Good Reading

I find myself in a rather odd but not completely unpleasant situation. I’m currently on an evening work schedule, which means my free time is on the front half of my day. At first I thought it would be annoying as I could have no social life – but it has occurred to me that I had no social life before, so there’s no loss on that score :). One of the more difficult things to figure out, however, has been entertainment. Previously when I got home in the evenings, I would watch TV because I was tired and there were good shows on. But I am not tired in the mornings and good daytime television is hard to come by.

So I have returned, at least for the present, to my first love: books. Heaven knows my reading list goes on forever (and some of it is incarnated in the “reading stack” growing under my side table – I’ve run out of space on the bookshelves), so the opportunity to whittle it down has been welcome. I have, in fact, just finished three books that I was reading simultaneously. I normally prefer to read one at a time, but sometimes reading them together provides an interesting interplay of ideas that one would otherwise miss – and this was one of those times. I liked them all to a certain degree, so I thought I would “advertise” them here :). I’d encourage anyone who had the inclination and time to recreate the three-book experiment, but any one of them would be good reading on its own.

A New Kind of Christian, by Brian McLaren
Recommended reading for anyone who wonders how someone can be a Christian and postmodern – because I get tired of explaining it myself :). McLaren is one of the leading voices in the “conversation” that is the emerging church and this is a work designed to introduce people to it. In it, he contrasts modern and postmodern Christianity (with a smattering of medieval, as well), quotes extensively from Lewis (including The Discarded Image), and does his best to cast a vision of what the Church can become in the coming age. I found it encouraging – it’s nice to know there are other Happy Postmodernists out there :). But you might want to bear in mind a few things while reading it: 1. The style is abysmal (as novels go) – read it as a philosophical dialogue and you’ll be happy. 2. It’s a postmodern work, so it’s not systematic. It’s logical and touches many major issues, but in a conversational form.

The Celtic Way of Evangelism, George Hunter
Hunter argues that the current culture is ripe for the reintroduction of the “Celtic way of evangelism,” which focuses on communities, hospitality, deep appreciation of local cultures, concern for the affairs of daily life as well as “the big questions,” and conversation. Against this he contrasts the “Roman way of evangelism,” which focuses on intellect, major existential questions, individual salvation, and imposition of Roman culture and “ways of doing church.” Ironically enough, this book comes to most of the same conclusions as McLaren’s, but found praise from people who, in the same breath, would denigrate the emergents. So, for those who have an anti-postmodern reflex, perhaps this would be a good gateway book :).

Tao te Ching, Lao Tsu
My knowledge of Eastern philosophy is next to nil, and I always liked the quotes Campeador was pulling out of this work, so I thought I’d start my Asian exploration here. I was not at all disappointed. The best way I could describe it would be a bag of Dove dark chocolates. Each chapter is a little nugget of chocolatey goodness that deserves to be savored in its own right and, if you’re sufficiently postmodern and philosophically inclined, it is quite calming and comforting. Not only that, but my edition (Vintage) has a rocking introduction by a fellow named Joseph Needleman that is worth its own reading. Good stuff.