The Wonderful World of Books
"A book is always a dialogue with other readers and other books."
-- Tim O'Reilly
I've been tagged by Terry, a wonderfully witty, intelligent, spunky woman and writer, who is also at times my ideological arch-nemesis! :) This is a survey all about books, and I LOVE BOOKS.....so here we go. But I don't follow rules so well and can't just settle on one for each question, so deal with it. :)
1. One book that changed your life: Speaking My Mind by Tony Campolo and God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and The Left Doesn't Get it and Soul Survivors: How 13 unlikely mentors helped my faith survive the church by Philip Yancey. These books introduced me to another side of Christianity, expressing alternative methods of approaching faith, church, politics, poverty, and living out the Kingdom of God.
2. One book that you have read more than once: The Chronicles of Narnia Series by C.S. Lewis. C.S. Lewis' fictional portray of Jesus helped me grasp the actual Jesus: one that is both Just and Merciful, awesome and terrible, knowable yet mysterious, and definitely not a tame lion. :) 
3. One book you would want on a deserted island: The Bible and the Chronicles of Narnia.
4. One book that made you laugh: America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide To Democracy Inaction by Jon Stewart.
5. One book that made you cry: Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. Rivers creates a beautiful, riveting work of fiction, demonstrating God's endless, redeeming love in the midst of complex human dysfunction. It is based on the book of Hosea found in the bible, where God commands the prophet to marry a prostitute. God goes to extraordinary lengths to redeem us, eh?
6. One book that I wish I had written: Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2 by Steve Stockman. If I had wrote this book, I mostly likely would have been able to meet Bono, so there ya go.
7. One book that you wish had never been written: OK, this is a book that I am actually glad was written, but disagree with its many of its conclusions: Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why by Bart Erhman. It's about textual criticisms and the process that took place of translating and transposing the New Testament. Erhman's findings are intriguing, but SOME of his conclusions are obviously not congruent with people of fatih, and other conclusions should be prayerfully considered. But even Christian scholars concede to the veracity of his work, but disagree with many of his conclusions. It's a book that more Christians should read, just for the challenge of digging deeper into their preconceived notions, beliefs and faith.
7. One book that you wish had never been written: OK, this is a book that I am actually glad was written, but disagree with its many of its conclusions: Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why by Bart Erhman. It's about textual criticisms and the process that took place of translating and transposing the New Testament. Erhman's findings are intriguing, but SOME of his conclusions are obviously not congruent with people of fatih, and other conclusions should be prayerfully considered. But even Christian scholars concede to the veracity of his work, but disagree with many of his conclusions. It's a book that more Christians should read, just for the challenge of digging deeper into their preconceived notions, beliefs and faith.
8. One book you are currently reading: They Like Jesus, But Not the Church by Dan Kimbal and Everything Must Change by Brain Mclaren. So far, I am fascinated by these books, so there will be more to come on each.
8.One book you have been meaning to read: The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming by Henri Nouwen (love him) and 10 Lies the Church Tells Women by J. Lee Grady (reading for part of the research I'm currently doing on the roles of women, so more to come on this subject too.). I'm just waiting forAmazon to ship 'em to me!
There you have it, just a small portion of the books that have resonated with me.
I am going to tag Makeesha over at Swinging From The Vine, Catrina over at It's Me, Tonya over at The Kissack Chronicles, Deann over at The Rollins Family, and Angela over at Our World.
8 comments:
Wow, those are some thought provoking categories. I am not sure I could come up with a list.
10 Lies the Church Tells Women is on my list to read this year. I am participating in the Triple 8 challenge... read 8 books in 8 categories in 2008. One of my categories is Women's Studies. I would love to know what other books you are reading about the roles of women.
"Idealogical arch-nemesis?!" I know what you mean and I agree that we don't see eye to eye on lots of things. But we both love Jesus and that's enough for me to look for common ground in other areas. I respect you because even though we disagree it's obvious that you came to your conclusions by way of careful consideration and prayer rather than being a band wagon jumper like many people.
I have to admit that besides the C.S. Lewis books, I haven't read most of what you have listed here. I think I'll make it goal to pick at least one and peruse it. Thanks for playing along, Tia!
Okay, I'll play. But I'm not putting up pictures of everything. You are so organized and neat over here:):):).
Hey Cynthia,
I just started my research process, so 10 Lies the Church Tells Women was the only book I actually purchased b/c the title is just so funny and after looking at the titles of each chapter, I knew I wanted to read the entire book, so I bought it. In the mean time, I have been researching different scriptures referring to the roles of women in the bibles and studying them from different perspectives: conservative, liberal, contextual, historical, cultural, and holistic interpretations. I’m thinking about doing a three part study on my findings when I am done. :)
haha Terry, I only tease the ones I love. :) I would recommend God's Politics by Jim Wallis for you if you want to read one book out of that list....You may not agree with anything, but it puts out a really good alternative to both left and right categories.... :)
Yay Tonya! I like posting pictures of the book, because I find it makes the book more attractive then just telling people the title alone. :)
I played. Thanks for the tag.
Give Bart Erhman a chance. His insights into biblical history are top notch. Most christians over react because they are not use to approaching the bible through literary criticism. I have grown more as a christian because of a intellectual approach to more scripture.
One of the most important things needed in christianity is a logical approach to scripture that acknowledges the ancient and often "mistaken" worldview of its authors. It is ok to say they were not always right. We will be seen as wrong one day also. Bart Erhman does a great service to Christians by freeing them from their literalist perspective of scripture.
Mike, not interested in picking a fight here, just asking a simple question: Are you saying that you don't believe that the Bible is the infallible word of God?
Oh Mike, I actually like Bart Ehrman, his personal story is a compelling one, being that he started at Moody Bible Institute as a born again believer. It takes a lot of courage to come out and be honest, even though he wished the result to be something different. So, I have nothing against him. Even books written to counter Erhman by christian scholars concede to the veracity of his work. But I still disagree with some of his conclusions, since he has become an agnostic, and I am obviously am not. :) So, I value his book because I am not an ultra literalist, I understand that the bible uses a myriad of genres to convey truth. I get metaphors, similes, hyperbole, and other figurative language that the bible employs. So, I value Bart Erhmans book, because it spurred me on to study the scriptures more.
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