Recommended Resources
The following titles are not so much “about” the Bible as about how the Bible is to be lived. These books are proving themselves as a modern curriculum for people seeking to explore the depths of a biblical theology and a Christ-centered, Jesus-patterned life in our times.
Living a Biblical, Christ-Centered, Jesus-Patterned Life
The Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggemann
Okay, despite what was said above, the book list does begin with a book deeply about the Bible and our 2011 theme. When people think of contemporary giants in Old Testament scholarship, they tend to think of Walter Brueggemann. He is known for having an amazingly deep scholarly understanding coupled with a skillful ability to relate the issues of Bible times to the society and culture of today. This book was sent to all the BSS faculty this year in preparation for their 2011 presentations.
What’s So Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancey
This book has been widely popular among Christians of every denomination and has become one of the first reads in many of the burgeoning number of book groups formed by or participated in by Christian Scientists. The author has been reviewed in the Christian Science periodicals. The book presents grace as central to following Christ, but as vaguely understood by many. Yancey’s approach is full of practical applications of how grace is experienced and the radicality of its implications for living more deeply spiritual lives.
The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming by Henri J.M. Nouwen
Mary Baker Eddy called this parable the “pearl of the parables.” It does embody up so much of Jesus’ teachings and the how to live the grace most essential to embracing them. Nouwen brilliantly explores how this lesson of grace is to be found in the role of each of the principal characters – then prods us to consider how and when we are each of these archetypes…Father, Prodigal, and Older Brother. This book, reviewed in the Christian Science periodicals, is from an author whose work on living the spiritual life have become embraced by people from across the entire range of Christian traditions and beyond.
New Paradigms and Models for Christianity Today
A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren
Where Yancey’s works have been impacting Christian Scientists for a number of years, McLaren is a new writer doing so. It is arguable that no author is having as much of a current impact on the popular re-thinking the essence of Christianity than McLaren, who has also been reviewed in the Christian Science periodicals. This book is the first of a trilogy and it offers its most thought provoking message through a fictional narrative of a relationship between a disillusioned pastor and mentor. The book is also a current favorite in book groups formed by Christian Scientists.
The Great Emergence by Phyllis Tickle
Tickle is founding editor of the Religion Department of Publishers Weekly, and a widely respected speaker on religion in America today. In this slim volume she unpacks the ground shifting, once every 500 years, change occurring within society at large and its particular impact on the field of religion. Hearing her boldly discuss this, in three hours of compelling lecture to several hundred clergy at Eden Theological Seminary last spring, was most stirring and prompted Christian Scientists present to think of how willing are we to surrender false landmarks (rooted in culture and tradition but no longer marking the way for contemporary audiences).
The Future of Faith by Harvey Cox
One of the lions of America religion, Harvey Cox’s retirement from his long tenure at Harvard in 2009 coincided with the release of this book. His analysis of our being in an epochal change in the field of religion and spirituality prompts us all to more effectively witness to the needs and opportunities of today. Stephen Prothero, a prolific writer and professor of religion at Boston University (and a speaker at the Mary Baker Eddy Library) writes: “For the last four decades, Harvey Cox has been the leading trend spotter in American religion.”
Renewing Local Church Experiences
I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church by Paul Nixon
This book, discussed recently in the Christian Science periodicals, offers a thoughtful and practical series of affirmations to that – if embraced – may work to reverse the patterns of decline in a local church. The study of congregational behaviors is particularly helpful. This book has been read and appreciated by a number of thoughtful Christian Scientists.
Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faithby Diana Butler Bass
Exploring hopeful stories about local, mainline churches thriving, Bass reveals interesting patterns for renewing congregations. She cites Tickle’s emphasis on the Holy Spirit as a common ingredient within the churches about which she writes. The belief about such mainline denominational entities is that they are all closing. Many of them are, but the ones that aren’t – and have worked hard to turn themselves around – often illustrations useful to people of any and every denomination.
Messy Spirituality: God’s Annoying Love for Imperfect People by Michael Yaconelli
Churchianity, the parody of Christianity, has been reviled for decades by those who see in many local churches an emphasis on appearance, judgment, hypocrisy, the gaining and keeping of personal power and control, and…basically…a perversion of creative, loving, serving community. Yaconelli’s little volume is a wonderful remedy for those yearning for authentic, messy, church life. Written with humor and wonderful anecdotes, this book helps us recover the practice of following Christ that never confuses divine perfection with the angst or guilt we feel over striving to show forth the image of human perfectionism.
Spirituality For Today As by Those Who Have Spent a Lifetime Studying Mary Baker Eddy
Rolling Away the Stone: Mary Baker Eddy’s Challenge to Materialism by Stephen Gottschalk
The subject of a current seminar our church is conducting, this book probes at the foundation and implications of Mary Baker Eddy’s revelation and experience. It examines the challenge her Discovery presents to the world, and also to Christian Scientists. Gottschalk is a provocative read, and reinforces the wealth of new and often challenging perspectives that come from hearing Mrs. Eddy in her own words. Much of what he reveals challenges conventions and convenient assumptions about the Founder of Christian Science as well as what it means to follow Christ in the manner she advocated.
