My top 11 books from 2011
Last February I shared some thoughts on the merits of reading both widely and wisely, and I shared my own reading goals for the year. Specifically, these:
- At least one book about/from every continent in the world (plus Central America and the Middle East)
- At least one book by an adherent of every major world religion
- At least 25% to be written by dead people
- At least 40% to be written by women or non-white males.
Well, how closely did I stick to those goals?
- I had each of the continents (plus Central America and the Middle East) covered
- Though I read a lot of books written by Christians and a range of non-Christians (including Alice Walker, a Buddhist, and others I presume to be either atheists or agnostics), I don’t think I read anything by Hindu or Muslim authors.
- 20 written by dead people; only 21%
- 26 written by women or non-white males; only 27%
So I did better in some areas than in others. I’ll keep the goals more or less the same for 2012. But in the meantime, as is the custom (sort of), here are my picks for the top eleven books I read in 2011. Like last time, these are in no particular order, and include books not necessarily published this year. When applicable, I include a link to what I've already written about it.
Timothy Keller, Generous Justice: How God's Grace Makes Us Just
A must-read on following Jesus and doing justice. I reviewed this one for PRISM and blogged about it here.
Eugene H. Peterson, The Pastor: A Memoir
If you are a pastor, know a pastor, or have opinions about pastors, read this. I blogged about it here.
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
It's a classic, and I should have read it a long time ago. I'm guessing you already have.
Michael Casey, Che's Afterlife: The Legacy of an Image
A fascinating look at how the iconic "Che" image has been reproduced and re-appropriated for countless causes -- and has paradoxically come to represent global capitalism.
Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
This biography of the great German theologian who was part of a failed assassination plot against Hitler won all kinds of awards last year. I blogged about this here.
Michael J. Sandel, Justice: What's The Right Thing To Do?
In this book the Harvard political philosopher put the cookies on a relatively low shelf, helping you and I wrestle through different understandings of justice in the world around us. I blogged about it here.
Gregory Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion
One of the most inspiring, funny and heart-breaking books I read this year. I blogged about it here.
Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner, City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era
From what I understand, this book never really took off, which is a shame, because it's a wise, nuanced, an intelligent handling of the two topics none of us seem to know how to discuss in polite company. I blogged about this here.
Robert Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
An important book on doing no harm when seeking to do good. I blogged about this here and it was also picked up by the Values & Capitalism blog.
Richard Mouw, He Shines In All That's Fair: Culture and Common Grace
I haven't had a chance to blog about this yet, but I plan to in January. In this slim book, Mouw articulates a wonderful theological and practical vision of common grace.
N.T. Wright, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters
For Christians unsure about what's supposed to happen between being "saved" and dying, this is an important book on ethics and cultivating virtue. I blogged about it here.
How about you? What were your favorite books of 2011? What are your reading goals for 2012?
Radical Together
Last fall I shared some thoughts on David Platt’s first book, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream. In the book, Platt urges readers to consider the ways in which the gospel is at odds with a materialistic, narcissistic American way of life, and to commit to living ‘radical’ lives for Christ.
He has since written a sequel called Radical Together: Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God. If you've read the first one (or if you’ve read John Piper’s Let the Nations be Glad or Don’t Waste Your Life, for that matter) it's likely that nothing in Radical Together will come as a surprise. Rather, Platt takes the themes from Radical and explores the implications for congregations rather than individuals. He seeks to show “how a right understanding of the church fuels radical obedience among Christians.” Churches, he rightly argues, aren’t meant to be consumer-oriented bubbles; instead, each Christian is to be equipped for the work of the church both locally and globally. This is an important affirmation of the historic Christian belief in the “priesthood of all believers,” and a critique of what is too often the norm: inward facing churches, full of consumers of religious goods and services, administered by professionals.
Platt writes about the difficulty in letting go of good programs in order to channel a church’s resources and attention more purposely based on what we believe to be true about the mission of God in Scripture. In the case of the church he pastors in Birmingham, Alabama, that means a particular focus on northern India. While understandably encouraging Christians and churches to take seriously the great needs overseas, I wish he would have done more to affirm both local and global ministry as equally vital expressions of Christian faith. As it is, one is left with the impression that the further away our neighbors are, the more worthwhile it is to seek to love them. I know from experience that even in churches with vibrant global ministries, local ministry does not happen automatically, and I suspect Platt's readers would be led to replace one kind of lopsided ministry with another. Also, though he affirms the importance of serving the poor, he particularly emphasizes sharing the gospel (verbally) with the “unreached.” Again, the influence of Piper is evident, though as a call for holistic ministry, I think it falls a bit short.
On the whole Platt’s book is a welcome critique of easy-breezy suburban religion and, not unlike Dietrich Bonhoeffer at a different time and place, it’s a new call for Christians to consider the cost of discipleship. And it’s a good reminder that “God doesn’t involve us in his global plan because he needs us; he involves us because he loves us.” It would simply be a shame to miss out.
I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. The introduction to the book is available free here, and also check out other resources including videos at the WaterBrook Multnomah site.
Political murder and martyrdom
I mentioned yesterday that I'm reading a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who stood up to Hitler and was executed for it. It seems to me we should learn from people like this, those driven by their faith to do what they can in their particular context to defend human life and dignity against brutality. Well, earlier this week marked the 13th anniversary of the death of another faith leader, this one in Guatemala, who was killed for his tireless work on behalf of the brutalized poor in the context of a civil war that claimed something like 200,000 lives.
Once the war had finally ended in 1996, Bishop Juan José Gerardi issued a report documenting who was responsible for the lion's share of atrocities during the conflict. Two days later he was killed. From The Latin Americanist:
Two former military officers and a priest were convicted in 2001 of masterminding Gerardi's murder though the Guatemalan archdiocese issued a call this week for authorities to actively investigate his death. "The Catholic Church awaits for justice to be served against all those involved in the vile assassination," said the director of the archdiocese's human rights division.
The Latin Americanist also shared the following video, featuring a short interview with the author of a book about the murder of the bishop, in which he describes how he first learned about the atrocities in Guatemala and how the weight of this knowledge has impacted his life and work.
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