Half Finished Books

I've been doing a lot of reading lately. I'm about half way into 3 to 5 different books, I think. I have a reading bug. I'll get so far into one book, and then another one will cross my path and I'll think, "Man, that looks really interesting, I should see what they're talking about." Then I end up spending more time reading the other and the cycle just continues.

Right now I'm reading an array of material. I'm stuck half way through The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burruoughs, The Reason for God by Tim Keller, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses by Richard Bauckham, and Surprised by Hope by N. T. Wright.

The Reason for God is a good book, Keller brings up some difficult issues and questions often raised by unbelievers and then systematically shows how they do not either defeat Christianity or give the unbeliever a leg to stand on. It's an interesting read, and I look forward to getting back to it and finishing it out, perhaps in the coming days.

Jesus and the Eyewitnesses is a bit more academic. In it, Bauckham is arguing that the Gospel writers were either eyewitnesses or associates of eyewitnesses. He is deconstructing much of the premises of the Historical Jesus movement as well as much of liberal theology in general. By examining the internal evidence of the Gospels, Bauckham is able to demonstrate that the Gospels were not based on oral traditions, passed down over hundreds of years, but actually written shortly after the events they described based on eyewitness testimony, thus adding a great deal of credibility to what they contain. It's an interesting read, but can be a bit deep at times. That one might have to wait until Christmas time before I can revisit it.

Surprised by Hope is N. T. Wright's most recent book and deals primarily with the topic of life after death, mainly life after life after death: the resurrection. This book is extremely interesting, even though at times I'm not entirely on board with Wright on certain points of his exegesis. He will definitely make you think through the book about much of modern Christianity's doctrine concerning life after death and heaven. Apparently I was fortunate enough to have been a part of a congregation in South Carolina that already greatly emphasized the New Heavens and New Earth, so that a lot of the stuff that Wright is talking about is already old hat for me. But, I can see how much of this book would be revolutionary for some believers who look forward to resting on a cloud for eternity. The book is divided into three main sections: 1. Establishing the foundation for the conversation; 2. Looking forward to understand God's future plan; and, 3. Examining how we are to live today in light of these things. I'm just at the threshold of the third section and am very interested to find out what Wright believes are the implications of the resurrection on our present life. It seems as if his primary focus is going to be in the areas of politics, social justice, and the environment. I'll post more when I find out how he concludes, assuming I don't get sidetracked again for another few months!!!