To be honest I'm not really sure. Perhaps it is because I'm busy... but that has never stopped me before.
I think it has to be due to the fact that I'm doing a decent amount of reading. I've recently read, or I'm in the middle of:
- The Work of Christ by PT Forsyth. Amazing to read an entire book on the atonement again. He is an engaging writer who thinks really deeply and originally. I don't think I really got it till the end, but he is very thought-provoking. I greatly enjoyed it, although I wouldn't agree with all of it.
- The Shack by William P. Young. The book of Job if it had been written by a 21st century Christian who has a problem with authority.
- Dogmatics in Outline by Karl Barth. Beautiful, moving, massive yet concise. Lots of questions but I'm beginning to understand why his impact was so huge.
- Faith in a Hard Ground: Essays on Religion, Philosophy and Ethics by G E M Anscombe. Interesting lady, but crazily hard to understand. Is she right or wrong... I simply can't compute.
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy. A dying world with a total lack of hope and humans that lie to themselves about their future and their present. Wonderfully written. I read it in a single evening. Thanks Steve.
- Cur Deus Homo by Anselm. A clear and simple walk through reasons why the atonement had to be substitutionary, with less weird asides than I'm used to in ancient Christian books.
Next on my list: Rowan Williams, TF Torrance, and John Murray.
What I'm trying to say is that because of my request for recommendations and other factors I've been reading more widely than usual and I feel like I am so far from getting my bearings that I cannot manage even my usual half-baked thoughts which I pass of as posts.
I'm sure you are not missing me.
As an aside I have just come across a bunch of excellent looking MP3 lectures by some top-notch scholars from a recent conference on 'Reading the Decalogue through the Centuries'. I've listened to Timothy Wengert on Luther's view of the Decalogue which was very good. I'm looking forward to listening to some more.
"I'm sure you're not missing me"
ReplyDeleteAu contraire! Yours is one of the very first blogs I look for in my feeder.
I look forward to your next installments - especially after having digested such excellent books.
I'm missing you too, though equally appreciate how blogging can't always be the number 1 priority (found the same thing recently...)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind comments people.
ReplyDeleteI'll try to get back to blogging soon. It does help to clarify my thoughts a lot of the time so it does have some type of priority for me.
Peter, will we be getting a top ten films of 2008 from you?
Yes, maybe - although I'm seeing Changeling on Friday so I won't comment on the issue before then!
ReplyDeleteGlad you were able to read The Road in one sitting. I am not sure I found it quite so bleak as you; perhaps there isn't much hope, but the sheer will to live - to 'carry the fire' - remains. And the tenderness (and remarkable honesty) between father and son seemed to me to transcend the otherwise grey and violent world.
ReplyDeleteI am impressed by the reading list! Hope you'll have a happy Christmas.
My friend in York who has read the book also disagreed with me on how bleak it was. To me 'carrying the fire' was just a myth they told themselves to enable them to carry on, in the same way that reaching the coast was, and then the south. Despite their constant insistence that they were the good guys, time and circumstance only came to prove that they were the less bad guys, and were capable of brutal acts themselves.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I'm just too much of a pessimist.
Don't give up. In the age of feeds even being infrequent is fine.
ReplyDelete