More Books I Am Reading

Okay, it's time for more of the books I am reading. I pick up various titles, depending on my present mood. It's almost never fiction, though I really like the writings of John Gresham and the techno-thrillers written by Tom Clancy, but his more "factual" books interest me not at all.
Jon Meacham wrote American Gospel, talking about the religion and faith of various American leaders, especially the founding fathers and Presidents. Jon critiques the faith of others, but does not understand the Bible himself. He has adopted the "public religion" of John Dewey, and denies the reality of religion in the public square. What ever happened to tolerance and academic freedom, to say nothing of freedom of speech?
Jesus and the Father, by Kevin Giles, is a defense of non-subordinationist Trinitarian theology. Giles sees all three persons of the Trinity as co-equal in every way. Since that is so, where is the Holy Spirit in the title of his book? How does he differentiate which person of the trinity is active at any point of Scripture? Why then does Jesus address the Father as He does? Jesus and the Father is a lengthy and detailed examination of the doctrine of the Trinity, written in response to Wayne Grudem'sSystematic Theology, which holds to subordination of the Son to the Father in function of role only, but not in person, or any other way. Giles says that subordination in any form is unthinkable, even hinting it is heresy. I am anxious to get to the parts where Giles deals with Jesus' statements about His being obedient to the Father; now, that should be an interesting read in anti-subordinationism!
I try to keep at least one book about preaching open all the time. If I am going to improve as a preacher, I must keep studying the practice and the art of preaching. The preaching book I am reading at the moment is Preaching Evangelistically; it was written by several people and is a compilation of various preachers. Nothing exciting in the first two chapters; I'll let you know how it goes as I get further into the book. While not technically not a book I am reading, I subscribe to Preaching Today on CD. :-)
A couple of years ago our church went through The Purpose Driven Life {:(. I bought and am going through the companion Journal. I don't like the way Rick Warren jumps around in various translations and versions of the Bible for the verse form he likes at the moment. My own reaction to the "open-ended" comments and questions of the text is interesting to me.
I am still reading The Journals of Jim Elliot. I am amazed at the things he wrote in his personal journal. Surely Jim Elliot did not think that anyone would ever be interested in, or certainly study, his personal journals; and they are very personal. I doubt that I could write at that personal level, even in a journal intended only form my personal growth and reflection.
Vanhooser's The Drama of Doctrine tries to deal with theology as a literary form. The interpretive form for his idea is that the Bible was given mostly in the form of stories. The stories must be understood in the societal context of the time it was given. This, however, ignores what Peter said; "As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow," 1 Peter 1:10-11. The interpretation of Scripture is not entrely dependant on the social context of the time, but on the intent of its Author. The literary form, the genre of the text, certainly matters but it cannot be the paramount criteria. More Readings to follow in the days ahead.