Bookwi.se – Page 215 – A few thoughts about books, kindles and Christianity

Historical Theology by Gregg Allison – The Trinity

January 27, 2012 by Adam Shields

Takeaway: Theology requires history and church tradition.

I already wrote a summary review on Historical Theology. But I am still using it as background. I am getting ready to start working on a series of books on the Trinity. I started reading one book with some friends and was very disappointed with the opening chapter. So I decided to go back and read the chapter on the Trinity from Historical Theology to give myself some additional historical context. That is really what this book is for, more than to read straight through from cover to cover.

The Trinity is an interesting doctrine. Essentially the vast majority of what the church believes was determined by 600 AD. The first three major creeds of the church spent a lot of time talking about the trinity and only a little has really been added over the years. The trinity is one area where there is very little difference of opinion between Protestants and Roman Catholics.

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett

January 25, 2012 by Adam Shields

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage | [Ann Patchett] Takeaway: It is really many stories of divorce (her own and those in her family) followed by an almost accidental discovery of an actually happy marriage (so far).

Marriage is both overly prized and distained in our culture. Some think it can do anything, so think it can do nothing. Some people think both.

Patchett wrote this essay for a friend. Her young friend wanted the story of Patchett’s happy marriage. And Patchett does seem to have a happy marriage by her account. She has been married about 11 years to a man she adores and who seems to be right for her and she for him.

Patchett starts not with meeting her husband the how they fell in love and got married and lived happily ever after, but with the story of many divorces in her family. Staring with her grandfather who came to the US and worked for 10 years before saving enough money to send for his family. When his wife wrote back that she wanted to come, but that she had to tell him that there were now three boys instead of two, he rescinded the offer and never saw his family again (even refusing to see the son that came to find him later in life.)

The Resignation of Eve: What if Adam’s Rib is No Longer Willing to Be the Church’s Backbone? by Jim Henderson

January 24, 2012 by Adam Shields

Takeaway: The stories of women and their views on women in church leaders, backed by statistical research can be powerful.

Women in church leadership is a touchy subject with me. As I have related in other reviews, I went to the University of Chicago Divinity School for my MDiv. My small class was more than half women, most of whom had grown up in relatively conservative church backgrounds, felt the call to be a pastor and were often quite harmed by the church on their way to seminary. Many had left the denominations that they grew up in and sought safer places to pastor.

Unfortunately, even in denominations that officially ordain and recognize women as pastors, the road is often difficult.

Jim Henderson started this project because he was seeing women leaving the church because they were being restricted by the church.

Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel and Western Culture by Lesslie Newbigin

January 23, 2012 by Adam Shields

Takeaway: Outsiders can sometimes see us better than we can see ourselves.

Lesslie Newbigin is one of the most important Christian thinkers of the last couple decades. He was a missionary in India for 40 years before returning to teach in England. His work on missiology and culture are very important and I have read some short articles by him and had his work referred to frequently, but I think this is the first full length book of his that I have read.

I really do think that all pastors need to take some classes in cross cultural missions and translation theory. In many ways it is like requiring high school and college students to take a couple of years of a foreign language. Most students will never get enough of the language to really communicate or actually use the foreign language, but they will learn enough of the other language to take a new appreciation and perspective on English.

Book Reviews Around the Web

January 21, 2012 by Adam Shields

I read a lot of good book reviews. So I thought I might start sharing them. The Cross and The Lynching Tree by James H Cone at Englewood Book of Reviews – Even if you don’t agree with Cone’s theology, he is a good writer and worth listening to. EBR is giving away six copies of … Read more

The Broken Gun by Louis L’Amour

January 20, 2012 by Adam Shields

The Broken Gun Takeaway: A classic western that was actually set only a couple decades ago.

Westerns were a staple of my teenage years. I was not a ‘manly man’. I have never really liked competitive sports, but I like hero stories. I think that is what I liked about the classic westerns. My uncles were big Louis L’Amour fans so I always had a ready supply of westerns whenever I wanted free books. I have read the majority of L’Amour’s books, but The Broken Gun was one I had not. For the most part L’Amour wrote historical westerns or early American settler stories. I have only read a couple of his modern stories.

The Broken Gun is a classic western, man passing through town, a murder, power and corruption beyond the reach of an under-powered but honest law system. There is a strong woman who is single (widowed in this case) that needs rescuing.

Burned by Digital Media

January 18, 2012 by Adam Shields

Amazon Kindle — Image by agirregabiria via Flickr

I am a fan of digital media. I prefer my kindle to paper books. I haven’t purchased a physical CD in a while. I no longer have a CD-rom on either my computer or my wife’s computer. I have whole-heartedly bought into the digital system of media.

In spite of this, I am alway frustrated when simple actions with physical media are no longer simple with digital media.

On the good side, digital media allows for cheap distribution, easy updates and a wide variety of creators. I can upload a book to Amazon and sell it. Someone can let me know a mistake, I can make a change and then send that change to Amazon and Amazon can send out updates to anyone that wants one. On the whole I think that is great.

The problem is that sometimes publishers, instead of updating the file, remove the book and submit a new book. The old book then gets orphaned. Yesterday I went to loan a Kindle book to someone. When I tried, I just got referred to an Amazon 404 page. Eventually after emailing and chatting with Amazon help I discovered that this is what happened for the book I was trying to lend. It was a good book that I wanted to lend to someone. After 30 minutes on email and chat and then drafting this post, I got a request to borrow a book from Lendle and again, another book I wanted to lend, that I have a legal copy to and I purchase with the rights to lend, had been orphaned by the publisher, and my lending rights removed.

Love Walked Among Us: Learning to Love Like Jesus by Paul Miller

January 17, 2012 by Adam Shields

Takeaway: Jesus did not love in some abstract ethereal way. He loved the people around him personally, physically and in a very human manner.

Love Walked Among Us is a very concrete, personal look at how we can learn to love like Jesus did. I very much enjoyed Paul Miller’s book A Praying Life. And this is very much in line with that in style.

Send to Kindle App (For Windows PCs)

January 13, 2012 by Adam Shields

Amazon released an app to make getting your documents from your computer to your kindle just a bit easier. It only works on Windows PCs, but seems to work well and I would guess that it will be released on other platforms soon. I frequently use email to send documents to my kindle, which is … Read more

The Eternity Code (Artemis Fowl, Book 3) by Eoin Colfer

January 13, 2012 by Adam Shields

Summary: Artemis is up to his old tricks. But this time he is outsmarted and he needs Holly to help get him (and all of the fairy world) out of trouble.

For me, young adult literature is the perfect balance to the heavier books on theology. So I read about original sin, and then I listen to an audiobook on a 13 year old criminal master mind. It is a nice way to reset the brain. Some children’s book series get too predictable (like Pendragon). It requires some good writing and not relying on what has worked before to keep a series fresh.

It is only recently that I have realized that many people do not like to read series fiction. I grew up reading westerns, science fiction and fantasy and all three genres are heavily invested in series. Once you create a world, it is hard not to go back to that world and add to it. So while there are many series that get old, I have not given up on series fiction as a category, even if I don’t have time to undertake a long series straight through like I would in high school.