What's on your bookshelf?

[graceandpeace]

So, I want to know, what's on your bookshelf (or Nook/Kindle/whatever)? Or, what books would you put there?

We could share resources.

So, first: what book(s) on Christian history or origins would you recommend from your bookshelf?

 

[~Anastasia~]

I love the topic! But my books are on other topics at this point, so if you want to keep it categorized I'll have to wait for another category. But I'm subscribing.

 

[Joseph Hazen]

For Orthodox interpretation of the Fathers - Way to Nicea and then The Nicene Faith. Three books total, The Nicene Faith is broken into two volumes. They're used as our textbooks in the intro to Patristics class, but they're fairly easy to grasp. While studying the controversies and writings the trends and progression of theology gives you the history.

A decent book, kind of dense, on the early to late Medieval period of the Byzantine Empire is Hussey's "The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire." An ok book meant to give a general overview of how Roman Life continued in the Byzantine Empire (how they're arguably not two empires) is Peter Brown's The World of Late Antiquity. It helps if one is familiar with names and dates with Brown's book, but you can google names as you read through and get a fairly decent timeline.

Of course for the Patristic texts themselves there are great options. St. Vladimir Seminary Press has the "Popular Patristics" Series where you can buy single copies of works of single fathers. They're pretty decent. I also really like "The Apostolic Fathers" from Michael Holmes, which my wife brought into our marriage. Good single source for the earliest fathers, including the Didache.

Not that my preferences are biased towards a particular tradition…or press…lol

 

[Cappadocious]

"When God Spoke Greek" is a good little introductory book I have, that talks about the Christian use of the Septuagint.

 

[graceandpeace]

I love the topic! But my books are on other topics at this point, so if you want to keep it categorized I'll have to wait for another category. But I'm subscribing.

I didn't mean to limit it, I was just trying to get the conversation going & awhile ago I was looking for books in that category but got sidetracked. I'm hoping to find some neutral coverage of history, though I don't mind different perspectives in selections. Anyway, feel free to share whatever!

 

[prodromos]

Quite a few "Lives of the Saints" on our bookshelf. Sometimes we need to put aside the head knowledge and immerse ourselves in living in Christ.

 

[graceandpeace]

Bump?

I thought I'd get more responses!

 

[~Anastasia~]

Bump?

I thought I'd get more responses!

Lol I'm crazy-busy reading these days. 30 days free Kindle access, a new book just came in that I'm probably more excited about than any I've ever received, and a suggestion to read one I owned on a particular pressing question.

I'll try to reply later today. I actually LOVE the topic of this thread!

 

[FireDragon76]

The Sacrament of Love by Paul Evdokimov
Ethics by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
Reconciliation by Martin Smith
Theologica Germanica of Martin Luther
Exchanging the Truth of God for a Lie by Jeremy Marks
Faith Beyond Resentment by James Alison
Contemplative Prayer by Thomas Merton
The Jesus Prayer by Simon Barrington-Ward
Chanting the Psalms Cynthia Bourgeault
Evangelical Disenchantment David Hempton
Centering Prayer Basil Pennington
The Cloud of Unknowing
On the Acquisition of the Holy Spirit - Seraphim Sarov
Philokalia - Anthony Coniaris
Reading the Bible with Martin Luther by Timothy Wengert
Mañana: Christian Theology from a Hispanic Perspective by Justo Gonzalez

I also have two books of Justo Gonzalez (he's a Methodist professor) on church history. If you want church history that can't be beat.

that's just a short list. The local Lutheran pastor at the church I have been attending recommended I pick up Bonhoeffer's Discipleship and Life Together.

 

[Shane R]

The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
A New Testament Biblical Theology, G.K. Beale
The Chief Theological Topics (1559), Philip Melancthon - trans. by J.A.O. Preus
Encountering the Mystery, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
Jesus of Nazareth & Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives, Pope Benedict XVI
The Way to Nicaea & The Nicene Faith 1 and 2, John Behr
The First Thousand Years, Robert Louis Wilken
Turning Points, Mark Noll
The Division of Christendom, Hans Hillerbrand
The Church in History, John E. Booty
The Church, the Falling Away, and the Restoration, J.W. Shepherd
Theological Roots of Pentecostalism, Donald W. Dayton
Religious Literacy & God is Not One, Stephen Prothero
The Mosaic of Christian Belief, Roger E. Olson
The Church Defended, Richard Hooker

I have many others but this is the best of my collection close at hand. 2/3 of my books are in storage at my parents' house. One day I will be able to drive out and get them but not anytime soon. Interestingly, most of these are books I acquired myself - there are only a couple that were required texts for coursework I've done.

 

[~Anastasia~]

Currently reading

Remember Thy First Love by Archimandrite Zacharias
The Arena by Ignatius Brianchaninov
Unseen Warfare by St. Theophan the Recluse
My Life in Christ by St. John of Kronstadt

 

[graceandpeace]

Wow, good lists!

I'm a thrifty shopper when possible, so I just scan for a name or title I might recognize.

Recently found Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton & The Orthodox Church by Timothy Ware. Thanks, thrift store! I'll keep looking for more. Need to see if any desired titles are free on Kindle.

Right now I just picked up to finish a needed read, Your Faith Your Life: An Invitation to the Episcopal Church by Jennifer Gamber w/ Bill Lewellis.

 

[~Anastasia~]

Just a heads-up. If anyone is a fast reader, Amazon has a 30-day free trial of Kindle unlimited (even $10 a month thereafter might be worth it for some folks) and I found a number of very good books on there.

The Arena was next on my list to buy, and that's where I'm reading it. And it's free to look anyway.

 

[Open Heart]

Tales of Gletha the Goatlady, by Roger Robbennolt
Some people thought she was a witch; to others she was the image of God. Robbenolt tells stories of his childhood growing up dirt poor in the back hills of Virginia during the depression. The characters are both endearing and mythic. In story after story, the message of Christ comes through, not in a didactic way, but shown through the lives of real people who dealt with real troubles. This book is a book of healing.

 

[thecolorsblend]

G. K. Chesterton- Everlasting Man
Steve Ray- Crossing the Tiber
Thomas Bokenkotter- A Concise History of the Catholic Church

More that I'm forgetting.

 

[Open Heart]

Thomas Bokenkotter- A Concise History of the Catholic Church

Dry but very good. It's been a long time since I've run into anyone else that's read it.

 

[thecolorsblend]

Dry but very good. It's been a long time since I've run into anyone else that's read it.

Bokenkotter has a tendency to get lost in minutiae a bit. And yeah, reading it can be a bit of a slog at times. It's worth reading though if you want a good look back at the Church's history.

 

[All4Christ]

I just decided to pick up a book I've read many times... It is called The Springtime of the Liturgy. It's a very interesting book that collects the liturgical hymns and texts of the first four centuries, as well as early Jewish liturgical texts. It also chronicles the progress and differences of the Liturgy between the East and West.

 

[Crowns&Laurels]

Behold a Pale Horse, the entire (hardcover) Harry Potter series, A Storm of Swords, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, a Catholic Bible, the KJV, The Blue Nowhere, and the Comedies of Dante. Also a Smithsonian book on Einstein and Physics.

It's not a bookshelf, but a couple of stacks beside my bed lol

*The Problem With Physics, forgot that one

 

[Tigger45]

I just ordered Theology of the Heart: The Role of Mysticism in the Theology of Martin Luther can't wait until it gets here.