Kiwiria's August Adventures

[kiwiria.livejournal.com]

( Some fascinating reads this month! Including the best and the worst book of the year )

Sarah's August Reads

[sk8eeyore.livejournal.com]

A Heavenly Directory: Trinitarian Piety, Public Worship and a Reassessment of John Owen's Theology by Ryan M. McGraw

I can assure you that even I generally don't read dissertations for fun, but when a blogger (who happened to have been McGraw's advisor) mentioned this one, I knew I needed to get my hands on it. Fortunately, I live close to a major Presbyterian seminary, so I didn't even have to ILL it. :) In a nutshell, it is about what happens in church. What Owen (a 17th-century theologian) maintained, and as his theological successors have maintained but sometimes neglected in practice, is that Christians truly enjoy communion with God the Father, through Christ and by the power of the Spirit, when they gather for worship. The way Owen unpacks this according to Scripture is, needless to say, more complex, and I didn't read every section meticulously, but the core truth of it I find mind-blowing. It wasn't a new concept to me, per se, but I can't say it's at the forefront of my mind every time I'm in church, and since I read the book I've tried to be more mindful of the gravity of it, and of God's graciousness in meeting his people in that way. I'd love to write something like this that's geared to a more popular level.

Rejoicing in Lament: Wrestling with Incurable Cancer and Life in Christ by J. Todd Billings
Unlike the previous book, this one isn't aimed at a strictly academic audience, but as you might guess from the title, it's not exactly a light read, either. It's excellent, though, and worth it. Billings is a gifted scholar who has the ability to convey difficult concepts to non-specialist readers. When it comes to how theology connects to everyday life, it's hard to make a stronger case than Billings does in describing his ongoing experience with cancer. Among other topics, he talks about Job, how God relates to tragedy, how to pray for oneself and for others in the face of acute suffering, and what it means to be united to Christ in the midst of everything. It's something I'll want to read again, and I really recommend it, whether or not you're dealing with crisis right now.

I spent a week or two starting Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy earlier, too, and even though she's clearly good at writing historical fiction, I just couldn't get into it. That doesn't necessarily mean much -- I might come back to it later and love it, but now doesn't seem to be the time. It won't stop me from seeking out some of her other novels in the interim.

Total for August: 2