I was going to entitle this post “Summer reading list” because it is the summer here in Australia and then I realised most of you who will be reading this will probably be trudging to work through 5 inches of snow! Over the January period things are traditionally quiet for me and I usually have 2 or 3 weeks of annual leave and plenty of time to read at leisure (as much as one can with kids).
As is my tradition I never read one book at a time, I have 3, 4 maybe 5 books on the go over the New year period. This year will be no different. So what is on the list? I am glad you asked…
Firstly, I really want to get stuck into Dale C Allison’s, ‘Constructing Jesus’. I won this copy via James McGrath and I am seriously considering a contrast and compare of this volume with Richard Bauckham’s ‘Jesus and the Eyewitnesses‘ for my dissertation.
Secondly, I promised BW3 I would read and review the third of his Art West mystery novels, ‘Papias and the Mysterious Menorah‘ so I hope to get it done over the coming days….week….Seriously though, I am really enjoying this novel!
Thirdly, my wife bought me two great ‘lighter books’ for me for Christmas – David G Benner’s ‘Opening to God: Lectio Divina and life as prayer‘ along with Eugene Peterson’s ‘A Long Obedience in the same direction‘. These will make for good read and snooze sessions on lazy afternoons!
There you have it, my summer/winter reading list. All for enjoyment. Having kids limits my time to read leisurely so I savoir every moment I get (with the kids as well). So, what’s on your list this coming year?
the archives near Emmaus 
I will soon be starting Beale’s “Temple and the Church’s Mission,” Waltke’s and Brueggemann’s OT theologies (among other things) for my OT eschatology class. The entirety of 2011 will be spent reading widely in Trinitarian theology and Christology (Bauckham, Hurtado, Rowe, Gathercole, etc.) for my capstone paper.
I have some lectures of Waltke’s I picked up from Regent. It is very clear he does not agree with Brueggemann!
I will be reading for my dissertation also so it is nice to get some enjoyable reading in first!
Since I am going to be in a class on the Book of Isaiah I will be reading the two textbooks chosen by the professor: Bryan E. Beyer’s Encountering Isaiah and O.T. Allis’s The Unity of Isaiah. The first one should be good, not so sure about the second. In addition, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I received Brevard Child’s The Struggle to Understand Isaiah as Christian Scripture and J.R. Wagner’s Heralds of the Good News: Isaiah and Paul in Concert in the Letter to the Romans. And of course, the Book of Isaiah itself.
I begin thesis work as well so I will be reading the Book of Romans over and over and over. I haven’t lined up what secondary sources I will be reading, but I am sure there will be plenty.
Other than that I hope to fine tune my Greek, Hebrew, and French a bit, read The Drama of Ephesians by Timothy G. Gombis, and begin reading N.T. Wright’s The Resurrection of the Son of God and Licona’s new book The Resurrection of Jesus.
That should get me to the end of April!
I am going to work my way through the Fundamentals, works of Andrew Fuller, read much on the existence of God and the authority of Scripture, learn a little more Greek, and try to find a reasonably priced copy of Schmidt’s “Origins of Religion”.
to quit asking for review books and get going on the ones I have…. 🙂 but seriously I am going to be engaging more of Richard Hays, Kevin Vanhoozer and others as I continue undergoing a “conversion of the imagination…”
Brian F.- I just picked up “The Drama of Doctrine” after over a year of telling myself I would get it some time. I’m excited to read it!
Brian,
I can agree with the need to stop getting review copies. I have done about 50+ reviews this year. Too many.
More Wright. 😉
Got some books to read on St. Paul.
Got BW3 two Indelible Volumes to tackle.
Oh, thinking also about Calvin’s Institutes.
Aside from assigned reading, of course, here is my short list I’m reading from:
More Keller. More Wright (Surprised by Hope is next), Thomas K. Jill’s “Gift of the Jews,” more Nouwen, Bauman’s Pilgrim Theology, Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, finishing Boenhoffer’s Cost of Discipleshiple and I will crack the cover of some Kierkegaard too (JG influence).
I also just bought two new volumes from the NICNT set that I will try to read through. Particularly, Matthew.
I suspect, I will only read half (if that) of what i intend, and read much more of what inspired me along the way. But it helps to have a plan! 🙂
TC The BW3 volumes are very good works. I will be posting a thorough review of volume 1 in the new year. i also considered Calvin but then thought better of it.
James, France’s volume on Matthew is one of the best I have ever read (of Matthew and commentaries in general). It is as good if not better than Fee’s stuff.
I try to alternate between contemporary and ancient authors.
I’m currently 1/3 of the way through Barth’s Church Dogmatics I.1. From there I plan to read, in order:
Dialogue with Trypho by Justin Martyr
The Christian Doctrine of God by T.F. Torrance
The Apostolic Fathers by Michael Holmes
Early Christian Doctrines by J.N.D. Kelly (this is a re-read for the most part, as we read about 90% for a class in seminary, but my prof said you can’t read it too many times)
De Trinitate by Augustine
The Art of Reading Scripture by Hays and Davis
I might also try to tackle another volume of CD this year, too.
That’s as far ahead as I’ve planned.
I’ll probably read Cost of Discipleship by Bonhoeffer with my camp staff this summer.
Tyson, your reading list sounds fabulous! Enjoy.
I second Marc’s sentiment, Tyson; nice reading list, all of it!
You don’t have kids do you Tyson? 😉
Our daughter is almost 4 months old. I often read out loud to her. She can’t tell the difference yet between “Church Dogmatics” and “Is Your Mama a Llama?”
Darwin’s Pious Idea: Why the Ultra-Darwinists and Creationists Both Get It Wrong, by Conor Cummingham
The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science, edited by Philip Clayton
Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion, edited by Ronald L. Numbers
In Defense of Miracles: A Comprehensive Case for God’s Action in History, edited by R. Douglas Geivett & Gary R. Habermas
Eternal God: A Study of God without Time, by Paul Helm
The Providence of God, by Paul Helm
The Problem of Evil, by Peter van Inwagen
Christian Faith and the Problem of Evil, edited by Peter van Inwagen
Original Sin: Illuminating the Riddle, by Henri Blocher
Back to Darwin: A Richer Account of Evolution, edited by Johgn B. Cobb, Jr.
The Far-Future Universe: Eschatology from a Cosmic Perspective, edited by George F. Ellis
The End of the World and the Ends of God: Science and Theology on Eschatology, edited by John Polkinghorne and Michael Welker
The God Who Acts, edited by Thomas Tracy
How God Acts: Creation, Redemption and Special Divine Action, by Denis Edwards
Physics and Cosmology: Scientific Perspectives on the Problem of Natural Evil, edited by Nancey Murphy, Robert John Russell & George V. Stoeger
The Work of Love: Creation as Kenosis, edited by John Polkinghorne
Beyond Creation Science: New Covenant Creation from Genesis to Revelation, by Timothy P. Martin & Jeffrey L. Vaughn