Book Four

I suppose it’s about time to mention another book. It feels like I’m responding to the tagging from my wife (yes that was a “t” and not an “n”) with the same speed that I actually read a book. I may be slow, but it keeps me away from the lawn mower. Seeing that my dear wife has a high reverence for the printed page, she actually has high hopes that I’ll learn something from the books I hide behind. What a great scam. I recline in the Lazy Boy, my eyes glazed over at the page, daydreaming about being in my sailboat, and she washes the dishes. Ah, what a life.

What, the dishes are still sitting dirty in the sink? Oh, oh. She’s caught on quick. I better hurry and list another book, proof that I actually do accomplish something in my blue chair.

Well, since I’ve already cheated and listed “groups” of books previously, I will do that again. I have been captivated and challenged and encouraged and hooked by a number of similar books, dealing with the issue of the history of Christian thought. It’s a fascinating story of how the church, throughout these past two millennia, has faced the challenges of relating a crucified and risen Savior to an ever changing world. The many characters are truly “characters,” full of quirks and heroics, failures and victorious breakthroughs. These works have in common a little bit of history, a little bit of biography, and a lot of drama. The books’ authors that come to my mind are Paul Tillich (a crazy character himself), Roger Olson (a good Scandinavian now living in Texas), and Jonathan Hill (a young and very witty lad from England that might just be related to that Benny guy with the TV show). Some of the other works are more like compilations done by a certain publishing house. But all of the titles are something like “The History of Christian Thought.” So make that my number 4, “a” and “b” and “c” and . . . .