Book: The Rise of Early Christianity

Book: The Rise of Early Christianity Another set reading for an Early Church History course I’m doing at the moment. This one was written by a non-Christian (as far as I can tell) social scientist, and he raises points about the early church that you wouldn’t read elsewhere. Highly readable, (though the passages where he …

book: the little red writing book

Book: The Little Red Writing Book Bec had a copy of this at a recent WBW (writers’ group) meeting, and seemed worthy of further investigation, so I picked up a copy the next day. An excellent resource for thinking through the practice of writing, and provides numerous writing exercises throughout to help sharpen your writing …

Book: Eusebius: The History of the Church

If you’re trying to find out how Christianity went from being Jesus and a few people following him in Israel, to there being a Roman Emperor who considered himself a Christian, the definitive ancient work to read is Eusebius’ Church History. I read the Penguin edition, which has a long introduction, a map of Roman …

Book: Affluenza: When Too Much is Never Enough

Book: Affluenza: When Too Much is Never Enough A book written by a couple of Australian researchers discussing the change in focus for “the great Australian dream”. Though Australians are three times richer (on average) than we were in the 1950’s, most of us feel that we don’t have enough money for basic needs. A …

Book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I think I’ve been reading too many blog-posts, and not enough fiction – I wasn’t expecting this book to be so long – I thought instead it would just wrap everything up quickly. It weighs in at a little over 600 pages, and I thought it was easily …

Book: Interpreting the Psalms: Issues And Approaches

Book: Interpreting the Psalms: Issues And Approaches This book is compulsory reading for the Preaching Psalms subject I’m doing later this year. It’s a collection of essays, each by a different academic. I found it a bit of a tough read in places. Most of the essays were useful, but there was the occasional one …