What are you reading?

Many forums have a thread asking participants to post what book(s) they are currently reading.

As the OP of this thread, I wish to post the following comments about this thread.

Purpose of this WHAT ARE YOU READING thread.

1. Provide a running book list that participants of this forum are currently reading, hope to read in the future, or have read in the past.
2. Provide references for interested participants to access the book, such as a link to Amazon.com, google books, or other online book vendors and/or archives.
3. Paste a copy of the cover of the book, if possible; or provide a link to the cover of the book (YES, book covers are very important!).
4. Provide a copy of the book's Table of Contents, if possible (YES, a book's Table of Contents is very important!).
5. Write a review paragraph summary of the book (PLEASE, use your own words). If you like the book, please tell us why; if you do not like the book, please tell us why.
6. Provide a quote from the book, if possible. (PLEASE cite the page number(s), so those with interest can find and read the context of the quote).
7. Feel free to post a review of a book that has been previously reviewed (PLEASE tell us about any previous book reviews posted in this thread). Remember this is your review, so feel free to tell us why you disagree with any comments made in previous reviews of the same book.

Avoid the following when posting to this WHAT ARE YOU READING thread.

1. Avoid discussing another reviewer's post in this thread.
2. Discussion about a book or comments made in the review should be posted as a new thread, or as a private conversation or profile comment to the reviewer.
3. Avoid posting published reviews of a book (please give us your own words).

*****

I thought I would get things rolling with four books I am reading at this time.

So here goes.

*****

Aileen O'Donoghue. The Sky is Not a Ceiling: An Astronomer's Faith. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books (2007).



A few years ago, when I retired, I took up the hobby of backyard astronomy. An outside activity I thoroughly enjoy. However, this hobby has challenged me in the area of Faith vs. Science. O'Donoghue's spiritual autobiography, while not without its shortcomings, does make an attempt by a scientist to harmonize her Christian faith with her science career. She ends the last page with these words.

"My path has been jagged and my truth elusive. I hope that this description of it will help you, dear reader, make a step or two along your path--or at least make peace with some of its twists!" (O'Donoghue, 2007, p. 174).​

...Scottish Monk

 

Sigurd F. Olson, illustrated by Francis Lee Jaques. The Singing Wilderness. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press (1956, reprinted 1997).



A collection of thirty-three essays written several decades ago by conservationist Sigurd F. Olson about his years canoeing, snowshoeing, skiing and fishing the Wilderness areas of Superior National Forest and the Quetico of Canada. The essays are divided into the four seasons. My favorite essay is Silence from the Summer season. Here is an excerpt from that essay to give you a sense of Olson's unique writing style.

"It was before dawn, that period of hush before the birds had begun to sing. The lake was breathing softly as in sleep; rising and falling, it seemed to me to absorb like a great sponge all the sounds of the earth. It was a time of quiet--no wind rustling the leaves, no lapping of the water, no calling of animals or birds. But I listened just the same, straining with all my faculties toward something--I knew not what--trying to catch the meanings that were there in that moment before the lifting of the dark. . . . ​

​

One winter night I stood and listened beneath the stars. It was cold, perhaps twenty below, and I was on a lake deep in the wilds. The stars were close that night, so close they almost blazed, and the Milky Way was a brilliant luminous splash across the heavens. An owl hooted somberly in the timber of the dark shores, a sound that accentuated the quiet on the open lake. Here again was the silence, and I thought how rare it is to know it, how increasingly difficult to ever achieve real quiet and the peace that comes with it, how true the statement 'Tranquillity is beyond price.' . . . ​

​

In Winchester Cathedral in England is a stained-glass window dedicated to Izaak Walton, the patron saint of all anglers. In the base of that window are four words that embody the philosophy of all who enjoy the gentle art of fishing and the out-of-doors:​

​

STUDY TO BE QUIET​

​

It is the key to all he ever wrote and thought about. Beside the rivers Itchen and Dove, Izaak Walton fished for peace and quiet, sought the silences and the places where thoughts were long and undisturbed." (Olson, 1997, p. 129-134).​

...Scottish Monk

 

I just finished reading Steven Paulson's Luther for Armchair Theologians. I would recommend it to anyone looking for an in depth but highly accessible introduction to Luther's theology.

 

I am just started reading Gerhard Forde's A More Radical Gospel: Essays on Eschatology, Authority, Atonement, and Ecumenism. So far it has been absolutely mind-blowing. The core of Forde's message is this: theology qua theology is always confined to an abstract speaking about God. No one is saved by such abstractions. In other words, theology is never an end in itself. Rather, theology is always meant for the pulpit. As Karl Barth once said, all theology is sermon preparation. When the preacher enters the pulpit, he is to not to speak about God but for God. That is, he is to move from abstract explanations and descriptions of God to the concrete proclamation and giving of God to the hearers of the Word of the Gospel: "You are forgiven! Depart in peace! Amen!"

 

I am currently reading a number of different books about Francis of Assisi, and the Bible.... LOL

 

It's been a while since I started reading a good book! Time to read a new book I think...

 

Towill, E. S. (2012). The Saints of Scotland. Edinburgh: The Saint Andrew Press. [Originally published in 1978.].



This book presents 160 pages of Scottish saints in historical context with notes and suggestions for further reading of many of the saints included in the text. What I find so fascinating about this book are the names--the names I have heard all of my life preserved in the hills and hollows of my beloved Appalachian Mountains. Family names (surnames), first names, names of places in the Appalachian back country, Scottish pronunciations of these names, and Scottish customs--all of this preserved for over 200 years in my own backyard here in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Some of these names, places, and customs passed through the heritage of John Calvin, John Knox, and the Scottish Reformation, which took root and thrived in the Appalachian Mountains--giving fresh meaning to what is sometimes called the Scottish Diaspora.

...Scottish Monk

 

Mitton, M. (1996). The Soul of Celtic Spirituality in the Lives of its Saints. Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications. [Originally published as Restoring the Woven Cord in London by Darton Longman & Todd, 1995.].



A 148-page description of Celtic spirituality organized in 14 chapters. Each chapter describes a different Celtic principle and the life of a Celtic saint who demonstrates the spiritual principle. At the end of each chapter are (a) Bible readings, (b) questions for reflection and discussion, (c) prayers, and (d) notes. The book easily lends itself to a 14-day personal devotional, small group study, or sermon series.

Contents​

Introduction​

Chapter 1: Authenticity, Simplicity, and Holiness​

St. Aidan, Bishop of Lindisfarne​

Chapter 2: The Preeminence of the Bible​

Boisil, Prior of the Community at Melrose​

Chapter 3: The Importance of Children​

Cuthbert, Prior of Melrose, Bishop of Lindisfarne​

Chapter 4: The Celtic Commitment of Community​

David, Bishop of Wales​

Chapter 5: Love of God's Creation​

Columba, Dove of the Church​

Chapter 6: The God-Given Gift of Creativity​

Hilda, Abbess of Whitby, and Caedmon​

Chapter 7: Death and the Dead​

Drythelm's Triumph over Death​

Chapter 8: The Mission of Evangelism​

Columbanus, Missionary and Evangelizer​

Chapter 9: Healing and the Miraculous​

John of Beverley, Bishop of Hexham​

Chapter 10: Ministry of Women​

Brigid, Abbess of Kildare​

Chapter 11: The Power of Prayer​

Patrick, Evangelist and Pastor​

Chapter 12: Prophetic Visions and Dreams​

Fursey, and the Four Fires​

Chapter 13: The Spiritual Battle against Evil​

Illtyd, Founder of the Welsh Church​

Chapter 14: The Divine Restlessness of the Wild Goose​

Brendan, Abbot of Clonfert​

Epilogue: The Woven Cord​

Quote from Chapter 3: The Importance of Children; Cuthbert, Prior of Melrose, Bishop of Lindisfarne.

As a child, Cuthbert loved to play games with his friends. . . . he once told the Bishop Trumwine a story from his childhood that changed his life.​

​

​

It happened when he was about eight years old (642 A.D.): A large crowd of boys were playing games in a field and Cuthbert was among them, thoroughly enjoying himself. Suddenly an infant who was no more than three years old began to severely reprimand him. Cuthbert could not believe his eyes. The little boy stood before Cuthbert, and in front of the astonished crowd of other children, spoke to him as if he were his father. He told Cuthbert that he should not be wasting his time with games when God was preparing him for something far more important. When Cuthbert laughed along with the other boys, the infant threw himself on the ground and sobbed uncontrollably. Cuthbert began to become concerned and tried to cheer him up, but as he did, the infant looked at him and once again told him to give up idle play and prepare himself for the ministry to which God was calling him. The crowd of onlookers was particularly astonished when he referred to Cuthbert as "most holy priest and bishop" (Mitton, 1996, p. 28).​

...Scottish Monk

 

Haverland, M., T.M.R. (2011). Anglican Catholic Faith and Practice (3rd ed.). Athens, GA: Anglican Parishes Association.

Contents​

Preface to First Edition​

Introduction to First Edition​

Introduction to Second Edition​

Chapter 1: Authority in the Church​

Chapter 2: The Bible​

Part I. The Old Testament​

Part II. The Apocrypha​

Part III. The New Testament​

Part IV. Inspiration and Interpretation​

Chapter 3: Church History​

Part I. The Apostolic Fathers​

Part II. The Second Century​

Part III. The Third Century​

Part IV. The Ecumenical Councils​

Part V. Other Ancient Heresies​

Part VI. Later Church History​

Part VII. The Blessed Virgin Mary​

Chapter 4: The Sacraments and Worship​

Part I. The Sacraments in General​

Part II. The Sacraments in Particular​

Part III. The Eucharistic Rite​

Part IV. Liturgy, Ritual, and Ceremonial​

Chapter 5: The Teaching of the Church​

Part I. Life and Death Issues​

Part II. Sexual Issues​

Part III. The Christian in Society​

Part IV. The Duties of Churchmen​

Appendix A: The Church​

Appendix B: The Three Creeds and the Articles​

Appendix C: The Papacy​

Appendix D: The Final Things and the Communion of Saints​

A 165-page manual developed from the notes used in the instruction of adult inquirers at Saint Stephen's Anglican Catholic Church in Athens, Georgia. The purpose of the publication is to assist clergy in the instruction of adults and to help interested laity in their own studies. The 1928 American edition of the Book of Common Prayer is cited, as well as the Anglican Missal. As I get to know the folks in the new Anglican church I am attending in my local community (Anglican Church in North America, ACNA), I am discovering the majority are Anglican Catholic. This book helps me understand the rituals desired and practiced by the serious folks in the pews, and their personal and family reasons for seeking an Anglican Catholic congregation that is distinct from the newer evangelical and charismatic emphasis prevalent in their planting church. Maybe this following quote from Haverland's manual will help explain what I have been sensing, but just now able to articulate. This is one of the many advantages of faith and practice documents--they give us words to express some of what we experience deep in our soul.

The use of largely fixed, written rites is very ancient. It is true that in the most ancient Church the Eucharistic canon was often said extemporaneously by the bishop, though always with certain elements and formulas included. However, the danger of this method appeared quickly as heretical bishops imported false doctrine into their prayers. A fixed liturgy became a way of protecting the congregation from both heresy and also from the perhaps more common problems of bad taste and bad sense in their clergy (quoted from Haverland, Anglican Catholic Faith and Practice, 3rd ed., 2011; Chapter 4: The Sacraments and Worship; Part IV. Liturgy, Ritual, and Ceremony; p. 92.).​

...Scottish Monk

 

That sounds really interesting.

 

I'm also reading some biography on St Francis and his order. The Divine Comedy. Some devotionals. The Bible, and so much more. I have a pile of books I need to read, and quite a bit on my kindle app for my computer.

 

I am reading, Saving Jesus From The Church by Robin R. Meyers because I recently had occasion to hear the author speak. My opinion is that this book contains a few statements that are thought-provoking wrapped in a myriad of statements that may be considered heretical at best and at worst blasphemous. I consider myself a liberal, open-minded sort when it comes to the thoughts of others as well as the writing, reading, and keeping of books. This one shall neither stay on my shelf nor shall it be passed to another. I think it is better suited for the rubbish heap.

 

such as?

 

Andrea (and others)...

As the OP of this thread, I wish to post the following comments about this thread. A copy of these comments will be added to my OP (first post in this thread).

Purpose of this WHAT ARE YOU READING thread.

1. Provide a running book list that participants of this forum are currently reading, hope to read in the future, or have read in the past.
2. Provide references for interested participants to access the book, such as a link to Amazon.com, google books, or other online book vendors and/or archives.
3. Paste a copy of the cover of the book, if possible; or provide a link to the cover of the book (YES, book covers are very important!).
4. Provide a copy of the book's Table of Contents, if possible (YES, a book's Table of Contents is very important!).
5. Write a review paragraph summary of the book (PLEASE, use your own words). If you like the book, please tell us why; if you do not like the book, please tell us why.
6. Provide a quote from the book, if possible. (PLEASE cite the page number(s), so those with interest can find and read the context of the quote).
7. Feel free to post a review of a book that has been previously reviewed (PLEASE tell us about any previous book reviews posted in this thread). Remember this is your review, so feel free to tell us why you disagree with any comments made in previous reviews of the same book.

Avoid the following when posting to this WHAT ARE YOU READING thread.

1. Avoid discussing another reviewer's post in this thread.
2. Discussion about a book or comments made in the review should be posted as a new thread, or as a private conversation or profile comment to the reviewer.
3. Avoid posting published reviews of a book (please give us your own words).

...Scottish Monk

 

Somehow missed all those rules when I started posting here...

 

Anyways....books on my list for reading after I finish the other two I finished, and I already finished Christian Proficiency.



It's supposed to encompass a variety of subjects but especially prayer and discipline even through sorrow.




Table of Contents:
Intro
Likings and Loves for Sub-Humans
Affection
Friendship
Eros
Charity



Supposed to be about dialogue between man and God.

 

The theme of this book (Saving Jesus From the Church - How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus) is that too much Christian emphasis is on worship. Robin Meyers posits that declining church membership has to do with adherence to prescribed worship practices that inquirers can't agree with or dislike. He suggests churches would be healthier and Christians might be be better off if we were less focused on worship and more focused on following Jesus, or living our lives as Jesus lived and taught. Discipleship, if you will. The author states that in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus never told anyone what to believe but only what to do. I am unsure I agree with that, but I take no offense at it.

Where I depart from Rev. Meyers is his questioning of the virgin birth, the resurrection, and the Divinity of Christ. I encounter him as suggesting that we not experience and proclaim Jesus as the Christ, but follow Jesus, the man. I am reminded of the words of C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity:

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -- on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg -- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." – Mere Christianity, pages 40-41.​

​

​

Therefore, the book is headed toward the rubbish pile when I have finished it.

<><
seeking.IAM

 

Hope against darkness by Richard Rohr:

http://www.amazon.com/Hope-Against-Darkness-Transforming-Francis/dp/0867164859

 

The Primacy of Peter: Essays in Ecclesiology and the Early Church by John Meyendorff






I read this book several years ago, when I was considering Catholicism. I was surprised to learn that East and West view history very differently, especially when it comes to the "universal primacy" of the Bishop of Rome. Catholics claim the Pope always held this primacy. Some Orthodox claim the East was unaware of this "ecclesiological development" in the West, until it was too late to stop it. See the following quote (Emphasis is mine.):

"The Primacy of Peter, Essays in Ecclesiology and the Early Church," John Meyendorff, Editor, Chapter 3, St. Peter in Byzantine Theology, John Meyendorff, Page 77:
"Historians have more than once described the disastrous effect of the Crusades upon the relations between Christians of the East and West. The mutual accusations turned into a real uprising of hatred after the capture of Constantinople by the Westerners in 1204. As is known, Innocent III began by solemnly protesting against the violence of the Crusaders, but finally he decided to profit from the given situation and to act in the same way in which his predecessors had acted in other eastern territories reconquered from the Moslems. He appointed a Latin Patriarch to Constantinople. This action appeared to the whole Christian East not only as a religious sanction of conquest, but as a sort of theological justification of aggression. The election of a Latin Emperor in Byzantium could still be interpreted as being in conformity with the laws of war, but by virtue of what right or custom was the Patriarch of the West appointing his own candidate, the Venetian Thomas Morosini to the See of St. John Chrysostom?

In all the anti-Latin documents of that period we see mention of this so-called "right" of the Pope, a right of which the Eastern Church had no knowledge. All of a sudden the East became more fully aware of an ecclesiological development which had taken place in the West and which it was much too late to stop."

_______________________

The Primacy of Peter gives a very interesting perspective from the Eastern Orthodox point of view.This book greatly influenced my view of the Pope and his claim to authority throughout Christendom--a claim which I do not believe can withstand historical scrutiny.

 

Smith, D. (1997). Celtic Travellers: Scotland in the Age of the Saints. Edinburgh: The Stationery Office.

Contents​

Introduction​

Map of Old Kingdoms​

The Brittish Kingdoms​

The Scots of Dalradia​

South-Eastern Frontiers​

Kingdoms of the Southern Picts​

Kingdoms of the Northern Picts​

North-Western Frontiers​

Scotland is noted for many historic sites of early Christianity. One interesting period is the age of the traveling Celtic saints--missionaries obeying the command to take the Gospel to "to the ends of the earth." The early saints were motivated by a spiritual hunger to reach new frontiers by sea or land, and discover places where their own vocation would be fulfilled. This calling took the traveling saints to the west of Ireland, Western Isles of Scotland, Orkney, Shetland, Faroes and Iceland. Their settlements can still be traced today. The age of the early Celtic saints in Scotland flourished between the foundation at the Isle of Whithorn around 400 AD and the sack of the Isle of Iona by the Norse Vikings around 800 AD. This 48-page guide book includes 25 maps, 33 photos, and over 100 site descriptions where the Celtic saints traveled and settled. Current day place names, roads, and ferry lines are given to help locate and plan trips to these religious sites. The book was published in 1997 to mark the 1600th anniversary of the first mission to the Isle of Whithorn, later associated with Saint Ninian, and the 1400th anniversary of Saint Columba to the Isle of Iona. I find this book very helpful for identifying early Christian sites in Scotland, places where my own ancestors may have lived during their travels.

Here is a description from Celtic Travellers for the Isle of Iona.

Mull is one of the largest and most beautiful of Scotland's islands with its fair share of early chapels and settlements such as those at Pennygown near Salen, Dervaig and on Inchkenneth. Nonetheless the focus is on Iona, the site of Columba's principal monastery and the burial place of Scottish Kings for many centuries. Travel is by car-ferry to Craignure, road to Fionnphort and ferry to Iona. The pure gentle light of Colum Cille's Isle contrasts strongly with the rugged salt-scoured Garvellachs.​

​

On Iona, St Oran's Chapel and burial ground may commemorate an earlier foundation than that of Columba. Columba's monastery was to the north of the present restored Benedictine Abbey, but only its cashel or enclosing wall survives. Tor Abb, a mound to the west of the Abbey, is believed to be the site of Columba's own cell, while the gravestone known as "Columba's Pillow" is housed in St. Columba's Shrine in the Abbey or cathedral church.​

​

The restored Abbey buildings are the base of the twentieth century Iona Community, founded by George MacLeod to take the gospel of Columba into urban Scotland. The High Crosses of St. Martin and St. John, though partially restored, are among Scotland's finest Celtic artworks.​

​

Every feature on Iona has an association with Columba. Adomnan's Life of St. Columba is essential reading for its radiant portrait of life in the days of Columba and his succedssors. From here the Saint's spiritual influence reached out through Dalriada and eastwards to the Kingdoms of the Picts. (Smith, 1997, p. 16).​

*****

The following images of Iona are not part of Smith's Celtic Travellers. However, I am adding them for the benefit of current day travellers.



Restored Benedictine Abbey located on the Isle of Iona.



Sheep grazing along the shore of the Isle of Iona.



Map of current day sites on the Isle of Iona.


...Scottish Monk