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review of On This Day in Christian History by Robert J. Morgan
I’m normally not one for 365-day devotional books. Let’s just put that out there right away. I am, however, a fan of this one. Robert J. Morgan, pastor of the Donelson Fellowship in Nashville, TN, knows his history, and because of that this volume is deeply insightful. Though Morgan tends to favor modern history, nevertheless this work runs the gamut of Christian history, drawing from the Early and Medieval periods more than any other calendar-year devotional work I’ve seen. He does not even focus solely on major figures, but truly draws the reader into the breadth of Christian history. Furthermore, Morgan does not succumb to over-spiritualizing and attempting to draw out “life application” from each vignette, but rather allows the historical episodes speak for themselves in most cases. He does include a brief passage of Scripture at the bottom of each page, continually reminding the reader of the source and reason behind this history.
Though this book is not designed to be read in large chunks, I found myself being drawn into several days at a time whenever I picked it up. It is now a mainstay in my bathroom reading selection, an ironically high honor. I would highly recommend this book if you’re looking for something fresher than most dribble put out in these yearly devotional readers…and that’s not just because I’m a student of the history of the Church.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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review of Saint Patrick by Jonathan Rogers
I was a bit skeptical at first when I sought out this book from Thomas Nelson. The Christian Encounters series features, presumably, notable “Christians” throughout history; I wrap quotes around that because several I’m not sure I’d consider die-hard Christians. Not that their biographies wouldn’t be interesting - it’s just that series like these have a way of distorting facts and emphasizing myth. To my pleasure, Jonathan Rogers has avoided that.
In this really fantastic little book, Rogers looks both at primary and secondary sources to paint a portrait of the life of Patrick, a Roman torn from his life in Britain to be a slave in Ireland, later returning as one of her most prominent missionaries and bishops. I was delighted to see that both extant works generally accepted to have been written by Patrick are included as appendices. Though they are both public domain, it is helpful to have them right on hand. Using these writings as his framework, Rogers works from fact and refers to legend to attempt to fill out a workable biography of the Christian saint. Though others have attempted to do this before, Rogers finds a balance that makes this account both informative and a pleasure to read. Whether you’re a history buff, an armchair theologian, or any other variety of Christian, I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a book this size that packs such a huge punch.
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Review of The Liturgical Year by Joan Chittister
Sister Joan Chittister, a rather accomplished Benedictine, lives and breaths the cycle of the Church year after year. In this book, which acts half as an apology for the liturgical cycle and half as a devotional call to order, she explores the depth and nature of the Christian liturgical year. Chittister both plumbs the depths of the historical development of many aspects of the liturgical year and examines their significance for day-to-day living. Furthermore, she seeks to examine not just the rationale behind the seasons of the Church, but also the even more fundamental theological roots behind Christian living, such as our understanding of time, Sabbath, joy, suffering, celebration and fidelity.
Whilst I very much did learn from this book, there are certain aspects that proved to be distracting. For instance, though I’m not sure I could suggest a better organizational strategy, the intermingling of almost devotional-level explorations of theological issues with more technical historical examinations of the liturgical year somewhat disrupt the flow of the text. That is probably the worst I can say about this work.
Overally, I think Chittister accomplishes exactly what she set out to do: help the average Christian understand not only how a Christian may live within the liturgical year, but also why a Christian should want to live in such an environment. If you’re looking for more depth, however, I’d recommend Robert Webber’s Ancient-Future Time.
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review of “The Search for God and Guinness” by Stephen Mansfield
The title is the most intriguing aspect of this book, and though it lends a bit of direction to the text insofar as the author himself had direction, I would say that it is a bit of a misnomer. ”The Search for God and Guinness” makes me think that the author is somehow going to show how theology and alcohol are related, even a specific form of alcohol like Guinness throughout the family’s history. Instead, we get a miniaturized biography of the Guinness family, from the first Arthur to Benjamin, last chair from the actual Guinness family in the 1980s, and how the tale of Guinness has been woven throughout the past few centuries. It is indeed intriguing to see how one branch of the Guinness family was focused on full-time ministry (from the pastorate to the mission field), and certainly how a humanitarian spirit has run throughout the family, especially in efforts to provide factory workers with education, cleaner living spaces, and provision during war-time when few other companies were doing such things - and during times in Dublin’s past which many had fled.
On the whole, though, this book seems to be an unnecessary “Guinness Biography for Dummies” that sets out to seemingly (in an undercurrent-sort-of-way) justify why Christians should support Guinness, whether by drinking it or just nodding in approval toward it. I liked Guinness enough before reading this, so it didn’t “convert” me or anything; in fact, it hasn’t really affected me personally at all. However, I’m not going to read half-a-dozen books highlighting the history of Guinness as a beer and a family, so this smallish book (273 small pages with average-sized print, including bibliography and an About the Author section) does fine to pique my curiosity about the subject. I don’t think Mansfield does anything amazing, and I don’t really get his agenda, but it’s an interesting read nonetheless.
