Book catch-up

Happy New Year...belatedly.

For those who still catch up on the occasional posts that appear here, I thought I'd give a pointer to an interesting post reviewing (mostly in brief) a bunch of books that the reviewer thought worthy of commendation from his past year's reading.

Byron Borger (I think that's the person who's written the post) runs a Christian bookshop in Dallastown, Central Pennsylvania; it's nominally Presbyterian, but like OC Books (which also began life as a Presbyterian bookshop) he's wide open to Christians of all denominations.  However, this isn't a plug for the shop, but for the books he's commending in his post, which has been done in something of a rush by the look of it, as there are a number of typos scattered throughout (!)

Be that as it may, this list is well worth checking up on, because even if you don't go as wholeheartedly for the whole collection as he does.  There are several books in the list that I've either had my eye on for a while or now plan to get - pensioner's finances willing - and I'm sure you'll find something of interest there too.

N T Wright makes the cut (dare I say, of course) as does Rob Bell (though it seems that the study guide to Love Wins may be even more interesting than the original book, given its list of contributors).   Abraham Kuyper gets a look in twice, Richard Mouw is there, Tim Keller, Philip Jenkins, Craig Bartholomew, Walter Brueggemann, Scot McKnight, and Richard Hays.

Then there are a bunch of authors whose names I don't know (I might if I was still running the bookshop!) but whose books look very intriguing, and there's a variety of publishing houses, well-known and unknown.   The range of topics is broad, and there should be at least one book to satisfy every taste - for me there'd be far more than one book.

Here's the link: Hearts & Minds Bookstore

The Fabric of Faithfulness

I haven't read the book, The Fabric of Faithfulness: weaving together belief and behaviour, by Steve Gerber, but based on the double review by Byron Borger, in which he classes it (in its reprint edition) as the book of the decade, I'm certainly going to check it out.

Borger notes: The Fabric of Faithfulness is a splendid resource even if one doesn't work with young adults or new Christians. It is well worth reading for the sheer joy of walking through a near barrage of contemporary Christian authors (from the prophetic social critique of Jacques Ellul to the Christian educational theory of Craig Dykstra), wise novelists and writers (from Dostoevsky to Milan Kundera and Walker Percy) and classic theologians (Augustine, Lewis). But the sources are wider still; one is often surprised with an excerpt from a Mike Royko column or a Calvin & Hobbes cartoon.

And in another place he writes: In the middle of the ... book The Fabric of Faithfulness, Steve Garber tells the story of a meeting with one of his students, a student who "asked wonderful questions about important ideas." As one experienced in mentoring college students, Garber saw that the student seemed not to take his intellectual search all that seriously. Our author found himself doubting that the fellow "really understood the difference of truth and the difference it makes." In a move which seems uncharacteristic for the gentle teacher, Garber issued an ultimatum: he would talk no further with this student until he watched all of the films of Woody Allen, from Annie Hall on. It should be a clue as to who might enjoy this book, as well as who ought to.

I wrote 'double review' above because Borger first reviewed the book on its original published date back in 1996, and then wrote about it again just last year - the book was reissued in 2007. His (now) very long post on the Hearts and Minds site is well worth reading for its enthusiasm for the book, if for nothing else.

You can also read a piece by Garber called Learning to Love what God Loves on the Leadership U site.

SimChurch

SimChurch: Being the Church in the Virtual World.

Douglas Estes tackles the brewing questions surrounding the legitimacy of an online church. Yet, while many church leaders are still trying to discern and discuss the "what is the church?" question that's been going for years, growing numbers of other church leaders are asking about online worship experiences and forming relationships and communities virtually.

For a detailed discussion of the book's online offshoots, check out the Digital @ Leadership Network site. There are more links on this one page than you could follow up in a month of Sundays.

The link on the book title at the top of this post leads to the Amazon page for the book, which is worth checking out not only because of the useful overview of the book itself, but because of the list of questions that Estes asks (and answers) within it. The writer of the review, coincidentally is Chad Estes, who's apparently no relation of the author. The questions he lists are, in their way, more useful than the host of links on the Digital Leadership site, because they are left open for you to think about, and maybe answer.

Flickering Pixels gets a review

We've written about Shane Hipps more than once on this blog, so I was interested to hear what his new book, Flickering Pixels: how technology shapes your faith, was like. The reviews on Amazon.com seemed pretty positive, and then, in my email box this morning, the latest Next-Wave Ezine arrived - with a review of the book by John La Grou. I hadn't even realised La Grou was a Christian when I wrote about him on one of my other blogs a day or so ago, so it was interesting to see his bio at the bottom of the review:

A husband, father, and lifelong technology enthusiast, John built crystal radios at 7 years old and by the end of high school had created most of the electronics for a professional audio recording studio. In his 20’s he helped start what is today the world’s third largest computer company. His Silicon Valley offices added virtual networking in 1986 and never looked back. John and his bride Cynthia also helped establish the first Silicon Valley Vineyard community and are currently developing Compathos, a non-profit, on-line philanthropic resource. John co-edited volume one the award-winning Wikiklesia Project and gave a 2009 TEDTalk on a new life-saving technology developed by one of the companies he co-founded. John also chairs a software consortium whose licensed algorithms are used on over 100 million audio CDs produced each year, while his audio hardware is found throughout the world in leading recording studios and concert halls. He currently serves on college and university technical advisory boards and is a student of life, energy, and sustainability (JL at JPS dot NET, Twitter @johnlagrou).

After all that, you'd expect him to know something about technology. And of course he does, which makes him an apt person to review Hipps' book. Regrettably, he finds the book wanting in many ways. "As a thoughtful work of practical theology, Flickering Pixels is a treasure and worth the price of admission alone. But where Pixels shines in a generous spirituality, I believe it suffers in objectivity and balance towards technology. ....does the author have sufficient technology experience to make an authoritative analysis? More importantly, does Pixels offer a balanced analysis of the way technology can negatively and positively shape faith and spiritual community? On both counts, I feel that Pixels misses its target. "

He goes on to quote a number of examples of Hipps' 'grand conclusions' on technology, which are offered without qualification: “Our digital diet sedates the left brain, leaving it in a state of hypnotic stupor”or “The technology of writing, regardless of context, weakens and destroys tribal bonds and profoundly amplifies the value of the individual” to mention only two.

After this review, I don't think I'll be putting Flickering Pixels on the top of my reading list. Which is a pity; it could have been great.

People who love gardens

In a recent Books and Culture magazine, Alan Jacobs writes on Governing and Gardening, a book review of Tim Richardson's The Arcadian Friends: Inventing the English Landscape Garden.

A quote from Jacob's review:
Classical—or more specifically Palladian—buildings like Stourhead's Pantheon were common features on the larger estates, but there were also many kinds of pseudo-temple, the aforementioned grottoes, and, increasingly as the century wore on, hermitages. Usually the hermitages would contain statues or books, but it was sometimes thought that hermitages should be inhabited. Curiously, this becomes a major theme in Tom Stoppard's magnificent 1995 play Arcadia, during which Lady Croom hires a bumbling landscape designer named Noakes, whom she comes to refer to as "Culpability" Noakes [as opposed to Culpability Brown, the famous landscaper].
When Noakes tells her that he is building a hermitage, and she inquires where he plans to get a hermit, he stammers—not having considered this point—that he could perhaps advertise in the newspaper for one. To this Lady Croom replies, "But surely a hermit who takes a newspaper is not a hermit in whom one can have complete confidence."
A wonderful scene, and we learn from Richardson that it's not wholly fictional. The Hon. Charles Hamilton, in the course of creating what would become one of the masterpieces of the age at his estate Painshill, in Surrey, actually did advertise in the newspapers for a hermit to live in his hermitage. He offered said hermit not only (a very small) room and (meager) board but the princely sum of 700 guineas—about $50,000—upon certain strict conditions: for seven years the hermit could not shave, cut his hair, trim his fingernails, or speak to anyone.
On the plus side, he would receive a hermit's cloak, a human skull, and a Bible. Hamilton got a taker soon enough, and was quite pleased until—just three weeks into the experiment—the hermit was found carousing in a nearby pub and was fired on the spot. Thus confirming the wisdom of Lady Croom's suspicions.

Back to the Shack

The Shack, by William P. Young, has been one of the amazing hits of the last year or so, not only in the Christian book scene, but also across the bookselling board.

I've read a number of reviews of the book since it first came out, both positive and negative. I haven't actually read the book itself as yet - although it's sitting looking at me on the shelves above the computer desk. I began it, but found the expository first chapter not quite my cup of tea. It obviously improves as it goes on.

However, I've just come across another review - it was written back in July by Ben Witherington. While understanding that the book is primarily a novel, and not a theological treatise, Ben still takes a fairly rigorous theological look at it. I think this is valuable, as it sorts out some of the issues that arise theologically in the book. Characters in a (Christian) book should be able to say what they like, since they're not the mouthpieces of the author (if the thing is well written), but 'people' in their own right. The problem that Witherington points up is that some of the characters in this particular book are God - if that makes grammatical sense. And being God, they need to speak in tune with our generally recognised understanding of God's revelation. Young's characters don't always do this.

Check out the review, and see what you think about Witherington's comments.

Expelled again

Some comments relating to this blog don't actually make it onto the site. Henry Neufield, to whom I referred readers in regard to the film, Expelled - No Intelligence Allowed, wrote to me personally, and we had a bit of email chit-chat back and forth. He told me he "was most impressed since you are the first person in many moons to call me "pretty sane"!"

I take that as a compliment. ! (For those who haven't picked up on this movie yet, the Intelligence bit is a play on words regarding the intelligence of some of those interviewed in the movie, the intelligence of some of the Universities that have denied certain professors the right to speak about Intelligent Design, and of course, Intelligent Design itself. But you'd already figured all that out, hadn't you?)

Anyway, more on the movie itself. CT at the Movies has a fairly lengthy but worth reading review of it here. They're perhaps a little more middle of the road about it than Henry was, which is okay, and have some positive things to say about it. And I'd like to quote a short section of the review, which might give some of you a laugh:

Stein, in his inimitable way, tries to corner [Richard]Dawkins into acknowledging the possible existence of God — or at least some sort of intelligent designer behind it all. At first, Dawkins doesn't budge, and is incredulous at Stein's line of questions. But Stein, deadpan yet persistent, latches on to Dawkins' comment that he's 99 percent certain there's no God — and runs with it. "Why not 97 percent?" Stein asks. "Why not 49 percent?"

Stein continues to press until a clearly irritated Dawkins says something quite astonishing. "Okay," he says in essence (I'm paraphrasing, because I don't have the precise quote), "maybe there is an intelligent designer. But if there is, I can guarantee that that intelligent designer is a life form that evolved elsewhere and came to earth and seeded life here."

Huh? So that's his concession to the ID camp? That if they're at all right, that we were designed by aliens who evolved somewhere else in the universe? Yowza.

The Divinity Code

On the Christian News New Zealand site, there's a review of Ian Wishart's newest book, The Divinity Code. The review begins like this:

"Oh no not another Da Vinci Code fad book" was my initial reaction to reading the title on Ian Wishart’s recent book "The Divinity Code". However despite the unfortunate title, a brief perusal and the authors reputation provided sufficient grounds to part with some cash to obtain a copy to read over the summer.

Ian Wishart is one of the more significant (and in some circles notorious) figures in New Zealand Journalism. As editor and publisher of Investigate magazine he has for a number of years been the bane of politicians and the liberal elite in New Zealand, being responsible for bringing to public notice a number of political scandals in the last few years. In Wishart’s previous book "Eve’s Bite" he addressed a number of liberal and secular influences that are negatively affecting society. In The Divinity Code Wishart picks up on a few aspects of his earlier book and addresses the issue of what is the evidence for the existence of God and the truthfulness of Christianity?"

I'm alerting you to this review, because (a) it gives a good overall picture of the book, both positively and negatively, and (b) because, controversial as Wishart can be, he puts his money where his mouth is as a Christian journalist, and continues to write out of his Christian beliefs, and (c) even though he may not be the best writer in the world, he doesn't let that stop him speaking out.