This is a list of books that I am reading, have read, and think others might benefit from reading. If iPods provide the soundtracks of our lives, this list is a bibliography of mine. It’s going to take some time to populate it, so don’t think this is a complete list. And, as I continue to read and grow, I suppose it will never be complete.
- Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination
Brueggemann has long been a hero of mine. I love how his career has combined respected scholarship with a concern for the church. This book is probably his best, and it has had a lasting influence on my ministry. I think it is less about how the Hebrew prophets actually functioned and more about how the church should read and apply the prophetic literature today. It is definitely more a work of constructive biblical theology than descriptive history. Brueggemann here provides a definitive understanding of prophetic ministry, which is what the church should be about.
- Bart D. Ehrman, Jesus Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (and Why We Don’t Know About Them)
There are criticisms to be made of Ehrman’s recent forays into popular writing, but taken for what it is, this is a great introduction to the historical criticism of the New Testament (and by extension, the Bible as a whole). I highly recommend this to church members interested in the current state of mainline biblical scholarship. Ehrman should also be commended for taking mainline pastors to task for not doing a better job sharing this approach with their congregations.
Read more in this blog post.
- Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches that Changed the World (edited by James M. Washington)
This may not be the best or most complete collection of King’s writings, but it is the one I was assigned during my first year of seminary and it is the one I still turn to on a regular basis. I make a point to read “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” each year on MLK Day (and usually several more times throughout the year). This letter keeps me honest as a pastor and reminds me of my calling to participate in the coming of the kingdom of God.
- Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried
This is the only book I’ve ever read by Tim O’Brien, but it has deeply influenced by thinking. This was actually recommended to me by a high school student who had read it for school. I think it’s pretty common to read this in high school these days. It should also be required reading for seminary students. In fact, I highly recommend it for anyone who reads the Bible, even though it has nothing to do with the Bible. The reason I love it so much is that it engages the important question of how a story can be true when it never happened. It is a work of fiction presented as a memoir, with reflections on storytelling by a master storyteller. What is truth? Read this book for some fascinating insights.
- Desmond Tutu & Mpho Tutu, Made for Goodness: And Why This Makes All the Difference
This is the only book by Tutu I’ve ever read, but it moved me deeply. It is almost a systematic theology based on the notion that humanity is fundamentally good. Considering all the atrocities and human depravity that Tutu has witnessed in his life, this insistence on the essential goodness of human beings, and how that insistence can shape our lives, is a powerful testimony.
- Julius Wellhausen, Prolegomena to the History of Israel
First published in 1878, this is the book that popularized the Documentary Hypothesis of the composition of the Pentateuch, and to this day Wellhausen is the scholar most connected to the theory. When I entered college, the idea that Moses did not write the Torah was tantamount to heresy. By my senior year, I was thoroughly convinced of the historical and theological importance of historical criticism. I remember vividly the moment I finished reading this book in my library carrel at Rice University. It all made sense to me and helped me see the Bible in a completely different way. I was so overwhelmed by this almost mystical experience that I had to get up and walk around campus to process what had just happened. Wellhausen and the Documentary Hypothesis will continue to be debated by scholars, but this is the book that changed the course of biblical studies. It changed me too.
