Mediaculture

As books pile up in the bookstores, on our shelves and on our wish lists, you may want to consider these recent releases.

The church: Phyllis Tickle’s The Great Emergence: How Christianity Is Changing and Why (BakerBooks, 2008, $17.99) argues that massive transitions in the church happen every 500 years or so and that we’re in one now. As helpful as her thesis is her overview of church history and her engaging writing.

As Tickle shows how church history has led to an emerging church, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove’s New Monasticism: What It Has to Say to Today’s Church (Brazos Press, 2008, $14.99) looks at the history of monasticism and applies some of its lessons to today, when “it’s hard to be a Christian in America.” A spokesman for this new movement, Hartgrove describes his book as “what it means to be Christian citizens of the world’s last remaining superpower at the beginning of the third millennium.” Stories from his own experience and that of other communities enhance the book’s points.

Robert E. Webber completed Ancient-Future Worship: Proclaiming and Enacting God’s Narrative (BakerBooks, 2008, $14.99), the final volume in his Ancient-Future series, shortly before he died. The series seeks to learn from the practices of the ancient church and apply these to the contemporary church, living in memory and hope. Webber argues that worship must perform God’s story by remembering the past and anticipating the future. He applies God’s story to worship in terms of Word, Eucharist and prayer. He writes: “[The] divorce of worship and spirituality from the story of God’s creation, incarnation and re-creation has resulted in a new kind of Gnostic worship and spirituality,” something early Christians adamantly opposed. Webber provides much to chew on.

Jesus: Sebastian Moore calls his book The Contagion of Jesus: Doing Theology As If It Mattered (Orbis Books, 2008, $20) “passionate rather than rigorous theology,” which also means it’s more accessible than academic. A collection of excerpts from various essays on such subjects as the Trinity, Jesus our scapegoat, resurrection and the Eucharist, Mary and the feminine, friendship and discipleship, it is full of wise nuggets, such as, “being unforgiving and taking myself too seriously are one and the same thing.”

Jesus the Village Psychiatrist by Donald Capps (Westminster John Knox Press, 2008, $19.95) may sound like a strange title, but Capps combines biblical scholarship and modern psychiatric thought to argue that the people Jesus healed “were largely suffering from psychosomatic illnesses, that Jesus recognized this fact and … used healing methods that took this fact into account.” He notes that Jesus worked mainly in the village setting and asks what kinds of mental disorders were most likely to develop in that time and place and how Jesus healed them. Capps’ study not only helps us understand Jesus in his time but has implications for pastoral care today.

Spirituality: The Brazos Introduction to Christian Spirituality by Evan B. Howard (Brazos Press, 2008, $39.99) is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to understand the topic practically, psychologically and historically. Howard defines Christian spirituality in three facets: “a relationship with God as lived in practice, as dynamics are formulated, as explored through formal study.” The book is long but accessible, with illustrations, focus questions, chapter summaries and resources for further exploration.

Ancient Christian Devotional: A Year of Weekly Readings, edited by Cindy Crosby (IVP Books, 2007, $17), is a guide to prayer and reflection that combines excerpts from the writings of the church fathers as found in the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture with a simple structure for daily or weekly reading and prayer. The 52 weeks of readings follow the church year and include many wise sayings that will enrich your spiritual life.