The Triumph of Christianity by Rodney Stark – Favorites of 2012

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The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World's Largest ReligionSummary: An essential book for debunking historical myths about Christianity.

Christian history is am important, but undervalued subject for Christian education.  We are pretty good at teaching bible (or at least valuing it).  We are pretty good about teaching application of Christian values and ethics and evangelism.  We are getting better at teaching the importance of social ministry.  But Christian history is usually something that we leave people to learn on their own.

The Triumph of Christianity is written by Rodney Stark (historian and sociologist) specifically to counter a lot of myths and bad assumptions about Christian history.  This is really a summary of his three previous books: God Battalions (on the Crusades), Cities of God (rise of early Christianity) and Victory of Reason (on the rise of Western culture).  I have only read God’s Battalions, but I think Triumph of Christianity is the book to start with.

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Wayfaring: Essays Pleasant and Unpleasant by Alan Jacobs

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Wayfaring: Essays Pleasant and Unpleasant The essay, in which a writer has ample space–but not too much–to meander across seemingly unrelated topics before eventually drawing them together with whatever connection initially struck him, is a wonderful medium full of rich opportunity for reflection. Alan Jacobs is one of my favorite writers, and he is at his best when writing essays. Jacobs is the kind of writer and thinker who always makes me feel smarter, more contemplative, and broader-minded than I was before I picked him up. He does this as a professional academic, but without sounding like one. His tastes range from the modern “penny dreadful” to the high forms of ancient literature–and, to his credit, unabashedly so. His thoughts are as profound as they are genuine and unpretentious. And this collection was glorious.

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Red to Black by Alex Dryden

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Red to Black by Alec DrydenSummary: A spy story with the feel of John le Carré.

If you like spy stories that feel like they could be real, with a healthy dash of paranoia and conspiracy theory thrown in then you might like Red to Black.

Released in 2009, it is set from 1999 to 2006.  Finn is a British spy stationed in Moscow.  Anna is a young KGB agent tasked with trapping him.  But Finn is well aware of her task.  And she is well aware of his knowledge of her task.

The story unfolds very slowly.  This is a book that requires paying attention and being willing for the story to take years (at least on the page) to unfold.

Alex Dryden is a pseudonym for an unknown British journalist.  And it is clear why (she/he) wants to remain anonymous, because this is a screed against the very real Putin.  And only a little less against Western European governments that work with him.

The story is about how the KGB (which used to be headed by Putin) is syphoning off tons of money into Western Europe for unknown projects.  Finn is trying to find out what they are and build the case.  But none of the official channels want him to.  And Anna is playing a dangerous game both in actually loving Finn and in trying to satisfy her own superiors.

I

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How to Be Rich: It’s Not What You Have. It’s What You Do With What You Have. by Andy Stanley

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How to Be Rich: It's Not What You Have. It's What You Do With What You Have. by Andy StanleyThis is not a book about economics, and there are no tips inside on how to get rich. Instead, Andy Stanley is focused on how we modern Americans need to live once we recognize that we already are fabulously wealthy compared to the rest of the modern and historical world. Few if any would deny this if pressed, yet everybody has pretty much the same definition of what it means to be rich: about twice what one earns currently. It’s always relative. As Stanley writes, “œRich is a moving target.”

Stanley points out two major weaknesses that our money makes us susceptible to: arrogance, and to become our source of hope. To combat them, he argues for a lifestyle of generosity that is both intentional (planned) and sacrificial (more than just the extra cash left over once we’ve met our consumeristic “œneeds”).

“œTo keep from becoming arrogant”¦to keep your hope from migrating”¦ and to sidestep the assumption that everything is for your consumption, you are to pursue a life of generosity. It’s not just a good thing to do. It’s not some tip for how to be a good person. It’s a preventative for the side effects of wealth.” (71)

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3 Giveaways

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There are three giveaways the I thought readers of Bookwi.se might be interested in. Sarah Beesley one of the bloggers at a Deeper Story is giving away five copies of her new book Jesus Feminist.  I have a copy and will review it later this year.  It has had very good reviews so far. GoodEreader, … Read more

Quintessence by David Walton

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Quintessence by David WaltonIn an alternate version of the sixteenth century the world is flat, its outer edges still unexplored. An ambitious alchemist, a boundary-pushing doctor and his daughter, a ship-load of Protestant refugees, and some stowaway mythical creatures set sail for the legendary island of Horizon on the outer rim of the earth. Some are looking for treasure, others for religious freedom, and still others for immortality. They are pursued by a Roman Catholic inquisitor (persecutor) and representatives from the British crown who want to ensure the treasure returns to England.

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Embracing Shared Ministry: Power & Status in the Early Church and Why It Matters Today

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Embracing Shared Ministry: Power and Status in the Early Church and Why It Matters TodayTakeaway: Shared Ministry (not single head pastor) is both the biblical model and a more healthy form of leadership.

Embracing Shared Ministry: Power and Status in the Early Church and Why It Matters Today is a long title.  But it is very descriptive of both the style and point of the book.

Embracing Shared Ministry has three parts.  The first part is background on Roman culture and society.  The main point is that Roman culture was very focused on status and honor.  It was not a mobile culture, people that were born low status, stayed low status.  People that were born high status mostly stayed high status.  And not completely unlike today a very small portion of the society controlled a very large portion of the wealth.

In today’s culture, efficiency and wealth creation are highly valued.  But in Roman culture it was honor.  Government was small and rich individuals donated much of the infrastructure and entertainment to the cities (aqueducts, fountains, stadiums, festivals, etc) not to generate common good, but to produce honor.  If you gave away the most stuff to the city, you had the highest honor.  And nothing was done anonymously, everything had long inscriptions giving all of the titles and honors of the one that donated it.

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Most Read Reviews in October

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The six most read reviews in October The Book of Common Prayer: A Biography by Alan Jacob Divergent by Veronica Roth Year Zero by Rob Reid The Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman The Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism by Molly Worthem Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Whodunnit? – Murder in Mystery Manor and Murder on Mystery Island

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Free: Whodunnit? Murder on Mystery Island | Anthony E. ZuikerThe Whodunnit? book series is based on the television series of the same name.  The television series is an actual competition where 10 or so individuals are brought to a mansion in order to essentially be the last man standing.  One of the contestants is actually the killer, who in each episode kills off one of the contestants who had performed poorly in figuring out how the previous murder had been committed. The remaining contestants examine various parts of the mansion, solve riddles, and team up with other contestants in order to gain the most knowledge about how the murder went down.  They state their case to an empty room and the contestant who does the best job is recognized along with the two or three who do the worst job.  Eventually there are 3 contestants left and there is only one contestant remaining in the room with the killer. Also, important to note is that there is a butler, Giles, who speaks for the killer and relays his/her messages to the contestants explaining that he too is a “œprisoner’ at the mansion and must do the killer’s bidding or else.

Free: Whodunnit?: Murder in Mystery Manor | Anthony ZuikerMy opinion on the television series is that it was definitely a fun and entertaining way to spend our weekends in the summer. When I saw the first episode, I told my husband that I had just seen one of the cheesiest murder mystery television shows.  The cheese and the humor was what kept us watching each week.  Chris had a pretty good idea who the killer was from the very beginning due research he had done on the Internet about the contestants and, to be honest, it didn’t really matter to me who the killer was.  I just liked watching each week to see what crazy, funny thing was going to happen or what silly thing was going to be said by one of the contestants.  We had some issues with the show: it was never explained how the killer snuck away from the group to commit the crimes or was able to do so undetected (and there were some blaring contradictions), the killer’s motive was never really explained, and it was not said how and why the butlers and maids came to be there and were being held captive by the killer.

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