As a companion to his new book [easyazon_link identifier=”083084449X” locale=”US” tag=”douloschristo-20″]Reading for the Common Good[/easyazon_link], ERB editor Chris Smith has also published a companion ebook, 101 Transformative Books for Churches to Read & Discuss (which is available for FREE for those who subscribe to our email digest). This companion ebook organizes its book recommendations into 12 questions. Over the next month or so, we will be featuring each one of these questions, and listing the recommended books (without annotations, you will have to get the ebook to read those), as well as some more recent books on this question that are worth discussing.
Question #1:
What is the nature and character of God?
What is God up to in the world?
These questions are essential to our identity as Christians. The Bible goes a long way in helping us answer them, but like any text, it must be interpreted, and it has not always been interpreted the same way across the wide diversity of churches throughout the two millennia of church history. The books I have selected here don’t offer definitive answers to these questions, but together they do serve as a guide to addressing important struggles that the church has had throughout her history.
Classics listed in the ebook:
(With links to FREE ebook editions)
- On the Incarnation – Athanasius
DOWNLOAD HERE (CCEL.org) - Summa Theologiae (Part 1) – St. Thomas Aquinas
DOWNLOAD HERE (CCEL.org) - Revelations of Divine Love – Julian of Norwich
DOWNLOAD HERE (CCEL.org) - 95 Theses and The Large Catechism – Martin Luther
DOWNLOAD HERE - Institutes of Christian Religion – John Calvin
DOWNLOAD HERE (CCEL.org) - Pensées – Blaise Pascal
DOWNLOAD HERE (CCEL.org) - Thy Kingdom Come: A Blumhardt Reader
DOWNLOAD HERE (Plough.com) - Orthodoxy – G.K. Chesterton
DOWNLOAD HERE (CCEL.org) - Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours – Roland Allen
DOWNLOAD HERE (Archive.org) - The Quest of the Historical Jesus – Albert Schweitzer
DOWNLOAD HERE (Google Books) - Christianity and the Social Crisis – Walter Rauschenbusch
DOWNLOAD HERE (Google Books) - A Theology for the Social Gospel – Walter Rauschenbusch
DOWNLOAD HERE (Google Books) - The Violence of Love – Oscar Romero
DOWNLOAD HERE (Plough.com)
More recent books on this question
for churches to read and discuss…
- [easyazon_image align=”left” height=”110″ identifier=”0830844171″ locale=”US” src=”https://englewoodreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/51mwV48gXL.SL110.jpg” tag=”douloschristo-20″ width=”73″][easyazon_link identifier=”0830844171″ locale=”US” tag=”douloschristo-20″]Incarnate: The Body of Christ in an Age of Disengagement[/easyazon_link]
Michael Frost - [easyazon_image align=”left” height=”110″ identifier=”0801022770″ locale=”US” src=”https://englewoodreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/415Rd6pujcL.SL110.jpg” tag=”douloschristo-20″ width=”72″][easyazon_link identifier=”0801022770″ locale=”US” tag=”douloschristo-20″]God So Loved the World: A Christology for Disciples[/easyazon_link]
Jonathan Wilson - [easyazon_image align=”left” height=”110″ identifier=”0830834516″ locale=”US” src=”https://englewoodreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/416fCrepkCL.SL110.jpg” tag=”douloschristo-20″ width=”71″][easyazon_link identifier=”0830834516″ locale=”US” tag=”douloschristo-20″]Reconciling All Things: A Christian Vision for Justice, Peace and Healing (Resources for Reconciliation)[/easyazon_link]
Emmanuel Katongole / Chris Rice - [easyazon_image align=”left” height=”110″ identifier=”0800620518″ locale=”US” src=”https://englewoodreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/41ABj99v65L.SL110.jpg” tag=”douloschristo-20″ width=”71″][easyazon_link identifier=”0800620518″ locale=”US” tag=”douloschristo-20″]Models of God[/easyazon_link]
Sallie McFague - [easyazon_image align=”left” height=”110″ identifier=”0061768138″ locale=”US” src=”https://englewoodreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/51krhzoWyVL.SL110.jpg” tag=”douloschristo-20″ width=”73″][easyazon_link identifier=”0061768138″ locale=”US” tag=”douloschristo-20″]Wearing God: Clothing, Laughter, Fire, and Other Overlooked Ways of Meeting God[/easyazon_link]
Lauren Winner - [easyazon_image align=”left” height=”110″ identifier=”0684815001″ locale=”US” src=”https://englewoodreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/51G4bZO8VML.SL110.jpg” tag=”douloschristo-20″ width=”72″][easyazon_link identifier=”0684815001″ locale=”US” tag=”douloschristo-20″]The Cost of Discipleship[/easyazon_link]
Dietrich Bonhoeffer - [easyazon_image align=”left” height=”110″ identifier=”0061551821″ locale=”US” src=”https://englewoodreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/512B3X2BKL1IL.SL110.jpg” tag=”douloschristo-20″ width=”73″][easyazon_link identifier=”0061551821″ locale=”US” tag=”douloschristo-20″]Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church[/easyazon_link]
N.T. Wright
What books related to this question would you add to this list?
C. Christopher Smith is the founding editor of The Englewood Review of Books. He is also author of a number of books, including most recently How the Body of Christ Talks: Recovering the Practice of Conversation in the Church (Brazos Press, 2019). Connect with him online at: C-Christopher-Smith.com
 Reading for the Common Good From ERB Editor Christopher Smith "This book will inspire, motivate and challenge anyone who cares a whit about the written word, the world of ideas, the shape of our communities and the life of the church." -Karen Swallow Prior Enter your email below to sign up for our weekly newsletter & download your FREE copy of this ebook! |
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