I was tagged by Lamma Mamma on books I'm reading. Here's my list:
1. One book that changed your life.
Other than the Bible, ..., it would have to be
War in Heaven, by Charles Williams
2. Two books that you have read more than once. (sorry I had to change it)
Life Together and Letters and Papers From Prison by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
3. One book you would want on a desert island.
The Bible
4. Two books that made you laugh.
Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat (Calvin and Hobbes), by Bill Watterson
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
5. One book that made you cry.
Who Broke the Baby? by Jean Staker Garton
6. One book you wish you'd written.
God in the Womb of a Woman [I’m working on it]
7. One book you wish had never been written.
Mein Kampf by Adolph Hitler
8. Two books you are currently reading.
The Man Who Fought Alone by Stephen R. Donaldson and A Light in the Window by Jan Karon (Actually reading this one to my wife each night)
9. One book you've been meaning to read.
The Justification Reader by Thomas Oden
10. Books you wish your friend hadn't written.
A Generous Orthodoxy, by Brian McLaren
I’ll tag: http://llamatrauma.blogspot.com
3 comments:
Great list. I'd like to hear more about the book you're working on...
Years ago (maybe when first at the bldg) I recall you mentioned a novel you were working on and you shared a bit of the story. I remember it caught my interest and now I wonder how that book is going for you?
Also, can you elaborate on why you wish A Generous Orthodoxy was not written? Have you shared your thoughts with McLaren?
Thanks.
Haven't shared my thoughts with Brian on this particular book. Why do I wish Brian hadn't written the book? Very briefly: Sometimes a person's greatest strengthns become their greatest weakness. Brian's strengths are his huge heart, great sincerity, desire to be authentic within his own experience, his thoughtful articulateness and ability to ask probing questions.
I think many of the questions that Brian asks are valuable and helpful but I also think that:
1. The book is decidely ungenerous in realtion to people who disagree with Brian.
2. The book is "biblically texted and referenced" but exegetically weak, making its argument look stronger than it really is.
3. Without going into detail, many of Brian's solutions are both unbiblical and unrealistic, sounding more like eastern mysticism and wishful thinking than biblically warranted.
4. Brian's great ability to ask questions that resonate in the mind and heart of the reader who is dissatisfied with their own version of Christianity or what they have seen or not seen in other's Christianity, causes the reader to drop their defenses and assume that Brian's answers will be equally incisive. Some are. Many are not. In fact, I believe that many are postively dangerous. Like Soren Kierkegaard, who is one of Brian's heroes, some of what he says is wonderful and on target. But the poison in some of what he says could have a devastating effect on the faithful in the next generation when his views and perspectives continue their natural development.
I have other reasons but that is enough for a short blog like this.
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