Books and movies recommended by members and friends of our community

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Classics and Scripture | On right living | Living the faith | Novels, biography | Interfaith | Spirituality general | Health and faith | Prayer, priesthood, ministry | Misc | Movies

Books

Classics & Scripture

God’s New Covenant: A New Testament Translation Heinz W Cassirer. A translation by a Jewish classicist and philosopher who had not read a word of the Bible before the age of 49. So great was the impact of the Greek biblical texts that he devoted the next 21 years of his life to studying them. [Recommended by hwjv]

The God of Surprises Gerry Hughes. Recommended reading for anyone who has ever felt that the institutional Church gets in the way of their relationship with God. Especially aimed at those recovering from the effects of their childhood  religious formation. [Recommended by TPP]

The Gospel in Brief by Tolstoy | By 1879 Tolstoy, then aged 51, had become very depressed, and in order to find a solution to his problems he studied Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism in some depth. He came to believe that he had found the answer to his problem, that is, the problem of how we should live, in the teachings of Jesus, but that these had to be sifted out from the accumulated dogma of the churches. To this end he formed, from all four gospels, a single account of the life and teachings of Jesus. In the Gospel in Brief Tolstoy omitted the accounts of Christ's birth and genealogy, the miracles, and the resurrection. He also left out most of the material about John the Baptist. He removed all the supernatural events and everything he found difficult to believe or which he regarded as irrelevant. His concern was how we should live and how Jesus' life could help explain that to us. What remains is supposed to be the pure teachings of Jesus, or as much as can be recovered or reconstructed after so many centuries. [hwjv]

On right living

Timeless Simplicity: Creative Living in a Consumer Society  John Lane (Green Books 2001). A book about simplicity “- not destitution, not parsimoniousness, not self-denial”. A beautifully produced and written introduction to leaving a smaller foot print in these consumerist times [hwjv]

Legacy of the Heart: The Spiritual Advantages of a Painful Childhood Wayne Muller A startling look at the experience of an unhappy childhood [Recommended by SW]

Living the faith

The Sky is Red: Discerning the Signs of the Times Kenneth Leech. A book by an Anglican priest who seeks to live out the gospel by participation in his local community in London’s East End.  Shows how ‘radical’ orthodoxy is, when understood and expressed. One of the few clerical writers to write intelligibly about the reality of racism in the UK. [Recommended by hwjv]

The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. A delightful book by a former RC priest and Franciscan, about God’s grace and the sheer, crazy, logic-defying generosity of it.  An antidote for all those of us who work at justifying and earning God’s love. When we do that, we have lost the plot.

In the Eye of the Storm by Gene Robinson. "This is a book that, sadly, does much more harm than good to the Christian faith. Replete with emotional appeals and charges but devoid of sound biblical argumentation [sic]... How sad it is when those charged with the church’s growth and protection are the ones taking the lead in leading her away from God as He has revealed Himself in the Holy Scriptures". This quote from an online review of Bishop Robinson's book illustrates the power of his witness and challenge. It is an excellent book, showing (amongst other things) how learnt attitudes and a literalistic reading of scripture can inadvertently prevent one from apprehending the essence of Christ's Gospel. I reckoned it a moving testament to being a bishop, Christian and human being and found myself wishing that those in all three categories were more like this improbable man. [hv]

A Simplicity of Faith (My Experience in Mourning) by William Stringfellow. Mr Stringfellow was an American lawyer who chose to give his services to the poor of Harlem rather than enter the well-rewarded world of corporate lawyering. He was a natural but not predictable theologian. In this and other books he is found to be wise, laconic, rarely fooled by prevailing sophistries, fresh in his understanding of faith. Amongst the most inspiring books I have read this year. [hv]

Novels, Biography

Brothers Karamazov Fyodor Dostoevsky “An incredibly powerful tale of human love and compassion. How grateful I am that God created Dostoevsky the writer to so perceptively tell a story that elucidates what it means to be a Christian.”  [Recommended by MMS, Wyoming USA]

Against the Wind: Memoir of a Radical Christian Dorothee Soelle. The late Dorothee Soelle (she died in 2003) was “an activist who is also a mystic; she refuses to separate prayer and politics and stresses the redemptive possibilities in every human situation." Highly recommended [hwjv]

Interfaith

Jesus and the Muslim - An exploration Kenneth Cragg. "He writes with great knowledge, understanding and compassion from a Christian standpoint about Islam. Unlike [Karen}] Armstrong he does not minimise - or some wold say 'gloss over' - the real differences that exist between Christians and Muslims. However, everything that he writes is well informed in clarifying differences as well as common ground, and suggesting ways forward for us to get by together in the one world that we share. [Dick W]

Progressive Muslims (Edited by OMid Safi - One World Books). This is an excellent collection of essays by Muslims seeking to avoid fundamentalist approaches and concentrate rather on issues such as Islam and Beauty, Islam and Feminism, Islam and Sexual Diversity, Islam and Pluralism, Islam and Democracy etc. I found it most enlightening and there excellent bibliography and list of web sites is provided. [Recommended by DW]

The Marriage of East and West by Bede Griffiths (published by Media Media). A Benedictine monk who went to India ‘to find the other half of his soul’. A wonderful book which looks sincerely at how Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism speak the same language if we would only but hear. Let those who have ears to hear, hear. Highly recommended [by MJ]

You are the light by Br John Martin Sahajananda pub O books 2003. A disciple of Bede Griffiths and a superb book for those still searching. Read this before you tear your hair out! Highly recommended [by MJ]

‘Spirituality’ - general

Silence and Honey Cakes: The Wisdom of the Desert by Rowan Williams. Rowan Williams has a gift for language, for communicating enduring wisdoms in a way that speaks to the contemporary moment.  We are blessed with an Archbishop of great wisdom and humility. He is also a man with acute insight into the major political and social needs and patterns of our time, a prophet, no less. There's hope for the church yet! [Recommended by LD, Norwich]

Small Wonder (Faber & Faber) by Barbara Kinslover who also wrote Poinsonwood Bible. Small Wonder is a book of essays prompted by 9/11. Full of piercingly true observations on her life, her family and landscape, of love for the world, and of hope for a better way of responding to terrorism. Its funny, moving and challenging. [Recommended by FA]

Memories of Bliss: God, Sex and Us by Jo Ind (SCM Press 2003). A truly outstanding book on the realities and spirituality of our existence as sexual beings, whatever our orientation or lifestyle. [Recommended by AW, Stratford Upon Avon]

God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy.  A tender, poignant book about alienation, being marginalized, excluded, and also something about the different mental paces and textures that coexist. [Recommended by MP, South Africa]

Exploring Celtic Spirituality, Historic Roots for our Future Ray Simpson Hodder &Stoughton and The Celtic Way of Prayer Esther de Waal Hodder & Stoughton. “These books reveal how the Celtic peoples brought holiness and prayer to everything we do, even the most mundane daily tasks, and how we can too. This wonderful faith, now just re-emerging, supplies a missing element in my faith.” [Recommended by RM]

In Another Tongue,  Antjie Krog. About South Africa 'at the minute' - she is a splendid writer, poet, and journalist. An extraordinary tapestry of the different overlapping and separate cultures and language groups: what happens in between and within these as they learn to coexist with a curious mixture of disdain and affection for one another, interdependence and denial that they really are interwoven and need one another. [Recommended by MP, South Africa]

Original Blessing Matthew Fox. A super book on creation spirituality - the most compelling presentation of an alternative, holistic Christianity I have ever read. [Recommended by TC]

Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism A radical and provocative call for a rethink of our approach to scripture [Recommended by TC]

Escaping from Fundamentalism James Barr [An] excellent case for a more open approach to the Bible [Recommended by TP]

Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time Marcus J Borg “I like 'Meeting Jesus Again for the first time' because it challenges us to look again at Jesus of history and to be prepared to shed some of the luggage our faith tradition has accumulated. [Recommended by MR]

New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
This is a remarkable book. It is not an easy read. I suspect it is one of the most important books of the last decade. It is concerned with our awakening - from blindness, fear and the endemic unhappiness of human experience. [HV]

The Christlike God by John V Taylor pub. SCM 1992. A real ‘wake-up’ book which begins by asking what we mean by the word ‘God’. A deeply spiritual book that allows and encourages the reader to think freely. Highly recommended [by MJ].

The Meaning in the Miracles by Jeffrey John. A book which seeks to move beyond the literal understanding of Jesus' miracles, so often a stumbling block for Christian fundamentalists and atheists alike. Looking at each miracle in turn, Jeffrey John provides a commentary on them, putting them in the context of their time and scripture, and goes on to suggest what they might mean for us today. Each chapter closes with a prayer and meditation. Ideal reading for Lent. [AC].

God and Empire: Jesus against Rome, then and now by John Dominic Crossan (Harper San Francisco). His basic thesis is that civilization (contrary to the way we use that word) leads to empire and domination. Chapter headings: God and the ambiguity of power; Jesus and the Kingdom of God; Paul and the Justice of Equality; Apocalypse and the pornography of violence. An important point he makes is that God's justice is distributive, not (usually) retributive. [Ilse]

Health & Faith

Brainsquall: Soundings from a Deep Depression Jim Cotter.  A Christian priest’s account of breakdown and recovery. See Cairns Publications on the Links page.

Let Your Life Speak: Listening to the Voice of Vocation Parker Palmer (American Quaker)(2000). Essays on finding our calling. It is included in this section on ‘health and faith’ because of a chapter on depression and faith - a tremendously valuable account for those in the midst of it, and those who love them and want to help. Link to site and audio download.

Prayer, Priesthood, Ministry

The Christian Priest Today Michael Ramsey (former Archbishop of Canterbury). Of all the late Michael Ramsey's many books, 'The Christian Priest Today' is perhaps the best loved and most enduring. Composed of charges to ordination candidates, with an emphasis on the intellectual and devotional life of the priest in an increasingly self-sufficient world.

The Inner-City of God (the diary of an East End Parson) by John Pridmore. An absolutely delightful read. John Pridmore offers anecdotes and observations from his eleven years as rector of Hackney. Having lived there myself, I valued his revealing of the divine amongst the dismal. He does so with humour, self-deprication and wisdom. At several points I burst out laughing, and at others was gratefully reminded of the courtesy of God. [Rec by Hugh V]

Misc

The Answer to Modernity, Caddick, Dormer & McDonald, eds. Brilliant explanation of the contemporary Anglican church and how it responds to contemporary social reality. Written by a collection of Cambridge chaplains & deans, with a forward by Archbishop Rowan that immediately gets the reader chuckling -- and then thinking. [Recommended by JAS]

The Hungry Spirit. Charles Handy. Intellectually lazy, but nice to hear that capitalism isn't everything after all from someone who makes his living from management-speak books. [Recommended by JAS]

An Angel Directs the Storm: Apocalyptic Religion and Empire by Michael Northcott (Tauris & Co Sept 2004) “.. in-depth investigation of the religious politics of current American neo-conservatism (which) traces the roots of American apocalyptic to Puritan Millennialism and contemporary fundamentalist readings of the Book of Revelation. (The author) suggests that Americans urgently need to recover a critique of Empire of the kind espoused by the founder of Christianity - or else risk becoming idolaters of a new Roman Empire that leads others into servitude”. [Recommended by Andrew C]

God’s Advocates by Rupert Shortt
Rupert Shortt is a religious affairs journalist and a former student of Rowan Williams. The book is a record of conversations with 18 contemporary theologians, covering a wide range of subjects, including feminist theology (Tina Beattie), the radical orthodoxy movement (John Milbank), and faith and reconciliation (Miroslav Wolf). It asks the question, “What is happening at the cutting edge of Christian thought and why does it matter?” Not an easy read at times, but a rewarding one nonetheless [Recommended by TPP]

Smile or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled America and the World by Barbara Ehrenreich (Granta Publications)
Both serious and sometimes funny, Barbara Ehrenreich takes a critical look at the positive thinking industry showing how it has infiltrated medicine, religion, business and the economy. Tho book may focus on America but is also relevant to us all. The author's interest in the subject was triggered from personal experience after being diagnosed with breast cancer. [Andrew Chew]

Films

Recommended movies These titles have been recommended by members of our community.

INTO GREAT SILENCE
The Grande Chartreuse, the mother house of the legendary Carthusian Order, is based in the French Alps. “Into Great Silence” describes life inside the Grande Chartreuse. Silence. Repetition. Rhythm. The film is an austere, next to silent meditation on monastic life in a very pure form. No music except the chants in the monastery, no interviews, no commentaries, no extra material. Dir. Philip Groening. “A marvellous and wonderful close and gentle observation of the monastic Christian life”. website

BABETTE'S FEAST is the title of a short story by Karen Blixen, made into a film by Gabriel Axel in 1987. The feast in question is served in a poor, remote village in Calvinist Denmark, where the staple diet is ale-bread soup; the chef is Babette, an exile from France. A marvellous allegory of the Last Supper and of how Christian people might understand their participation in the Eucharist.