Favorite Books of 2017

Stories awaken. Research informs. Drama shapes. Arguments challenge. Heroic escapes. These are some of the reasons why I read books. 2017 was a record year: 58 books read, for a total of 361, since I started keeping a book log on June 1, 2009. For each book read I record the date completed, title, author, and a one sentence summary. As is now tradition, in this blog post I list my favorites of the year in philosophy, apologetics, fiction, non-fiction, and devotional reading:

The Home I Haven’t Found

[Guest Post by Lucas Shipman:]

I recently co-wrote a spoken word poem with Paul Gould. There is a line in this poem that says,

I feel like there’s a home I haven’t found. My heart aches for something deeper, more profound.

My Favorite Books from 2016

Stories awaken. They draw me into another world. They help me see reality through another’s eyes. As C. S. Lewis aptly put it, “in reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad eyes, but it is still I who see.”[1] So, stories rattle me out of my slumber. They also teach me. I learn about space and time, hope and aspiration, human longing and evil, goodness and beauty, truth and hope. I learn—especially when reading philosophy or theology—how to think better as I pull the curtain back and peer into the depth of God or the world he has made. I am challenged to live a heroic life and to push away the temptation toward sloth. All of this, and more, from reading!

 Should We Love God and Nothing Else?

unknown-3Some Christians think we should love God and God alone. The idea is this. God is supreme. God is the ultimate object of all human longing. He is the only Being in all of reality that won’t let us down. We should therefore love God and shun all else. This line of thinking is deeply mistaken. It is also unbiblical. Nor can it be done; we cannot love God alone.

Discovering the Truth: Cold-Case Christianity for Kids

imagesA modern myth is that learning and fun are incompatible. Learning is boring, drab, and dull. Entertainment is exciting, stimulating, and captivating. Never—or almost never—the two shall meet, or so the common myth goes. Sadly, this incompatibility between learning and fun is often perpetuated within the church.