1. Paul J. Griffiths, Intellectual Appetite: A Theological Grammar (Catholic University of America Press, 2009).
I highly recommend this book to those who have theological interests. Griffiths gives a coherent account of the Christian faith through an Augustinian lens. If you find it challenging at first keep reading, and you'll walk away with some important theological concepts that will not leave you.
2. James Davison Hunter, To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World (Oxford, 2010).
If you are particularly confused about the Christian's political responsibility and engagement with the world, or if you are disenchanted with the way many Christian's in North America have tried to change our culture then this book is one you ought to read. Hunter does a three main things in the book: first, he identifies how Christians have defined culture (Charles Colson and James Dobson think it is ideas, whereas Andy Crouch thinks it is artifacts) and shows how they have a very narrow understanding of culture that ultimately hinders their ability to change it; second, he gives overviews of three Christian groups in North America (Religious Right, Progressive Left, Neo-Anabaptism) and argues that the first two groups end up using secular forms of power in their efforts to change the world, whereas the Neo-Anabaptists tend to withdraw from the world; and third, he tries to give a way forward that avoids the mistakes he's highlighted. Hunter has an acute mind, and this book is a non-negotiable for North American Christians who are trying to make sense of the political quagmire in which and with which we live.
3. J. R. R. Tolkien, The Two Towers.
I'm about a third of the way through, and I'm reading it slowly. This is a well known fact, but the books are way better than the movies.
4. David Burrell, Deconstructing Theodicy: Why Job Has Nothing to Say to the Puzzle of Suffering (Brazos, 2008)
I am only three chapters into it, but so far he seems to be suggesting that a major point of the book of Job is how one is to respond to God in light of suffering. Job's response, which is honest and full of candor, is the appropriate one, while his friends and their shallow explanations are foolish and vapid. He rightly highlights how Deuteronomy's covenantal language of simply choosing life or death by choosing to obey or disobey often falls apart. At least in the book of Job we have perhaps the clearest literary example of how that just isn't always the case. I am eager to see how Burrell concludes the book. Included in the book is a chapter by Islamic scholar A. H. Johns, which will hopefully give the reader a more extensive understanding of the how Job has been read by another Abrahamic faith.
5. Jacques Barzun, From Dawn to Decadence: 1500 to the Present (Perennial, 2000).
Written at the age of 93, this book is a mature work of a truly lettered man. His writing is delightful as he narrates the last 500 years of western civilization. It's about 800pp. and it's a great one stop source. I am not close to finishing, but so far he has provided a healthy balance of information of specific people as well as broader cultural contexts in which these people fit. He also puts keywords in all caps to highlight those concepts that are important for understanding the bigger picture of the era he is discussing. Books like these help us see how and why we are the way we are now. Having historical awareness is an indispensable skill in thinking through our current issues as well as being able to assess any historical period. I wish I had more time to read this book.
6. Henry Chadwick, The Early Church (Penguin, 1967).
Standing in a long line of powerful, Anglican, patristic scholars, Chadwick writes on the history of the Christianity from its earliest beginnings to the 5th century. Compared to other 'histories' of this period, Chadwick's account is significantly more succinct (ca. 290 pp.). I have not started it yet, but I look forward to reading it perhaps this summer.
