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Booklist, January 2009
Compiled by Peter Schuurman
Preliminaries
Mansfield, Stephen. The Faith of Barack Obama. Thomas Nelson, 2008.
This short book seems fair, although written more from the right. It takes much of the words of Obama himself on the subject of religion and strings them together with history and comments. You see this first President to grow up in a non-Christian home slowly find his way into African-American Christianity in Chicago. You are reminded how novel it is for a Democrat to speak directly about faith. This includes Obama’s generous “all paths lead to God” hunches and a full chapter on his deep civil religious commitments.
Mendell, David. Obama: From Promise to Power. Harper, 2007.
This book highlights the ambition, charisma, powerful organizing and politicking that jettisoned Obama to Presidential candidacy. It covers up to his speech at the Democratic Convention and trip to Kenya in 2006. This book impressed me with all the media work that goes on to maneuver a win in an election (and how easy it is to lose). Written by a Chicago Tribune reporter.
Fadiman, Anne. Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader. Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 1998.
A book about loving books by a book lover. Recommended to me.
Norris, Kathleen. Acedia and Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer’s Life. Riverhead, 2008.
I really like this book. It challenges us to consider whether we in the West have taken what used to be a vice—despair—and either turned it into merely a chemical problem or even—in mostly literary circles—declared it to be a virtue. I see my own moods given words in her very personal narration of her marriage and vocation, which she compares with the experience of the desert monks. A revealing book, in all kinds of ways.
I. Culture and Christianity
Crouch, Andy. Culture Making: Discovering Our Creative Calling. IVP, 2008.
Accessible, colorful, and important. Distinguishes between condemning, critiquing, copying and consuming culture and puts them all under the rubric of creating culture. Double entendre: “Culture is what we make of the world.”
Keyes, Dick. Seeing Through Cynicism: A Reconsideration of the Power of Suspicion. IVP, 2006.
A book I bought to help me recover from reading too much Foucault in my grad school days. Covers institutions like marriage, government, and church. Since I’ve just cracked it open, I haven’t decided if its as nuanced as I hoped it would be.
Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Penguin, 2006.
Brian Bork is using this for his faculty book study. Good discussions on the ethics of eating, animal care, agricultural policies and much beyond. A well-written book but maybe too elitist in the end.
Ramachandra, Vinoth. Subverting Global Myth: Theology and Public Issues Shaping Our World. IVP, 2008.
I saw this on Jamie VanderBerg’s desk. Ramachandra is a sharp cookie and he takes on a number of what he calls “myths”: terrorism, religious violence, human rights, multiculturalism, science and postcolonialism. Living in Sri Lanka, he has an interesting perspective on these issues.
Stackhouse, John. Making the Best of It: Following Christ in the Real World. Oxford, 2008. A cultural approach beyond triumphalism. Deep, chapter long considerations of the Niebuhr brothers, Bonhoeffer and C. S. Lewis. A “new realism” with our “mixed motives” and “mixed results.” Reformed in flavour, Canadian author.
Margaret Visser. The Gift of Thanks: The Roots, Persistence, and Paradoxical Meanings of a Social Ritual. Harper, 2008.
Visser became a Christian later in life and this 400 page tome reflects that faith. Erudite, cultured, always intensely interested in matters of anthropology, she takes the reader on a tour of gratitude around the world. A good reflection on the third part of the Heidelberg.
Walsh, Brian and Steven Bouma-Pediger. Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement. Eerdmans, 2008.
As always, Brian is on top of the cutting issues of the day and urging us to consider them in the light of the drama of Scripture. Walsh shows how first-world folks can be homeless, too and how the planet is a home in desperate need of home-making. Stories, Biblical texts, and social theory all woven together.
II. Faith and the Academy
Conrad Cherry and Amanda Porterfield. Religion on Campus. University of North Carolina Press, 2006. Some ethnographers got a Lilly grant to document that religion is alive and well on campus. That’s all I know about this one.
Schwehn, Mark R. Exiles from Eden: Religion and the Academic Vocation in America. Oxford, 2003. Schwehn left the University of Chicago for Valparaiso, a move that Clifford Geertz would call typical in an academic career—moving from the center to the margin (an “exile from Eden”). Schwehn did it voluntarily, though, because of his convictions about the place of religion in the academy. Written with sensitivity to other faiths. Written in Max Weber’s shadow.
Taylor, Robert N. This Damned Campus; As Seen by a College Chaplain. Philadelphia : Pilgrim Press, 1969. No idea what this is about but it caught my eye. Saw it at the U of Utah library. You’ll also find it on a list of college chaplain books on amazon at http://www.amazon.com/College-Chaplaincy-Books/lm/R12L7VODRWOGJ0
III. Novels on Academic Life
Galbraith, John Kenneth. The Tenured Professor. Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
This is another comic tale of academic life. A Harvard economics professor finds a way to make millions on the market and begins to use the money to fund progressive social causes. The old Harvard guard goes nuts over this.
Lodge, David. Small World. Penguin, 1995.
A British satire of academic life. Actually part of a trilogy recommended to me by Len Vanderzee.
Richard Russo. Straight Man. Vintage, 1998.
Henry, or “Lucky Henk” is Chair of English at West Central Pennsylvania University and is threatened with severe budget cuts that will lead to lay-offs of his staff. He threatens to kill the geese on campus until alternatives are sought. Geese start dying, but Henry isn’t doing it… Very funny in an artistic way. A faculty fornicator in the story comes to some sort of deeper faith, too…
Smiley, Jane. Moo. Ivy Books, 1998.
Prize-winning author Smiley writes a wickedly funny satire of university life. Set in Iowa at “Moo University” this novel goes over-board in lampooning the philosophical, political and sexual agendas that drive academic culture.
Smith, Zadie. On Beauty. Viking, 2005.
This young, wise and witty author tells a story of an arrogant, adulterous professor who doesn’t realize how blessed he is and at the same time how lonely, competitive, and unloving he has become. This book pokes fun at academic life, intimating that virtue is much more beautiful than cleverness. One of the sons of the main character becomes endeared to Christianity despite his dad’s antipathy for it. An enjoyable and wisely-written book. Includes lines like: “Time is how you spend your love.”
More novels on academic life recommended by an Amazon.com reader: “Kinsley Amis's LUCKY JIM, A. S. Byatt's POSSESSION, John Barth's GILES GOAT BOY, Robertson Davies CORNISH TRILOGY. I should also add Malcolm Bradbury's THE HISTORY MAN and magnificent parody MY STRANGE QUEST FOR MENSONGE.”
IV. Missional Church
Duin, Julia. Quitting Church: Why the Faithful are Fleeing and What to Do about It (Baker, 2008). Might be hype, but it addresses the adolescent exit. Someone should read it.
Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch. The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century Church. Hendrickson, 2003. This book is fun to read and presses home the “post-Christendom” reality of the church. Calls for non-dualistic ecclesiastically flexible missional impulse. Sometimes over-states the case and leans into a primitivism but I’d recommend it for your church or undergraduates. Andre Basson loved it.
Hugh Halter and Matt Smay. The Tangible Kingdom. Al Leadership Network Publication: Jossey Bass, 2008.
This book is written by some church planters who have an expanding network of “churches” in Denver. The focus is on becoming an un-churchlike faith community that draws people in by going out to where they are. Winsomely written, easy to read. His discernment of American culture, however, doesn’t seem to go much deeper than an endorsement of Starbucks. I wrote a fuller review of this book if you’re interested.
Lingenfelter, Sherwood G., Leading Cross-Culturally: Covenant Relationships for Effective Christian Leadership (Baker, 2008) Recommended by Redeemer University faculty, Thea Rusthoven.
Kimmel, Michael. Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men: Understanding the Critical Years Between 16 and 26. Harpercollins, 2008.
Somewhat hyped and a little crude, this is a sociological exploration of a new stage of human development (or the lack of it). Rather journalistic in tone, this book examines what “emerging adulthood” or “adultolescence” means for the human male. Its not a pretty picture. Many wandering years of promiscuous sex, video games, and other peer pressure.
Ortberg, John. If You Want to Walk On Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat. Zondervan, 2001.
Steve Kooy is reading God is Closer Than You Think by Ortberg. Rick Van Til gave me this one. The guy has a gift for words and bringing a text home to your heart. He’s not exactly a social critic, but its friendly Christian reading to challenge your personal life in the flavour of Willow Creek.
Ronald Rolheiser. The Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality. Double-day, 1999.
This is not a missional church book. Its much, much better. I’m re-reading it after years away from it and it is as fresh and clear as the first time I read it. Written by a Catholic religious, it gives you a language for faith that brings words like soul, sex, and incarnation to the fore. I highly recommend it for a sweet “back to the basics” read that is neither defensive nor wooden but rather full of both energy and beauty. Students should eat this up.
V. Islam and Pluralism
Plantinga, Richard J. Christianity and Plurality: Classic and Contemporary Readings. Blackwell, 1999.
Includes readings from Augustine to Calvin, Hick and Newbigin.
Heim, S. Mark. Salvations: Truth and Difference in Religion. Orbis, 1995.
Strong critique pluralists like Hick, W. C. Smith and Knitter. He shows them not to be real pluralists, as them make all religions out to be the same. Poses a truly pluralistic approach: salvations.
Karkkaainen, Veli-Matti. An Introduction to the Theology of Religions. IVP, 2003.
A good intro text that covers it all in brief from the Bible to the contemporary pluralists. Succinct theological summaries but not depth or detailed.
Cook, Michael. The Koran: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, 2000.
A short, conscientiously technical introduction to the Quran by a Princeton prof.
Kaltner, John. Islam: What Non-Muslims Should Know. Fortress, 2003.
Written by a Christian, this is a small friendly introduction that names the issues right in the chapters: “Islam is Diverse”, “Islam is Orthopraxy”, “Muslims Respect Judaism and Christianity”, “There is no hierarchy” and “There is no separation between Religion and Politics.” To the point and careful not to offend his Muslim neighbours in Memphis.
Siddiqui, Mona. How to Read the Quran (Norton, 2007). Part of a series on “how to read the…” Short. Moderate in tone.
Sells, Michael. Approaching the Quran: The Early Revelations (White Cloud, 1999). This book was given to every freshmen at University of North Carolina in 2002 as required reading and conservative hell broke loose. He does close readings of select passages in the Quran, but it appears to be a modern reading. He presses the aesthetics of the book. Nice CD with Quran recitations on it (in Arabic).
Siddiqui, Haroon. Being Muslim (Anansi, 2006).
This little book will provoke you. Both defensive about Islam and offensive to the average Western reader, it was written in order to spark a response. Modern, moderate interpretations of Islam that relativise religious traditions around the globe. You might start talking back to this book.
VI. Other Novels
Enger, Leif. Peace Like a River. Grove Press, 2001.
Both my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters are magical, and the plot twists and turns like an old Western. Reuben is a young asthmatic boy who brother is running from the law. An odyssey unfolds as his father, his sister and Reuben set out across the Mid-West to find him.
Potok, Chaim. My Name is Asher Lev. Fawcett Crest, 1972.
A great novel about an Orthodox Jewish boy with extraordinary talents in art. Much to the chagrin of his devout parents, his passion for painting draws him farther and farther away from their strict religious ways. A great chronicle of the tensions that befall the faithful in the world of secular learing.
Schaeffer, Franky. Zermatt. Carroll and Graf, 2003.
The son of Francis Schaeffer spares little sentiment for his life growing up with a Reformed evangelist. This story (part of a trilogy, but stands well on its own) chronicles the life of a boy named Calvin whose missionary parents drive a deep dualism into his life. Calvin, however, is a young man with desires that cannot be suppressed, and they rise to the surface while he is on ski vacation with his family in Switzerland. Satirical to the core, this book makes fun of an over-spiritualized worldview and demonstrates how our bodies and their desires may betray us (and our faulty theology).
VII. Christianity and Aesthetics
Donoghue, Denis. On Eloquence. Yale, 2008.
A small book, but full of literary references (many of which were beyond me). A good reminder on the pleasure, fragility and subtlety of eloquence, over-against base political readings that plague the academy today. Have an English grad student read it with you. Recommended by Books and Culture editor to all.
Frank Burch Brown, Good Taste, Bad Taste and Christian Taste : Aesthetics in Religious Life. Oxford University Press, 2000.
This book is a great, critical read on our world of taste with a reflective theological perspective. My favourite part of this book is his critical and yet charitable examination of kitsch. He takes you through the “Precious Moments” chapel in Kansas, fashioned after St. Peter’s in Rome but with the Precious Moments figures.
Calvin Seerveld, Rainbows for the Fallen World. Toronto: Tuppence Press, 1980.
This book is a prophetic examination of art and much more. It challenges the reader to think of aesthetics not just as the study of art but the style by which you live your Christian life. Written by a long time Institute of Christian Studies professor of aesthetics, it provides a provocative and profound perspective on an area of life too long neglected by Reformed folk.
Patrick Sherry, Spirit and Beauty. Second Edition. London: SCM, 2002.
For a sacramental perspective of art, this is a good introduction to the theological foundations. Seerveld challenges this view, which I would call the dominant Catholic perspective.
Gesa Elsbeth Thiessen (ed.), Theological Aesthetics : a Reader. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004.
A wonderful anthology of theological pieces on aesthetics from Augustine to Barth.
VIII. Bibliography on Christianity and Modern Technology (from course at Regent College, Vancouver.)
1) Barrett, William, Death of the Soul: From Descartes to the Computer (New York: Anchor, 1986).
2) _______, The Illusion of Technique: A Search for Meaning in a Technological Civilization (New York: Anchor, 1978).
3) Borgmann, Albert. Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life: A Philosophical Inquiry (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984). 249 pages.
4) _______. Holding On To Reality: The Nature of Information at the Turn of the Millennium (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999). 274 pages.
5) Ellul, Jacques. The Technological Society (New York: Knopf, 1994). 440 pages
6) Fukuyama, Francis. The Great Disruption: Human Nature and the Reconstitution of Social Order (New York: The Free Press, 1999). 297 pages.
7) Gehlen, Arnold, Man in the Age of Technology (New York: Columbia University Press, 1980).
8) Goudzwaard, Bob. Capitalism and Progress: A Diagnosis of Western Society (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1979). 270 pages.
9) Grant, George. Technology and Justice (Concord, ON: Anansi, 1986). 133 pages.
_______. Technology and Empire (Concord, ON: Anansi, 1969). 143 pages.
10) Guardini, Romano.256213194 Letters from Lake Como: Explorations in Technology and the Human Race (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994). 113 pages.
11) Gunton, Colin. The One, the Three, and the Many: God, Creation and the Culture of Modernity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994). 248 pages.
12) Heidegger, Martin. The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays (New York: Harper & Row, 1977). 182 pages.
13) Illich, Ivan. Tools for Conviviality (New York: Harper & Row, 1973). 111 pages.
14) Jardine, Murray. The Making and Unmaking of Technological Society: How Christianity Can Save Modernity From Itself (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2004). 281 pages.
15) Kohak, Erazim, The Embers and the Stars: A Philosophical Inquiry into the Moral Sense of Nature (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1984).
16) Landes, David, The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969).
17) Lewis, C. S. The Abolition of Man (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1943). 63 pages.
18) Mitcham, Carl. Thinking Through Technology: The Path Between Engineering and Philosophy (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994). 299 pages.
19) Mumford, Lewis. Technics and Civilization (New York: Harcourt & Brace, 1934). 435 pages.
20) Postman, Neil. Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology (New York: Vintage, 1992). 222 pages.
21) Schultze, Quentin J. & Jean Bethke Elshtain, Habits of the High-Tech Heart: Living Virtuously in the Information Age (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2002). 256 pages.
22) Schuurman, Egbert. Faith and Hope in Technology (Toronto: Clements Publishing, 2003). 213 pages.
23) White, Lynn. Medieval Technology and Social Change (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963). 194 pages.
IX. Bibliography on Humour and Faith
(I compiled this for a paper I wrote for an ICS summer course).
Aichele, George. Theology as Comedy: Critical and Theoretical Explorations. University Press of America, 1983.
Berger, Peter. Redeeming Laughter: The Comic Dimension of Human Experience. Walter de Gruyter, 1997.
Beuchner, Frederick. Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale. Harper, 1977.
Darden,Robert. Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor. Abingdon, 2008.
Drakeford, John W. Humor in Preaching. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, Ministry Resources Library, 1986.
Huizinga, Johan. Homo Ludens. Beacon, 1950.
Hyers, M. Conrad. And God Created Laughter: The Bible as Divine Comedy. John Knox, 1987.
Hyers, M. Conrad. Holy Laughter: Essays on Religion in the Comic Perspective. Seabury, 1969.
Lindvall, Terry. Surprised by Laughter: The Comic World of C. S. Lewis. Thomas Nelson, 1996.
Oden, Thomas C. The Humor of Kierkegaard: An Anthology. Princeton, 2004.
Palmer, Earl F. The Humor of Jesus: Sources of Laughter in the Bible. Vancouver: Regent College, 2001.
Phipps, William E. The Wisdom and Wit of Rabbi Jesus. John Knox. 1993.
Thatcher, Tom. Jesus the Riddler: The Power of Ambiguity in the Gospels. Westminster John Knox, 2006.
Trueblood, Elton. The Humor of Christ. Harper, 1964.
Van Rensburg, Lee. The Sense of Humor: In Scripture, Theology and Worship. Lima, Ohio: Fairway Press, 1991.
Vos, Nevin. For God’s Sake, Laugh! John Knox, 1967.
Whedbee, J. William. The Bible and the Comic Vision. Fortress, 1998, 2002.
Willimon, William H. ed. And the Laugh Shall be First: A Treasury of Religious Humor. Abingdon, 1986.
Popular Books on Faith and Humor
Callaway, Phil. Laughing Matters: Learning to Laugh When Life Stinks. Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah Press, 1999, 2005.
Macy, Howard, M. Laughing Pilgrims: Humor and the Spiritual Journey. Paternoster, 2006.
Manning, Brennan. The Importance of Being Foolish: How To Think Like Jesus. Harper Collins, 2005.
Mullen, Tom. Laughing Out Loud and Other Religious Experiences. Richmond, Indiana: Friends United Press, 1989.
Wilson, Douglas. A Serrated Edge: A Brief Defense of Biblical Satire and Trinitarian Skylarking. Moscow, Idaho: Canon Press, 2003.
Woodley, Matthew. Holy Fools: Following Jesus with Reckless Abandon. Tyndale, 2008.
