Just realized I forgot to put up a reading recap for the first half of this year. Comments on the following are available here, for any interested. It will be obvious, I think, which month I was home and between work assignments…
January
- Jason Stellman, Dual Citizens : Worship and Life Between the Already and the Not Yet [pretty good]
February
- Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov [good, long]
- Cornelius Van Til, The Confession of 1967 (rare) [standard Van Til]
March
- Greg Bahnsen, Presuppositional Apologetics [decent explanation and defense]
- Doug Wilson, Federal Husband [short and insightful]
- Doug Philips, Masculine Mandate [great corrective to Eldredge's Wild at Heart]
- Jerry Bridges, The Bookends of the Christian Life [edifying]
April
- Friedrich A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom [highly recommended - poli-econ]
- Marilynne Robinson, Gilead [superb fiction]
- Sean Michael Lucas, Robert Lewis Dabney : A Southern Presbyterian Life [very good bio]
- Maureen Ogle, Ambitious Brew : The Story of American Beer [engaging, interesting]
- John Calvin, Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life [classic]
- P. G. Wodehouse, Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves [fun]
- Robert A. Peterson, Adopted by God : from Wayward Sinners to Beloved Sons [ok]
- Marilynne Robinson, Home [more superb fiction]
May
- N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope [sheep and goats]
June
- Ronald Wallace, Calvin’s Doctrine of Word and Sacrament [surprisingly good]
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Aron, by ‘sheep and goats’ do you mean what I think you may mean with regards to reading N. T. Wright—read with discernment because in his writing one will encounter some questionable presuppositions or positions? I have read a bit of the controversy surrounding some of his writing and think one must wade through shallow waters in order to reach the other side of his thoughts. I love this book review and record-keeping idea. I have regretted that I did not do this over the years and keep saying “I’ll do that …”
Well hello, Ma! Yes, that is what I mean. There are a few very good chapters in Wright’s book, but his heterodox views rear their nasty little [heads] here and there. I have a few more specific notes on the book here, if you’re interested. (Please note the dates I read these books if my comments seem…off.) It is sometimes hard to criticize/analyze Wright because he’s kind of hard to nail down on some points. In my experience, the more he clarifies a point, the more he seems to muddy the waters…
…thus the ‘shallow waters’ comment…almost makes me think there’s so much good out there why settle for even a little counterfeit. I always think of the way agents are taught to recognize counterfeit money—by studying only that which is real (true) in order to recognize the other. It is good, however, to know what you believe in order ‘to have an answer…’. If you know the opposition, you can counter more effectively when necessary. Takes fine-tuned discernment, however, and maturity in the faith. So glad you are on the case!!