"Ten living practical theologians who have changed my own faith and life and why you should read them too" would be the subtitle of this post, if Blogger would let me do that...
A few caveats on this list: I have read more than one thing by each of these authors. There are some great things out there that I would love to put on this list (Elaine Heath's life-changing The Mystic Way of Evangelism, for example) but this list reflects a consistently transformative oeuvre for these authors. Also, this is a list of people alive when I wrote this piece. I am sorely tempted to add Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King, Jr., but to be fair, then I'd have to extend it back 2,000 years, and that's too much trouble right now!
Final note, the list is in alphabetical order merely because it would be a nightmare trying to rank them all. So without further ado, here are my picks for "Living Theologians!"
Rob Bell
He betrays an enthusiastic evangelical heart that is evident both in his media efforts like the NOOMA videos and the "Everything is Spiritual" tour as well as in his book-length offerings Velvet Elvis and SexGod. He rarely settles for the easy answers yet makes it look effortless as he exegetes a troublesome or over-familiar Biblical passage with a timely and fresh approach.
Frederick Buechner
Both his witty miscellanies of faith (Peculiar Treasures etc.) and his extended literary meditations on the ordinary holiness (Godric is perhaps the best-known) are full of God's laughter and laced with human finitude. I particularly recommend Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale as one of the most formative things I've read on preaching and ministry.
Richard Foster
I first met Foster's classic work in college, browsing through my nearby Cokesbury store for things I had heard other people talk about but hadn't yet read. In the 10 years since then, I probably have read Celebration of Discipline a half-dozen times, and taught it on multiple continents. His commitment to the development of the interior life (and its outward effects) brings me back to the living heart of the Christian faith time and again. Streams of Living Water, Prayer, and other Renovare' resources are excellent reads as well.
Gordon Lathrop
Perhaps not well known outside of Lutheran or liturgical-theology circles, Lathrop is an extremely conventional theologian in the sense that he tackles a particular area of theology and seizes it with the determination of a small dog. Yet he manages to do so with outdoorsy, ecumenical insights that yield unconventional thoughts. Lathrop's excellent reflection on the clerical vocation The Pastor and his trilogy of liturgical explorations (Holy Things, Holy People, Holy Ground) are some of the best things I was introduced to while in seminary.
Eugene Peterson
Perhaps best known for his paraphrase of the Bible known as The Message, Peterson writes with a prophetic, graceful word for pastors, lay leaders, and the whole flock of the faithful. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction (reflections on the Psalms of Ascent which began The Message project) and Under the Unpredictable Plant display his fervor for the ministry of the local church and the conviction that is to be done under the influence of God alone.
Marilynne Robinson
With the partial exception of Buechner, Robinson is the only fiction author on my list. Her Gilead was nothing short of a masterpiece, and I'm beginning the follow-up, Home, which takes up the story of an Iowa town a generation or two later. Her study of theology and the life of "middle America" is harnassed by a soaring, piercing beauty which punctuates ever page.
Don Saliers
I had the delight of studying with Don at Candler, and he more than any other person I've met cultivated the sense of beauty and wonder that is present in liturgy, theology, and The Soul in Paraphrase is an excellent study of prayer and heart-language via Jonathan Edwards; Worship and Spirituality is the most delightful exposition of those two pieces of the life of faith that I've ever read; and A Song to Sing, A Life to Live is a conversation with his daughter Emily (of the Indigo Girls) on the deep relationships Saturday night concerts have with Sunday morning worship.
Barbara Brown Taylor
She is better known for her preaching, but her reflections on the intersection of Christian vocation and ordinary life such as The Preaching Life and Leaving Church are poetry in prose. I really can't describe them justly: go read for yourself!
A few caveats on this list: I have read more than one thing by each of these authors. There are some great things out there that I would love to put on this list (Elaine Heath's life-changing The Mystic Way of Evangelism, for example) but this list reflects a consistently transformative oeuvre for these authors. Also, this is a list of people alive when I wrote this piece. I am sorely tempted to add Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King, Jr., but to be fair, then I'd have to extend it back 2,000 years, and that's too much trouble right now!
Final note, the list is in alphabetical order merely because it would be a nightmare trying to rank them all. So without further ado, here are my picks for "Living Theologians!"
Rob Bell
He betrays an enthusiastic evangelical heart that is evident both in his media efforts like the NOOMA videos and the "Everything is Spiritual" tour as well as in his book-length offerings Velvet Elvis and SexGod. He rarely settles for the easy answers yet makes it look effortless as he exegetes a troublesome or over-familiar Biblical passage with a timely and fresh approach.
Frederick Buechner
Both his witty miscellanies of faith (Peculiar Treasures etc.) and his extended literary meditations on the ordinary holiness (Godric is perhaps the best-known) are full of God's laughter and laced with human finitude. I particularly recommend Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale as one of the most formative things I've read on preaching and ministry.
Richard Foster
I first met Foster's classic work in college, browsing through my nearby Cokesbury store for things I had heard other people talk about but hadn't yet read. In the 10 years since then, I probably have read Celebration of Discipline a half-dozen times, and taught it on multiple continents. His commitment to the development of the interior life (and its outward effects) brings me back to the living heart of the Christian faith time and again. Streams of Living Water, Prayer, and other Renovare' resources are excellent reads as well.
Gordon Lathrop
Perhaps not well known outside of Lutheran or liturgical-theology circles, Lathrop is an extremely conventional theologian in the sense that he tackles a particular area of theology and seizes it with the determination of a small dog. Yet he manages to do so with outdoorsy, ecumenical insights that yield unconventional thoughts. Lathrop's excellent reflection on the clerical vocation The Pastor and his trilogy of liturgical explorations (Holy Things, Holy People, Holy Ground) are some of the best things I was introduced to while in seminary.
Eugene Peterson
Perhaps best known for his paraphrase of the Bible known as The Message, Peterson writes with a prophetic, graceful word for pastors, lay leaders, and the whole flock of the faithful. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction (reflections on the Psalms of Ascent which began The Message project) and Under the Unpredictable Plant display his fervor for the ministry of the local church and the conviction that is to be done under the influence of God alone.
Marilynne Robinson
With the partial exception of Buechner, Robinson is the only fiction author on my list. Her Gilead was nothing short of a masterpiece, and I'm beginning the follow-up, Home, which takes up the story of an Iowa town a generation or two later. Her study of theology and the life of "middle America" is harnassed by a soaring, piercing beauty which punctuates ever page.
Don Saliers
I had the delight of studying with Don at Candler, and he more than any other person I've met cultivated the sense of beauty and wonder that is present in liturgy, theology, and The Soul in Paraphrase is an excellent study of prayer and heart-language via Jonathan Edwards; Worship and Spirituality is the most delightful exposition of those two pieces of the life of faith that I've ever read; and A Song to Sing, A Life to Live is a conversation with his daughter Emily (of the Indigo Girls) on the deep relationships Saturday night concerts have with Sunday morning worship.
Barbara Brown Taylor
She is better known for her preaching, but her reflections on the intersection of Christian vocation and ordinary life such as The Preaching Life and Leaving Church are poetry in prose. I really can't describe them justly: go read for yourself!
Miroslav Volf
Exclusion and Embrace is a book that many of us read while in seminary, but it was his 2006 Lent book Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace that really made an impact on my own life, highlighting the ways in which we fail to give as God gives as well as forgive as Jesus does. (It's also an excellent commentary on Luther on Paul). It is a must-read for pastors and church members who want to understand what is at the heart of God's character.
Rowan Williams
The Archbishop of Canterbury is not just the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, but he is also an engaging and thoughtful author. He isn't afraid to let his scholarly credentials shine (he was highly regarded as a theology professor before his episcopal career began), but it always does so in service to the church. I particularly enjoyed Where God Happens (reviewed on The Expatriate Minister here) and Tokens of Trust: An Introduction to Christian Belief, which began life as a series of Holy Week talks on the Nicene Creed.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on these authors (and corrections to the list!)....
Rowan Williams
The Archbishop of Canterbury is not just the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, but he is also an engaging and thoughtful author. He isn't afraid to let his scholarly credentials shine (he was highly regarded as a theology professor before his episcopal career began), but it always does so in service to the church. I particularly enjoyed Where God Happens (reviewed on The Expatriate Minister here) and Tokens of Trust: An Introduction to Christian Belief, which began life as a series of Holy Week talks on the Nicene Creed.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on these authors (and corrections to the list!)....
Posts
3 comments:
We definitely have some points of intersection (such as Buechner, and I am currently reading some Volf) and divergence (not big on Bell and Peterson, myself). Thanks for the list! There are some here that I am not at all familiar with.
great stuff, Josh!
with you on Bell, Foster, Peterson, and Volf for sure. haven't read enough of the others to say.
My list would include those mentioned above, plus Dallas Willard and NT Wright. If I could extend it into the recent past for non-living theologians, Henri Nouwen is a no-brainer for my list as well.
NT Wright & Willard are both worthy candidates...and Nouwen is as well. Maybe I need to do a dead-20th century list...
I feel like it's long on practical theologians and short on folks like Kung, Moltmann, Pannenberg, etc. (*real* theologians...) But that's kinda where I am right now.
Post a Comment