What I'm Reading Wednesday

My friend, Brenton, has inspired me to write this post today. Like Brenton, I am teased, on occasion, for how many books I tend to be in the middle of at the same time. (It's roughly 11 right now, not counting some that have been on the back burner for far too long now - ever since I started seminary!) Part of the reason for this is that I read a variety of types of books in different ways. Brenton has a good post on this as well: Different Kinds of Reading, Different Kinds of Books.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman
          I just started listening to this audio book. I love the John Donne poem he quotes at the beginning: Song: Go and catch a falling star

"Go and catch a falling star,

    Get with child a mandrake root,

Tell me where all past years are,

    Or who cleft the devil's foot,

Teach me to hear mermaids singing,

Or to keep off envy's stinging,

  And find what wind

Serves to advance an honest mind."

I'm reading three commentaries on Galatians as I prepare to teach a Bible Study on Galatians on Thursday nights:

• Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians by N. T. Wright
• Galatians (The NIV Application Commentary) by Scot McKnight
• The College Press NIV Commentary: Galatians & Ephesians by Kenneth L. Boles

The Word in the Wilderness by Malcolm Guite

          I knew I needed to go through this book as soon as I read some of the excerpts and listened to some of the poems on Malcolm Guite's blog.

"Lent is a time to reorient ourselves, clarify our minds, slow down, recover from distraction and focus on the values of God's kingdom. Poetry, with its power to awaken the mind, is an ideal companion for such a time. This collection enables us to turn aside from everyday routine and experience moments of transfigured vision as we journey through the desert landscape of Lent and find refreshment along the way." - Amazon

Glimpses of Grace: Daily Thoughts and Reflections by Madeleine L'Engle

I love this book as devotional reading in the evening. There are passages from her fiction and non-fiction organized for daily reading. I enjoy re-reading particularly meaningful passages from The Wrinkle in Time series in this way, as well as being exposed to much of her non-fiction which I have not read yet.

The Divine Hours (Volume Two): Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime: A Manual for Prayer by Phyllis A. Tickle

The Divine Hours is a literary and liturgical reworking of the sixth-century Benedictine Rule of fixed-hour prayer. It makes primary use of the Book of Common Prayer and the writings of the Church Fathers, I am indebted to my friend Dana, for introducing me to this resource. 

Classic Christianity: A Systematic Theology by Thomas C. Oden

This is a massive book (944 pgs) that I am reading for my Basic Christian Doctrine class at Asbury.

"Written for clergy, Christian educators, religious scholars, and lay readers alike, Classic Christianity provides the best synthesis of the whole history of Christian thought." - Goodreads

Theology in the Context of World Christianity: How the Global Church Is Influencing the Way We Think about and Discuss Theology by Timothy C. Tennent

          This is another book I am reading 

for my Basic Christian Doctrine class: "While the truths of the Christian faith are universal, new contexts bring new questions, new understandings, and new expressions. What does this mean for theology? Is the Christian faith not only culturally translatable, but also theologically translatable? Timothy Tennent answers this question with a resounding yes. Theological reflection is alive and well in the majority world church, and these new perspectives need to be heard, considered, and brought into conversation with Western theologians." -Goodreads 

Between Vision and Obedience. Rethinking Theological Epistemology by George Ille

           This is on the recommended reading list for my Basic Christian Doctrine class, so I'm trying to wade through it also. This is part of the description of the book on Goodreads:

The present study seeks to respond theologically to current discussions about ideas of self from the perspective of God's action in and towards the world. Its aim is to trace a view of rationality that follows the drama of God's engagement with the world, thus involving dying and resurrection, ascesis and abundance, suffering witness and Eucharistic communion. 

Called to Teach by William R. Yount

This book is for my other class I'm taking this semester: Teaching the Bible to Youths and Adults. I'm about half-way through this one. But I will be finished with it by tomorrow night because I have to turn in a brief review of it by Thursday night!