Books
Our men’s small groups at church meet monthly, and we read together a book that our group leaders select so that we’re all thinking about the same things over a period of time. We’re just starting a new book titled Disciplines of a Godly Man by Kent Hughes, a retired pastor who served for many years as the senior pastor of College Church in Wheaton, IL. As I leafed through the book for the first time, I noticed that Rev. Hughes had asked a number of prominent evangelicals to list the books that had influenced them most.
I found that exercise fascinating. The author then compiled a listing of the books that were mentioned more than once and leading the list were two titles that many of you will know. There were 15 mentions of the Institutes of Christian Religion by John Calvin (this was a rather Reformed group) and ten mentions of Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.
The author asked those he selected to respond to four questions to list five books (Christian or secular) that deeply influenced them, list their favorite book of those that had influenced them, mention their favorite novel (yes, there is room for good fiction), and finally list their favorite biography. He assumed that the Bible would be at the top of everyone’s list, so he asked for books beside the Bible.
An exercise like this is helpful because it clarifies who has influenced me in my own Christian journey of faith, and it gives me insight into the faith of others. I’m one of those folks whom if you invite me to your home or office, the first thing I notice is your library and the books you have on it. So let me share with you the books that have shaped my thinking about faith and about life, and hopefully you will find some insight into what I think and what I value. This list may be different this time next year.
Six that are influential.
The first is Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by N.T. Wright (Harper, 2009). Wright demonstrates that our hope as Christians is found in the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, not in some Gnostic fantasy of entering a disembodied state upon our death. We are bound for a new heaven and new earth where we will live as embodied persons with resurrection bodies like the one Jesus has when he was raised from death. I’ve heard a lot of unbiblical speculative preaching about this. Wright, however, points toward a different more hopeful future for followers of Jesus. This book rocked my theological world, especially with Wright’s biblical teaching about the Kingdom of God and about the return of our Lord. (No rapture, no “I’ll fly away.” Just simple hope that Christ has conquered death, and that those who are “in Christ” will do the same at the time of his great appearing).
Next is Fundamentalism and American Culture: The Shaping of Twentieth Century Evangelicalism by George Marsden (Oxford, 1982). After I moved to Charlotte from California in the early 1980s, I read George Marsden for the first time, and he helped me make sense of late 19th and early 20th century American Christianity. I discovered that more liberal Christians were not the only ones allowing modernism to shape their theology. Fundamentalists did the same thing in different ways. Both tried to apply their versions of Christianity to society that had begun to secularize, and both had difficulty discerning what was truly Christian from what was mere cultural preference. This book helped me grasp the value of history and of understanding Christian theology in more historical terms.
Then comes The Democratization of American Christianity by Nathan Hatch (Yale, 1990). At this time, I was working at the Advent Christian General Conference and had struggled with locating that denomination’s historical context. Hatch helped me see that the Advent Christian Church was an American restorationist group that framed its beliefs in distinctly restorationist forms. Hatch argues that the real American revolution took place in the first half of the 19th century where new Christian religious movements adopted distinctly American ideals such as individual conscience, soul liberty, democratic congregationalism, and congregational autonomy. These things were more cultural than Christian (though I wouldn’t necessarily oppose them) and for the first time I understand what made the Advent Christian Church tick and why it had arrived at the point it was in the late 20th century. Hatch laid the foundation for my later historical work in this area.
In 1978, Richard Foster released his first book, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth (Harper, 1978). It was the first book on Christian spirituality that I had read, and it remains one of my favorites, a book that I reread from time to time. In the 1960s and 1970s, Christian faith was often viewed as a transaction, and one became a Christian by making a “decision” for Christ. In fact, the language of decision had replaced the earlier notion of conversion meaning a surrender of one’s life to Christ and justification before God through Christ’s atoning work. Foster helped me get beyond the “decision” and see that the Christian life was a progressive journey in sanctification through the practice of spiritual disciplines like prayer, silence, solitude, study, worship, and others. And Foster opened my eyes to great spiritual writers like Henri Nouwen, Brennan Manning, Dallas Willard, Robert Wicks, and others. All of these writers God has used to nourish my soul.
The fifth book is one that I have read within the past ten years and has influenced me as much as the first book by N.T. Wright that I mentioned; Life in the Trinity by my good friend and colleague Don Fairbairn (IVP, 2015). Fairbairn specializes in early Christianity, especially in the Trinitarian work of the fourth-century Cappadocian fathers. And here, he uses their work to point to the ultimate goal of the Christian life: that followers of Jesus are in continual fellowship with the Triune God as God’s adopted daughters and sons. I’ve always valued Paul’s teaching in Romans 6 regarding our union with Christ. But Don helped me to go even further by exploring John’s gospel about the oneness of the Father and the Son (and by extension, the Spirit) and how we are brought into that oneness.
The last book is one I read fifty years ago during the summer between my junior and senior years in college while working at Mt. Hermon, The Dust of Death by Os Guinness (IVP, 1973). At this time, I was sorting out the intellectual meaning of Christianity and Guiness offered a brilliant social critique of the 1960s in a way that made Christian faith intellectually credible for me. The Christian faith was no mere ideology or theological system. It was a way to think about the social, cultural, and ideological currents of life, especially with the rise of modernity and technology. Guinness set me on the lifelong road of intellectual discovery, one which I have never tired of pursuing.
Is there a favorite?
It’s hard to pick a favorite from the ones that I have listed. And I could list more books like Henri Nouwen’s little book, In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership which is the most important ministry-related title that I have read. So let me suggest some important authors. At the top of my list would be Rev. John Stott, the British evangelical leader, who thought deeply about biblical exposition, evangelism, and social concern in the 20th century. His book The Cross of Christ is the most important theological book in my library, and I think describes the essence of the Christian faith better than any other that I know. I would add Christian historians Mark Noll, Nathan Hatch, and Thomas Kidd to that. I read everything they produce and I’m currently in the middle of Noll’s magnum opus titled America’s Book: The Rise and Decline of a Bible Civilization 1794-1911 (Oxford, 2022). It may reach my top six.
Novels and biographies
I haven’t read as many novels as I would like so I’m a bit hard pressed to pick one that stands out. But Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country is a beautifully written novel about life in apartheid South Africa that reminds me of the dignity of every human being. Every human is created in the image of God and has a fundamental human worth given each by their creator, even if our humanity has been distorted by the Fall described in Genesis Three. It is here where Christian thinking about humans must begin, and the themes of sin and grace must shape our evangelism.
I like John Grisham’s novels and have read almost all of them. Grisham has a knack for explaining the intricacies of the law and how the law works its way out in courtrooms across the country. Someday soon (I hope), I plan to tackle Dostoevsky’s The Karamazov Brothers, but I need to clear the decks before I take that on.
Regarding biographies, there is one that stands out and that is George Marsden’s Jonathan Edwards: A Life. Edwards was the most important theologian of the 18th century and Marsden has written a wonderful biography of his life that captures the essence of the man and his time. This is a superior book and a pleasure to read. William Manchester on Douglas MacArthur, David McCullough on John Adams, Charles Marsh on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Stephen Coats on Martin Luther King, Jr. are biographies well worth reading.
Since I was a boy, I have always loved to read and I’m thankful that my mother instilled a love for reading in my life. I’ve also been encouraged by fellow Christians along the way by what they were reading. And my professors had a knack for encouraging me to read. Today, there is never a time when I don’t have at least two books going. Why? Because reading opens our lives to fresh ideas and inspires us toward thinking about life and faith both realistically and hopefully. There is nothing like sitting in my easy chair with a good book and getting lost in its pages. And there is nothing like sitting in a bookstore with a nice cup of coffee perusing some titles that I’ve pulled off the shelf.
When I meet someone for the first time or have lunch with a good friend, the first thing I usually ask is “What are your reading?” So, let me ask you that. Leave a comment and let me know what you are reading. Or let me know what books have influenced you. I’d love to hear about what you are reading.