What I've been reading (Jan 2023)

books, obviously

I decided that at the end of each month I'll do a little post like this, wrapping-up things I've read, both books and online. There's plenty of things I read that don't make it to a book-review post, but that I think are worth commenting or sharing. So, what have I been reading in January? (Finished books only)

Books and similar:

1. Understanding Gender Dysphoria, Mark Yarhouse 

2. Friendship, Victor Lee Austin

3. Jesus v Evangelicals, Constantine Campbell

This was of personal interest to me because I know Con as an acquaintance. Here he offers a robust, personal, biblical critique of the failings of Evangelicalism. I resonate and agree with almost all his criticisms here. A fast read, but a good one.

4. Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr.

Every year when MLK day rolls around in the US, I take the opportunity to get acquainted with more of MLK's thought and writings, beyond the soundbites (and especially beyond the misused soundbites trotted out by those who like to whitewash the tombs of the prophets they killed).

5. Lost in Thought, Zina Hitz

This was a pleasant, slightly meandering read. It's a kind of defence for the life of the intellect, by a former philosophy academic. Makes the case for intellectual pursuits as an expression of human dignity.

6. Preaching, Timothy Keller

This book has been sitting in my digital library for a long time, but I finally got around to reading it. It's, as he says, more a manifesto than a manual. It's also the considered reflection of a man known for his penetrating and persuasive preaching, after a long career of preaching a lot. Though I'm not in the regular preaching business these days, I was glad for the vision here of what preaching ought to be.

7. Life of St. Antony, Athanasius

The hagiographical account of Antony that made monasticism famous.

8. On the Apostolic Preaching, Irenaeus

This is a classic text that is only preserved in Armenian, and only discovered in the last century; a beautiful summation of Irenaeus' understanding of the Christian Faith

9. If God still breathes, why can't I, Angela Parker

I'm still on the fence of writing a review of this; it's part of my commitment to read more books by Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, and Women authors. This book's provocative thesis is that inerrancy and infallibility are doctrines of white supremacist evangelicalism. I don't really agree with the argument, but there is a lot in this book I'm willing to entertain - e.g. how white supremacy functions in biblical studies and evangelical churches to silence minority voices or else assimilate them to dominant modes of being.

10. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Ann Jacobs

I think everyone ought to read a few accounts of slave life. This is autobiographical, and if you need some perspective on your own problems, or on the historical reality of US race-based chattel slavery, this is a worthy read. Hearing the sheer suffering of this woman, and her struggles through life, was hard reading.

11. So good they can't ignore you, Cal Newport

I have quite a few Newport books. This is one of his earlier ones that I thought I'd go back to. They are all more or less in the "life hacks to be more of a minimalist and live a more successful and fulfilled life"; the pitch of this one is that you should basically get really good at something, anything, and leverage that for better control over your career. Perhaps ironically, I think I have done that in the field of Ancient Greek teaching.

12. Native, Kaitlin B. Curtice (Audio book)

So one of my challenges to myself is just to generally read more books by people who aren’t white males, or even white male evangelicals. This is a book by a woman who is both a Potawatomi citizen and a Christian, and quite on the progressive end on the latter. There’s a lot here that I don’t think I’d agree with, but plenty also that was worth hearing.

Online:

A few things from around the place:

Of Course Church Will Hurt Us: How Could It Not?

One of the substacks I read is Myles Werntz's "Christian Ethics in the Wild", and this series talks about harm in churches, distinguishing the 'ordinary harm of sin' from abuse, and how and why reaching for abuse and trauma language for everything is a confusion that detracts, rather than helps, us understand the nature of both sin and abuse.

Another writer I resonate with is O. Alan Noble. He writes here about friendship:

The Perks of Friendship

The last few days the death of Tyre Nichols has been big news in the US. Here are two posts that reflect some of what I think:

Grief by your side and hope in your pocket

Living into Lament

And that’s a wrap. New book review tomorrow.