture.  He shared with me that his daily practice was quite simple: Every morning, he rose and read a Psalm.  He would then pray for moral guidance throughout the day.  Not long after, it time to secure our trays and refasten our seat belts.

Ironically, my daily devotional practice is similar: I rise, read a psalm and pray for guidance throughout the day.  The only difference between my Jewish traveling companion and myself is that he is Jewish and I am Christian.  On one hand, my practice of Christianity is the logical continuation of the Jewish religion, as defined by the New Testament (or Christian Bible).  On the other hand, my practice of Christianity is a divergence from orthodox Jewish faith, as defined by the Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible).  The question is not necessarily who is correct but can we (Jews and Christians) have open and engaging dialogues about the similarities and differences in our understandings of faith.

This is where Anthony Le Donne’s book comes into play.  A New Testament professor at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, Le Donne is an emerging prolific author who focuses his research on the historical character and mission of Jesus.  As such, Le Donne spends much of his time dialoguing with both Jewish and Christian scholars.  And this volume serves, somewhat, as a summary of the conversations that he has had with both his Jewish and Christian dialogue partners, conversations that are becoming more and more nuanced as scholars and religious teachers continue flowing towards a more inclusive acceptance of one another.

Le Donne finds himself in a quandary.  He was raised in a fairly conservative religious home, one that ingrained a more black-and-white understanding of the relationship between the Jewish and Christian religions.  [Having come from the same denominational tradition, I can certainly “Amen” many of his concerns.]  Armed with a doctorate in New Testament and Christian studies and the humble attitude of a student, Le Donne sought out on a journey to discover the complex and rich nature of the Jewish religion and how Christianity has been deeply influenced by it.  In engaging in these conversations, Le Donne found his faith in God growing deeper as he embraced the values of honesty, integrity, humor and tolerance that undergird modern Jewish faith.  He finds himself growing in faith by living on the “borders” of Jewish and Christian spirituality.

Overall, I enjoyed this volume.  Although it could have easily been constructed as a series of lectures, it is not.  It is crafted more like conversations with over coffee or a meal.  Whether it be a dinner group that has come together to discuss connections between Jewish and Christian adherents, Le Donne is transparent in his concerns and his limitations.  He does not present himself as an expert on these “borders,” nor does he bring theological judgment against either side.  Instead, he offers a model of transparent tolerance and open dialogue with those who stand on the borders of particular religions and (perhaps) faith in general.