Adam Shields – Page 190

Crossed (Matched #2) by Ally Condie

February 23, 2012 by Adam Shields

Summary: In book two of this young adult romantic dystopian novel, Cassia is looking for Ky, who has been shipped off to the outer provinces as a decoy in the secret war of rebellion.

This trilogy by Ally Condie is a unique take on the dystopian novel. It has all of the traditional elements: a society that has re-built itself out of the ashes of our current world, a tension between the totalitarian elements that want to prevent another societal meltdown through social engineering and those that rebel against the power of the society, and a utopian undercurrent that believes that if only we can do it a bit better.

But in Condie’s novels much of the action is internal to the characters. The violence of the Hunger Games is absent. There is plenty of tension. But it is a psychological and romantic tension. Not a tension caused by physical violence and political intrigue.

Original Sin: A Cultural History by Alan Jacobs

February 15, 2024February 21, 2012 by Adam Shields

Takeaway: The concept of original sin has greatly shaped Western culture.

Original Sin is a doctrine I have always had trouble understanding. It is not that I disagree that we are all sinful. I affirm that.

My issues have been in the way that Christians understand the origin of sin, the way some understand the need for a physical Adam and Eve to affirm the doctrine of original sin (which then some need to justify the need for Christ’s death and resurrection), and the extent of the corruption of the world caused by the fall.

Jacobs is an author I appreciate. He was a professor at Wheaton College, and while we overlapped, I did not have him for any classes. But he is one of those authors that, as I read, I am always aware that he is much smarter than I am. Not in a snooty or negative way. He is very readable. It is that he always brings in ideas and sources that I would not have considered (and often do not even know exist).

This is not a theological history but a cultural one. So Jacobs deals primarily with how Christianity and the West have culturally understood original sin. Occasionally, the cultural and the theological understanding separate. I think, at least partially, this is my issue with original sin. I hear people speaking of the transmission of sin as if it were literally part of our DNA. I believe it was Augustine who proposed that one reason that Jesus could be born of a woman and not be corrupted by original sin is that sin was transferred through semen.

The Myth of the Garage and other Minor Surprises by Chip and Dan Heath

February 17, 2012 by Adam Shields

Takeaway: Variety of essays on business and leadership matters, especially focused on issues that are not intuitive, but still true.

I used to read a lot more business and leadership books. I have now come to the realization that I am neither all that interested in business nor all that good at leadership.

What has always interested me about business and leadership books are the insights into human behavior. And that is why I still pick up the occasional business book.

The Myth of the Garage is collection of essays from Dan and Chip Heath’s column in Fast Company. It is a free kindle or audiobook (which is the real reason I picked this one up.)

The Lost Colony (Artemis Fowl #5) by Eoin Colfer

February 15, 2012 by Adam Shields

Takeaway: This series is very good at keeping it fresh and mixing science fiction and fantasy elements.

I swear this is not going to become a young adult review blog. But I seem unable to finish anything else lately. I believe I am in the midst of being brain fried.

In spite of being unable to concentrate on anything remotely theological, I have enjoyed Artemis Fowl. In the Lost Colony, we discover that there are another family of fairies, the demons (we already know about elves, dwarves, pixies, etc).

When the rest of the fairy families went underground to escape the humans, the demons moved their island across time and space. But occasionally the magic that moved them brings one demon back for a short visit. And Artemis has figured out how to predict those visits and that the increasing regularity of them means that the demon magic is breaking down and their island may be lost forever.

Thoughts on Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas

February 14, 2012 by Adam Shields

The Three Musketeers Summary Thoughts: Classics are classic, but they do not necessarily have good values.

One of my reading goals this year is to read more old books. I checked the audiobook Three Musketeers out of the library. I listened to half of the unabridged version before I realized that the second half of the book was missing. So I am 13.5 hours in and I don’t have the ending. I will check out the rest eventually, but I have a couple thoughts to share now.

The Mark of a Christian by Francis Schaeffer

February 7, 2012 by Adam Shields

Summary: Short introduction to why we should pursue unity within the church.

This short pamphlet (60 pages in paper, just over an hour in audio) was written to address the unity of the church in 1970. It is a good introduction to why Christians need to treat one another well, without ignoring real doctrinal differences or important matters of sin.

There are good thoughts here. But it is so short, and this is such an important subject, that I feel he barely scratched the surface when the pamphlet was done. Roughly, Schaeffer pointed out the importance to Jesus Christ in his High Priestly Prayer of unity. Then very briefly, Schaeffer walked through why this is not organizational unity, or theological unity, but a unity for those outside the church. We are not one in order to lord over one another or to submit in all areas to one another, but the point, according to Schaefer is for those outside the church to see how well we treat one another inside the church.

Living Water: Powerful Teaching by Brother Yun

February 6, 2012 by Adam Shields

Summary: Powerful teaching of a Chinese Christian leader calling the church to greater devotion and service.

I recently read the autobiography (Heavenly Man) of Brother Yun, a dissident underground Chinese church pastor that now lives in Germany.

I bought Living Water when I first heard about Brother Yun and started it twice but did not get far each time. After reading his autobiography and giving context to his life and teaching I finished Living Water. This seems to be mostly adapted sermons that have been structured together as a book. I listened to it as an audiobook, so maybe that format makes it seem more sermon-like. But each chapter is mostly self contained and there is some repetition of stories and examples between chapters, so that contributes to the sermon feel.

This is a book of readable, but heavy, teaching. It is not a feel-good, breeze-right-through book. It is not all that long (a bit over 8 hours in audio, 320 pages in paper.) But I spent a couple weeks listening to this on and off and pushed through the last half of the book in two days.

Why ebooks may save some authors from extinction

February 4, 2012 by Adam Shields

As I have been publishing free ebook posts over the past month. I have started seeing a trend that I have not noticed before. A number of authors, many in that mid range (you have heard of them, but they don’t sell millions of books) are taking back the digital rights of their books.

In some cases this is easy because digital rights were not in the original contracts (many of these books were published in the 1970-1985 range). In other cases there are some clauses in the original contract that specified terms (usually out of print in paper and/or a buy-out amount).

The Opal Deception (Artemis Fowl: Book 4) by Eoin Colfer

February 3, 2012 by Adam Shields

Summary: Artemis is once again dragged into the Fairy world to help save it from destruction.

At the end of the last book, Artemis and all of his human associates were mind-wiped. Their memories of the Fairy world and the previous two years were gone. The fear was that Artemis would revert back to his old criminal ways (since he did not have the two years of Fairy influence and his own experience).

The Gospel of Luke by Joel Green

February 1, 2012 by Adam Shields

Takeaway: Very thorough and helpful commentary on Luke.

I have greatly enjoyed my Luke reading project. Last year I read a suggestion by Jerry Bridges that instead of reading straight through the bible in traditional one year plan or some of our other formats, that we might benefit from more in depth study of scripture. Bridges suggested that if you spend six months on a book and really spend time in it you will have a very thorough knowledge of scripture in about 30 years.

I am not sure I will keep this up for 30 years, and even if I do, it is likely that I would put together a couple of the smaller books as a single reading project.

But I am declaring an end to Luke. It has actually been closer to seven months and even though this commentary on Luke by Joel Green is very good and quite readable, I am still ready to move on.