Book Menu

Probably the title of this post and the last one should be swapped, but that’s the way the cookie crumbled.

I used to keep a list of books on the sidebar, books I was in the middle of, recently finished or whathaveyou. But not having the time or memory to keep up with the list, it eventually went the way of all flesh. All the same, from time to time, I like to keep a record for myself or anyone else with any interest of the books I’m working through.

I’ve just finished reading Tongues Aflame by Roger Wagner. Wagner is an OPC minister in southern California, and this work is a study of apostolic preaching in the book of Acts. Apart from the cheesy promotional lines on the back of the book, it was an enjoyable read. Nothing too startling, but a good general study of the many different kinds of sermons that ministers may be called on to preach. Probably the only area that was left untouched was the role and purpose of liturgical preaching or sermons for the worship service.

Somewhat related is Dom Gregory Dix’s The Shape of the Liturgy. I’m about a fourth of the way through this massive study of the liturgy. I’d like to put up periodic reports of particulars from this work.

I’ve also recently started Heresies by Harold O.J. (“the orange juice”) Brown. He continues to teach at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. This work is roughly a historical theology following in particular, as the title suggests, the role of heretical teaching in the development (or better) defense of orthodoxy.

You’ll have noticed several titles in the previous post which are variations on the theme of the gospel of Mark. In addition, I’m working through Mark Horne’s The Victory According to Mark. I’ve really appreciated his work. He makes a number of helpful connections and observations.

I recently finished reading through Perelandra and That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis (I had read Out of the Silent Planet outloud to my students this last spring). For a long while, I’ve insisted that Till We Have Faces is Lewis’ finest piece of fiction. However, I really need to re-read it soon since after finishing the Space Trilogy again, I’m really smitten with That Hideous… There were a number of details that I had missed in previous readings that really increased my respect and enjoyment of the story. Both the cosmology and morality woven through the story are impressive and challenging, but I think I was most struck by just how well told the story is.

Both Graven Ideologies by Bruce Ellis Benson, a Christian analysis of some significant Post Modern philosophers, and A Little Exercise for Young Theologians by Helmut Thielicke, a short treatise based on a lecture he gave to first year seminary students first published in 1962, are also on my reading pile as well.