Reading Recommendations
As this particular forum for discussion hobbles to its feet for its first hesitant steps, we thought we’d provide some assistance in the form of a couple easy topics.
So share here with us your recommendation of books that have best helped you in ministry, whether they be practical/pastoral or more obviously theological or philosophy-of-ministry oriented.
And choose two: one from within our tradition, and one from outside of it. Then tell us why you’ve chosen the two you have; how they’ve specifically helped shape your thinking and approach to your context. Thanks ahead of time for the resources.
Posted: November 5th, 2008 under General, Wednesdays.
Comments
Comment from Jedidiah Slaboda
Time November 8, 2008 at 8:12 pm
I have not read many good books that relate to pastoral ministry directly. Book IV of Calvin’s Institutes transformed the way I understand the ministry, the Church and the sacraments. In my entire seminary and church life I had never heard anyone put the ministry of Word and sacraments in the traditional ‘keys to the kingdom’ way. In short, it elevated my understanding of the Church and its ministry.
I was deeply moved by Marilynne Robinson’s novel, Gilead and recommend to anyone who hasn’t read it yet. It is filled with wisdom and paints a beautiful portrait of a life and ministry without falling into sentimentality.
Comment from Greg Hewlett
Time November 21, 2008 at 10:01 am
* Outside our tradition: “Catholicism: Christ and the Common Destiny of Man” by Henri de Lubac, 1947.
This book was apparently one of the foundational texts of Vatican II. It’s influence has gone well beyond the Catholic church because it really about the idea of catholicity, consistent with what we confess in the Apostle’s creed.
It draws heavily from the early church fathers, including Augustine. Great extended quotes. It explores the collective dimension of sin, salvation, and the church.
* Inside our tradition: “Paul: An Outline of His Theology.”
A required text at our seminaries. I re-read section II, fundamental structures, every year. And every time, it reorients my thinking to the rich redemptive structures in Paul’s books.
Comment from Jamison Galt
Time November 6, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Two works immediately come to mind for me.
1) “A Manual of Church Doctrine according to the Church of Scotland,” by Witherspoon and Kirkpatrick, revised and enlarged by Thomas Torrance and Ronald Wright.
Just discovered this and I will never-ever be able to read our standards or think about our polity the same way again. It’s a very hard book to get hold of, but worth whatever it takes. The authors show how the Westminster Divines and the Reformed tradition in Scotland understood the Standards. It’s decidedly Reformed Catholic and argued for entirely from Scripture and the Standards themselves. You’ll never read Westminster the same way again.
2) “For the Life of the World” by Fr. Alexander Schmemann is my pick for outside of the tradition. An almost-Chestertonian-style introduction to the Biblical theology of the Lord’s Supper and liturgical piety from an Orthodox perspective. We do weekly communion here in Brooklyn, and this book has opened my eyes to the real-life day-to-day implications Communion has for the faithful, and for the world. A paradigm shifter.