Book Reviews – Page 128

The Book of Common Prayer: A Biography by Alan Jacobs

December 30, 2024October 15, 2013 by Adam Shields

Takeaway: English Christianity has been formed, whether you know it or not, by the Book of Common Prayer.

I grew up Baptist. And I currently attend a non-denominational megachurch. But as I have grown in my understanding of the broader Christian Church and its history, I have been intentionally trying to read more about theology and practice outside of my church community.

The Book of Common Prayer is one of those theological objects that I want to understand, but without a guide it is largely a mystery. Alan Jacobs revealed a part of the puzzle in The Book of Common Prayer: A Biography. This is not a book on how to use the BCP, but a history of how it was developed, changed and how how attitudes toward it changed over time.

Alan Jacobs is an excellent writer and his history of the book is both of solid history and readable.

To me, what is most interesting about story of the BCP, is how it was intended as a tool of unity but from the very beginning that was thwarted. Cranmer, who compiled the BCP thought that a single prayer book with a single service was important both theologically and politically to the unity of the Church in England. This was not a simple expedient or politically motivated conscription of Christianity but a different world view on how church and state should relate.

Year Zero: A Novel by Rob Reid

October 14, 2013 by Adam Shields

Summary: The universe is listening and may destroy the Earth as a result.

I am a fan of the geek novel. Because I am a wanna-be geek. Not an actual geek, but in another life I would like to think I might actually be able to be a real live geek. (Probably not, but that is another story.)

Year Zero is a geek novel of the best sort. It is science fiction, involves aliens, has a geeky set up (copyright law), lots of cultural references and is still readable and enjoyable for the general public.

The basic story of the book is that the rest of the universe is in love with Earth’s music. Starting in 1977 with the interception of the theme song from Welcome Back Kotter, literally billions of aliens have died of joy listening to Earth’s music.

Malala Yousafzai

October 10, 2013 by Adam Shields

This is outside of my normal posts, but after having watched parts of this several times today I thought I would share. Below is a 3 part interview that Jon Stewart did with Malala Yousafzai, a 16 year old Pakistani girl. She is an advocate of education and has a new book out. She first gained … Read more

Evolving in Monkey Town: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions by Rachel Held Evans

October 10, 2013 by Adam Shields

I am reposting this review from 2010 because Evolving in Monkey Town is on sale for $2.99 on Kindle.

Summary: Coming of age in faith as well as years.

I picked Evolving in Monkey Town on the recommendation of John Armstrong. It is a clever title. Rachel Held Evans grew up and went to college in Dayton, TN, the home of the Scopes Monkey trial. The book traces Rachel Held Evans as she is taught to be certain of her faith but eventually begins to question both her faith and God.

In many ways this is a simple book, it is the story of faith growing up from learned from others to owned by the author. In other ways this is a much deeper book. The fundamental questions that starts Evan’s questioning is the death of a Muslim woman. Does God really condemn people that have not ever heard the Gospel to Hell/ This is a question that David Platt explicitly answered in Radical (my review). Platt’s answer was one of my biggest frustrations with his book, although the practical working out of the results of my answer are not that much different than Platt. Evan’s answer, on the other hand, doesn’t really seem to get around the answering the question. Or rather, by the end she re-frames the question. Although I agree with her answer more, the practical working out of her answer is less satisfying than Platt’s. I guess I am frustrated both ways.

And God Said “Billy!” by Frank Schaeffer

October 10, 2013 by Adam Shields

Summary: A man leaves his family and heads to Hollywood to direct a film that God told him to direct.

Frank Schaeffer is an acquired taste. I have mostly enjoyed the three books of his that I have read. But he has a lot of anger. And some of it is directed toward valid issues. Some of it is over the top.

Frank Schaeffer is the only son and youngest child of Edith and Francis Schaeffer. He grew up at L’aBri, a retreat center in Switzerland that was focused on reaching out to youth. For a while Frank was one of the best partners in publicizing his father and mother’s work.

But after working to help organize the anti-abortion movement and helping give fuel to new religious right, Frank started working as a Hollywood director and eventually left the Evangelical world, became Eastern Orthodox and has become primarily known as a writer.

After primarily writing non-fiction recently, ‘And God Said, Billy!’ is his first novel since 2006. The end result is a conversion story of sorts.

We meet Billy after he has been in Hollywood for five years. Billy Graham (his mother named him after the evangelist in honor of her becoming a Christian at one of his rallies) left his wife and daughter because he felt a call from God to direct a movie about the book of Revelations.

The Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman

October 9, 2013 by Adam Shields

Takeaway: Mix of interesting and important questions with a handful of wild unsupported conspiracies.

I picked up The Conscience of a Liberal on audiobook on a whim from the library. I knew from the description that it has a discussion of racial politics after the civil rights era and I thought it might be a good follow up to Mark Noll’s God and Race in American Politics.

Krugman runs through a history of the 20th century in the US as he sees it to illustrate what he thinks is wrong with both US economic theory and history and what is wrong with the state of current US politics (this was written in 2007, so is pretty dated when talking about current politics.)

The history sections are interesting. Krugman’s point is that the liberal periods of 20th century history were the good parts and the conservative periods were the bad. By this Krugman means that liberal periods were the points when the economic pie was growing and income inequality was shrinking. He is telling this story in this method to counter the traditional economic story that says that deregulation and lower taxes expands the economic pie in such a way that everyone is better off, even if some are better off than others.

Simply Christian by N T Wright

October 8, 2013 by Adam Shields

Takeaway: A modern classic of what it means to be a Christian

I am on an NT Wright kick. I was given a copy of Jesus, Paul and the People of God for review (a book of papers from Wheaton College Theology Conference). The whole conference was a conversation with and about NT Wright. I started reading it and realized that while I have read some of the more popular of NT Wright’s books, I have not read some of his more important academic books.

So I read The Challenge of Jesus, Scripture and the Authority of God and I have Paul in New Perspective, which I will read next.

I have read Simply Christian before, but I read it quickly right after it came out and other than the main themes I really did not remember much about it. So I decided to revisit the book. I am violating my rule of reading a book in a different format because I am trying to save a bit of money right now (so I am re-reading on audio instead of re-reading in paper or Kindle format.) The main complaint that I have seen is about Wright’s prose. He can occasionally write the half page sentence or the slightly too obtuse argument. But I tend to listen to Wright first, get the structure of the argument and then read him more carefully later in a print format.

Night Film By Marisha Pessl

October 8, 2013 by All Old Users

Night Film is Marisha Pessl‘s second novel about a New York investigator who gets in over his head when searching for the truth behind the mysterious “œsuicide” of a famous movie director’s daughter. While looking for evidence and an angle on his story, the main character meets and then teams up with two other characters who help him uncover clues as the three go further and further down the rabbit hole toward the “œtruth”. Along the way, the three uncover conspiracies, possible murder, black magic and even find their own lives in danger.

Books Coming Soon

October 7, 2013 by Adam Shields

Prices are for Kindle Editions unless noted.

The Screwtape Letters: The Annotated Edition by CS Lewis – $10.99

272 pages, releases Oct 8

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of C. S. Lewis’s death, a special annotated edition of his Christian classic, The Screwtape Letters, with notes and excerpts from his other works that help illuminate this diabolical masterpiece.

A masterpiece of satire, this classic has entertained and enlightened readers the world over with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life from the vantage point of Screwtape, a senior tempter in the service of “Our Father Below.” At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strikingly original, C. S. Lewis gives us the correspondence of the worldly-wise old devil to his nephew Wormwood, a novice demon in charge of securing the damnation of an ordinary young man. The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging and humorous account of temptation””and triumph over it””ever written.

Now, for the first time, The Screwtape Letters is presented with its full text alongside helpful annotations provided by Lewis enthusiast and dramatist Paul McCusker. The notes include literary, theological, and biographical information to enhance Lewis’s core themes and demystify complex ideas. McCusker also guides readers to concepts and references from the beloved author’s other treasured volumes to deepen and enrich this timeless classic. The annotated edition is the ultimate guide for understanding the heavenly truths buried in these epistles from below.

Allegiant by Veronica Roth – $6.99

Bookwise Reviews: Divergent, Insurgent

544 pages, Releases October 22

What if your whole world was a lie?
What if a single revelation””like a single choice””changed everything?
What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?
The explosive conclusion to Veronica Roth’s #1 New York Times bestselling Divergent trilogy reveals the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.

Paul and the Faithfulness of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God #4) by NT Wright – $63.56 in Hardcover, Kindle pre-order not available yet

1700 pages, releases Nov 1

This highly anticipated two-book fourth volume in N. T. Wright’s magisterial series, Christian Origins and the Question of God, is destined to become the standard reference point on the subject for all serious students of the Bible and theology. The mature summation of a lifetime’s study, this landmark book pays a rich tribute to the breadth and depth of the apostle’s vision, and offers an unparalleled wealth of detailed insights into his life, times, and enduring impact.

God and Race in American Politics: A Short History by Mark Noll

October 7, 2013 by Adam Shields

Takeaway: The story of American Politics, without God or Religion is an incomplete history.

I very much respect Mark Noll’s work as a historian. So after re-reading The Civil War as Theological Crisis, I looked around to see if there were any audiobooks of Noll’s works. I listen to a lot of audiobooks because a lot of my job is processing data. As long as I don’t have to write, I can listen. (But I have to pause and audiobook to even write a 10 word email.)

The only book at Audible by Noll other than The Civil War as Theological Crisis was God and Race in American Politics.

Noll is primarily known as a historian of North American Evangelicalism. But this is a natural followup to his Civil War as Theological Crisis. Instead of looking at the theological response to issues of race and slavery (as he did in Civil War), Noll expands his view to take a quick survey at how Race and Religion interacted over the history of the US until the 2004 Presidential Election.

As you might expect a good historian to say, the reality is much more complicated than the traditional story that is told in your 4th grade US history class. But Noll does a very good job surveying those complications in less than 200 pages.