Discussion: What makes a book 'worthy' and 'helpful'?

 So I've been skimming 25 Books Every Christian Should Read. And even though my semi-review has posted, I think I'll keep skimming. (After all, my review would not have been "reviewing" each and every book on the list anyway.) One thing in the introduction bothered me or agitated me. Two statements actually. One made by the authors of this book, the editorial team:

Our belief is that it is best for books to be in the canon for a while before we can clearly evaluate their worth and helpfulness.

The second made by C.S. Lewis:

"A new book is still on its trial and the amateur is not in a position to judge it."

Are either of these statements true? And if you do find them to be true, are they always, always true or are they just generally-speaking true?

So here are my question(s) for you:

• How can a book--any Christian book--be evaluated for "worth" and "helpfulness"?
• Who can do the evaluating or judging of the book's "worth" and "helpfulness"?
• What are the standards for judging a book? How is "worth" and "helpfulness" to be determined? Are these standards, personal standards? Or are the standards taken from the Bible? Are we judging a book based on its persuasiveness--if it sounds good, feels good? Or are we judging a book based on its soundness, examining it in light of Scripture? Or is "worth" and "helpfulness" determined by committee, by any committee, by any majority consensus?
• If the Bible, the Scripture, is the standard of excellence, of worth, of helpfulness, then why does time matter at all? Wouldn't the only consideration of a book's "worth" and "helpfulness" be if the book says true things about God, true things about Jesus, true things about the Holy Spirit, true things about the gospel, true things about sin, true things about our relationship with God, true things about salvation--the cross and resurrection, true things about prayer, true things about worship? true things about heaven AND hell? 
• If EVERYTHING we need to know of the Christian life is in the Bible--found within the pages between Genesis and Revelation--why would we ever use any other standard? Shouldn't all books--Christian or secular--be read in light of Scripture?
• What makes a professional, a professional? And what makes an amateur, an amateur?
• Is a casual reader--like you and me, supposedly--just an amateur? or always an amateur? 
• Isn't any student of the Word of God, any reader who is devoted to reading, studying, and meditating on the Word of God, capable if not responsible for "judging" books new or old? 
• Isn't a new book that is rich in gospel-truth, deeply rooted or grounded in the Bible a better reading choice for most--if not all--than some old "classic" that is more prone to mysticism and touchy-feely spirituality where what matters is not what the Bible says or doesn't say but how the author feels about God, what the author feels to be true about God?, how the author has come to relate to God? 
• Shouldn't the content of the book alone be the main thing? 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Not-Quite-A-Review: 25 Books Every Christian Should Read

25 Books Every Christian Should Read: A Guide to The Essential Spiritual Classics. Renovare*. 2011. HarperCollins. 416 pages.

The basics: This is a book listing 25 books that "every Christian" should try to make a point to "read" in their lifetime. For an author to be chosen for inclusion in this one, I believe, one first had to be dead. Two, I believe the author had to have been nominated by someone. I'm not sure how open the nomination process was, and how widespread the appeal was to believers to nominate their favorite dead authors. But I think the book mentions that four hundred or so were initially nominated. Then the editorial board of Renovare selected twenty-five of these books as being "the best."

They did purposefully seek out older books and ancient authors for this list. They felt it only right that most of their list let several centuries stand in judgment of these books, of these authors.

 "Our belief is that it is best for books to be in the canon for a while before we can clearly evaluate their worth and helpfulness. As C.S. Lewis pointed out in his introduction to St. Athanasius's On the Incarnation, old books have the advantage of having been tested by time. As Lewis wrote, "A new book is still on its trial and the amateur is not in a position to judge it. It has to be tested against the great body of Christian thought down the ages, and all its hidden implications (often unsuspected by the author himself) have to be brought to light...the only safety is to have a standard of plain, central Christianity which puts the controversies of the moment in their proper perspective. Such a standard can be acquired only from old books." (xi)

The list:

• On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius
• Confessions by St. Augustine
• The Sayings of the Desert Fathers by Various
• The Rule of St. Benedict by St. Benedict
• The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
• The Cloud of Unknowing by Anonymous
• Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich
• The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis
• The Philokalia by Various
• Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin
• The Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila
• Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross
• Pensees by Blaise Pascal
• The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
• The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
• A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life by William Law
• The Way of a Pilgrim by Unknown Author
• The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
• Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton
• The Poetry of Gerard by Manley Hopkins
• The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• A Testament of Devotion by Thomas R. Kelly
• The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
• Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
• The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri J. M. Nouwen

About the book: Each book has its own chapter. There is discussion about the author--who he/she was, when they lived, etc. There is a bit of an overview of the book. Included in this overview or summary is the reason why the book made the "essential" list. Then follows excerpts from the book. Sometimes the excerpts are lengthy--other times not so much. I suppose it depends on the original! And I believe some books are just more quotable than others. Finally each chapter includes a list of discussion questions. Questions that you could supposedly use for when you've read the whole book in question OR questions you could answer if you've just read the excerpts. Each chapter also highlights one of the members of the editorial board giving them each an opportunity to share a top list of books that have impacted their own lives. Sometimes these include books from the list, but, often they do not.

My thoughts: The authors themselves admit that this is a book for browsing, for skimming, that it isn't a book that demands to be read cover to cover. Even without their permission, that is how I would have gone about it.

I am skeptical about this book. I really am. True, some of that may just be I am out of my comfort zone. I LOVE theology. I just love and adore reading substantive books. But I am a choosy reader too. If I know that an author is unsound, if their beliefs, their theology, is a bit off--or a lot off, as the case may be. I won't touch it. It's not that I'm worried that I'll be contaminated by reading it. It's just that there are only so many books you can read, and if one is in doubt to if there is any truth or wisdom to be found in a book, why read it when you could be reading something better? I am not a big fan of devotional books. Or at least devotional books by people from the mystical-spiritual camp. Whether that mysticism was written over a thousand years ago, five hundred years ago, or five years a go. My skepticism only increased when I saw their list of "best contemporary authors." Note: two of the "best contemporary authors" just happened to be on the board selecting this list.

It also worries me to see who was left off the list. Where they left off the list because they were more God-centered and Bible-focused than human-focused, feeling-centered,  and prone to spiritual-fuzziness? I'm thinking of men like A.W. Pink who wrote The Sovereignty of God and Gleanings in the Godhead (which has been republished as The Nature of God--I'm currently reading this one!).  Or A.W. Tozer who wrote The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy, not to mention the Attributes of God. (Of course, that is just a fraction of what he wrote, but still.) And R.A. Torrey. (How To Study the Bible, How To Pray, What the Bible Teaches, The Person & Work of the Holy Spirit, etc.)  And Charles Spurgeon. How could you even make an ESSENTIAL reading list and not include Charles Spurgeon?! Seriously!!!! Unless the editors are afraid of Baptists and/or sound teaching. And how about Andrew Murray? (Abide in Christ, Absolute Surrender, With Christ in the School of Prayer, The Power of the Blood of Christ, The Deeper Christian Life, etc.) And then there's John Owen (Sin & Temptation; The Mortification of Sin; The Glory of Christ: His Office and His Grace; The Death of Death in the Death of Christ; The Divine Power of the Gospel; John Owen on the Holy Spirit (four volumes). And then there's Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, James Montgomery Boice, Henry Drummond, A.B. Simpson, etc. I'm sure if given enough time I could think of a dozen more. You may have your own list of obvious misses.

The good news...

First, I am judging each book on its own. Just because it made their list does not mean I'm going to avoid it. Neither does it mean I'm going to seek it out. I will probably judge each book based on its excerpts, however. Which may or may not be fair. But I think it's only natural.

Second, I already know three books that I'd like to read from this list. I actually plan on reading Orthodoxy very soon.

• The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
• Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton

Third, I've already read a small number of these. So I do know that some of the list at least is actually worthy of being "essential."

*The Renovare team included Gayle Beebe, James Catford, Richard J. Foster, Emilie Griffin, Frederica Matthewes-Green, Michael G. Maudlin, Richard Rohr, Lyle SmithGraybeal, Phyllis Tickle, Chris Webb, Dallas Willard, and John Wilson.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Kroll Method, Week of March 4-10

This was my first full week of trying Woodrow Kroll's method of reading the Bible. In case you didn't read my monthly goals post, essentially, it is just to read each book of the Bible all the way through in one sitting. This is something that is oh-so-easy to do when it is say, Jonah, Ruth, Obadiah, Jude, Galatians, etc. (Essentially, for me, any book under 7 or 8 chapters.) It seems completely, completely absurd when considering (dare I even consider it for a minute?) longer books like Psalms, Ezekiel, and Genesis. Could I really, truly ever sit down and read 150 Psalms in "one sitting." Even if I made one sitting mean one day?! I'm not sure. I do know that the biggest obstacle comes from the reader. I think it's just natural to have mind-blocks, of course, these might be different for every reader. Some people that mind-block might come after one chapter, two chapters, three chapters, four chapters. But I do think--especially with longer books--that the mind says, "stop, stop, you've read enough for today!" and "don't you think this is a good stopping place?" I also think habits have a little something to do with it. For example, it is my habit to read Romans in two settings: one day reading Romans 1-8, the next day reading Romans 9-16. Or, for me to read Matthew in three settings: one day reading Matthew 1-4, the next day reading Matthew 5-17, the last day reading Matthew 18-28. So I think telling yourself that you can do it, that this is possible, that this is natural, that this is worth doing is the first step.

Living Insights, NIV

• Psalms 76-150
• Proverbs 15-31
• Exodus 31-40
• 1 Samuel 26-31
• John 17-21
• Acts 1-28

ESV, Reformation Study Bible (though at this point, I'm not reading the notes, just the book introductions)

• Romans
• Daniel
• Joel
• Amos
• Micah
• Nahum
• 1 John
• 2 John
• 3 John
• Obadiah
• Habakkuk
• Zephaniah
• Haggai
• Zechariah
• Malachi
• Hosea
• Ecclesiastes
• Jude
• Revelation
• 1 Chronicles
• Galatians
• 1 Corinthians
• Matthew
• Song of Solomon
• 2 Corinthians
• Titus
• Philemon
• Ezra
• 1 Thessalonians
• 2 Thessalonians
• James
• Ruth
• Psalms 1-10

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: Understanding English Bible Translation

Understanding English Bible Translation: The Case for an Essentially Literal Approach. Leland Ryken. 2009. Crossway Books. 208 pages.

Does it matter what translation you use when you read the Bible? Leland Ryken argues that it does. (Don't jump to conclusions. He's not arguing that the King James Version is the only Bible, the only real Bible that is the inspired Word of God.) There are basically two translation philosophies at work these days.

Traditionally the focus has been on "translating" the Bible from its original languages (Hebrew and Greek) into other languages--for the purpose of this book, only English is considered--by choosing words that correspond with the original. Sometimes this has been called word-for-word translation. In recent years, the term has changed to "essentially literal." The focus has been on keeping the words and forms (or formats) as close to the original as possible...and having it still make grammatical sense. Translations that come under this tradition, this heritage are the Tyndale New Testament, the King James Version, the New American Standard Bible, the New King James Version, the Revised Standard Version, the English Standard Version. Just to name a few.

The second philosophy is thought-for-thought or dynamic equivalence. Translators are more concerned with translating meaning or ideas than focusing on the actual words used. So they substitute their own words, their own equivalences, into the translation. Their focus is on making the text as simple and transparent and obvious as it possibly could be. Often with the lowest reader in mind. Not always. There are some translations that are more sophisticated than others. (The NIV is far from the worst offender.) Translations in this camp are NLT, NIV, the Message, Good News Bible, TNIV, Contemporary English Version, God's Word, etc. Ryken argues that the prefaces hide certain implications--that the Bible needs to be "fixed" so that it can be understood by modern readers. And this is indeed the case. Take some translations and they will come straight out and tell you that they are purposefully choosing to take out words that are "too difficult" for "modern readers" to understand. What words? Well, grace, church, righteousness, justification, atonement, etc. Some words may have more than two or three syllables, it's true, but the words being eliminated are deep, rich words. Words that mean something--something important, something grand, something big. They are being replaced by nothing-words, words that couldn't even begin to cover the same meaning.

Here is how the book is arranged:

• Part One: Overview of Issues
• 1. Understanding English Bible Translation
• 2. Questions and Answers about English Bible Translation
• Part Two: The Story of English Bible Translation
• 3. Laying the Foundation
• 4. Building on the Foundation
• 5. Building on Another Foundation
• Part Three: The Two Main Genres of Modern English Bible Translation
• 6. Divergent Goals for Bible Translation
• 7. Divergent Views of the Bible
• 8. Divergent Views of the Bible's Authors, Readers, and Translators
• 9. Divergent Methods of Translation
• 10. Divergent Styles of Translation
• Part Four: The Ideal English Bible Translation
• 11. Fullness Rather Than Reductionism
• 12. Transparency to the Original Text
• 13. Preserving the Literary Qualities of the Bible
• Part Five: The Bible in the Church
• 14. Oral Reading of the Bible
• 15. The Need for a Translation that People Can Trust and Respect
• 16. Teaching and Preaching from the Bible

I loved this one. I just loved it. At first I thought it might be a little boring. I mean a book about translation philosophies? It might be important stuff, but exciting, well, I had my doubts. How does it really make a difference in my life?! But I found almost all of it to be fascinating. And while some chapters are certainly more practical than others, I found it all to be insightful and important. In particular, I loved part three.


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: The Joy of Calvinism

The Joy of Calvinism. Greg Forster. 2012. Crossway Books. 208 pages.

From the introduction: The Bible commands us to rejoice all the time. 

Greg Forster attempts to clarify more than a few things about Calvinism in his book, The Joy of Calvinism. He seems almost embarrassed by "the five points of Calvinism" the organizational system that many other authors have used in the past hundred years when discussing or writing about the doctrines of grace. He urges Calvinists to try different tactics, though methods might be the better word, if they want to really clear up some of the misconceptions and misunderstandings. He argues that it would be much, much better for Calvinists to redefine their beliefs positively. That is by stating what they do believe instead of focusing on what they don't believe. (In other words, often it's presented as a defense. You say this and that. We don't agree with that at all. Instead we believe this and this and a little bit of that. And we've got hundreds if not thousands of verses to back it up. Or to be more upfront, let's say that Catholics believe this. Arminians believe that. Lutherans believe this-and-that. We don't agree. This is what we think.) He also believes that Calvinism has often been thought of too narrowly. That is that people see Calvinism as only applying to election and predestination. They don't see how Calvinism covers so much more than that. That it is a world view that covers the big picture; it's comprehensive and complex. And it would take a whole alphabet not just five little letters--TULIP--to understand it. To see it merely in terms of "five points" doesn't do anyone any good at all.

Is The Joy of Calvinism as clear as it could be? I'm not sure that it is. I think he makes a good effort to move past the five points of Calvinism. To talk about the five points without actually using the traditional words often associated with the five points. But if you're familiar with the five points at all, then you'll recognize the ideas, beliefs, and doctrines even if they're not clearly presented as such--as belonging to the T, the U, the L, the I, the P. If you're unfamiliar with Calvinism, well, the ideas may be so new to you, so challenging to the beliefs you hold--whether you hold them loosely or tightly--that it may take a couple of careful readings to figure it all out. I won't lie. The ideas themselves are complex. They take time to comprehend. And there are parts you may never comprehend or understand completely or fully, but, reading Scripture clearly states. Again and again and again. I personally don't have a problem with the five points. I like having TULIP and R.C. Sproul's RULEP. While I can see that maybe having those "five" points may seem limiting or narrowing or restrictive, I also see that each idea represented is deep and complex and expansive. Yes, you have to know more, grow more...but it's a good place to start, in my opinion.

As for people misunderstanding Calvinists, well, I'm not sure what to say about that really. I think it works both ways. I think part of it is stubbornness and refusing to listen (hearing what you want to hear or thinking ahead to what you'll say or argue next). And I think part of it is vocabulary or terminology. While it's true Calvinists could use different approaches, different words, etc., I don't think that would completely solve the problem. Because if a person is approaching Calvinism with doubt or hate or skepticism. If their mind is already made up, if they already have a prejudice against what it is, a narrow concept of what it is all about, it's not going to be easy to clarify or untangle things. They may not want to take all the time it would take to sort through things, to study and research. After all, it is a lot easier to just jump to conclusions and let your mind come up with its own associations.

Is Joy of Calvinism my favorite, favorite book on Calvinism or Reformed theology? No. I've read better. Greg Forster even lists some of those books that I've read and adored. I think it's a complex book with a great premise. But it is a good book.

• Introduction: Rejoice....Always?
• Detour: Five Points About Calvinism
• 1. God Loves You Personally: When Jesus Died and Rose Again, He Saved You.
• 2. God Loves You Unconditionally: Nothing is more important to your heavenly Father than saving you.
• 3. God Loves You Irresistably: The "new birth" in the Holy Spirit is a radical, supernatural transformation
• 4. God Loves You Unbreakably: You can do all things, persevere through all trials, and rejoice in all circumstances
• Conclusion: The Joy of Calvinism
• Appendix: Questions and Answers

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Week of February 26-March 3

From the Living Insights Bible, NIV

• Psalms 46-75
• Proverbs 8-14
• Genesis 37-50
• Exodus 1-30
• Ruth
• 1 Samuel 1-25
• Isaiah 45-66
• Jeremiah 1-9
• Obadiah
• Mark 14-16
• Luke
• John 1-16
• Hebrews
• James
• Philippians
• 1 Timothy
• 2 Timothy
• Titus
• Philemon
• 1 Peter
• 2 Peter
• 1 John
• 2 John
• 3 John
• Jude
• Revelation

NASB

• Philippians

NKJV

• Philippians

ESV Student Study Bible

• Acts 5-11
• Philippians

ESV Reformation Bible

• Philippians
• Jonah

Quotes and Such:

Although the letter to the Hebrews is among the longest and most significant letters in the New Testament, it remains one of the least appreciated. Profound, mysterious, deep and, admittedly, difficult to understand, it deserves our serious time and attention. (Living Insights, Introduction to Hebrews, p. 1328)

The longer I live, the more I'm convinced we need to identify with scenes in Scripture if we're going to glean the lessons God has for us. (Charles Swindoll, Living Insights Bible, p. 1331)

What I have found especially interesting in my study of Luke is that there are over thirty sayings, parables, stories, and scenes found between chapters 9 and 19 that are recorded nowhere else in the Bible. (Living Insights, Introduction to Luke, p. 1069)

The story of Noah is familiar to many of us, and yet I suspect there are some facts that are not very familiar to us. Consider this:

• When Noah started building the ark, his sons weren't even born yet. 
• Noah lived five hundred miles away from the nearest large body of water. 
• The ark's holding capacity was equal to eight modern-day freight trains of 66 cars each. 
• God still remembers His promise to Noah every time He sees a rainbow. (Living Insights, "Noah The Shipbuilding Preacher," 1340)

Our problem is not a lack of Bibles; it is a lack of people who carefully handle the Word of God, both privately and publicly. We should not simply be students of the Scriptures--sound in our theology--but we must also be careful in our interpretation of the Scriptures. And the more we teach, the greater the need for care. (Charles Swindoll, Living Insights, p. 1311)

Dwight L. Moody summed up Moses' life in this memorable way: "He spent his first forty years thinking he was somebody. He spent his second forty years learning he was nobody. He spent his third forty years discovering what God can do with a nobody." ("Moses: God's Man for a Crisis," Living Insights, p. 66)

The German reformer Martin Luther spoke for all of us when he wrote, "Never in my life have I read a book written in simpler words than this, and yet the words are inexpressible!" (Introduction to John, Living Insights, p. 1112)

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

March 2012 Goals

It's the third of March, and, I don't have any *real* idea what my goals for March are in terms of Bible reading. True, in mid-February, I thought it might be a re-imagining of the Professor Horner system only made more to my liking. And that's what I've done the past two weeks, getting an "early" start on it. But. What I've learned is that this isn't really the way I like to read the Bible. Yes, it's fun to make lists sometimes. It's even fun to stick with lists. Sometimes. But I want more, I need more.

I do plan on finishing Psalms, Proverbs, Exodus, and John in the Living Insights Bible. (I'm undecided if I'll stick with Jeremiah in it. I'm not *that far* into it.) And I will probably go ahead and read Acts in it since that would be a complete New Testament reading in the NIV. But beyond that I'm not sure I want to commit to reading the whole Bible in that translation.

I am leaning towards trying Woodrow Kroll's system of reading books of the Bible in one sitting.

 How does the plan work? It's embarrassingly simple. Just read one book of your Bible all the way through in one sitting. "You mean...?" Yes, read the whole book. Get the full story the writer intended you to get. Start at the beginning and don't quit until you reach the end. It sounds a little nutty, I know, but don't dismiss it until you've tried it. It's not really a novel idea, except as it applies to reading the Bible.

and

Nearly forty books of the Bible can be read in an hour or less. Half the books of the Bible can be read in less than thirty minutes. And twenty-six books can be read in fifteen minutes or less. That's pretty amazing for a book that many people think is too massive to read. When you think about it, time really isn't the problem when it comes to reading the Bible. It's a good excuse, but not good enough. How much we read of the only book God ever wrote depends mostly on how much of it we want to read. Reading God's Word is less dependent on our schedule and more dependent on our desire and discipline. (12-13)

and

Reading whole books of the Bible in one sitting sounds like a crazy idea, but it works...Sometimes the more unusual the idea, the more likely it is to work.

I am hoping that this will help me complete some of what I'm missing. Looking at January's and February's records...

• 1 Chronicles
• 2 Chronicles
• Daniel
• Joel
• Amos
• Obadiah
• Jonah
• Micah
• Nahum
• Habakkuk
• Haggai
• Zechariah
• Malachi

Though I don't know if I'll really, really try to read 1 Chronicles or 2 Chronicles in just one sitting apiece!!!

While I think I've decided to "try" the Woodrow Kroll method for March, I'm still undecided *which* Bible(s) I'll be using. Here are the two that are tempting me...

and

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible