Reading

10 Most Influential Books

Tony Reinke Reading

I’m reading a bit of Alan Jacobs these days. Jacobs is a very gifted writer and when gifted writers talk about the books that have shaped them I listen, with both ears, a pen, an open moleskin and with a powered-up mp3 recorder [(if I have one in my backpack (usually the case)]. Here’s his list (see his full blog post here):

Age 6: The Golden Book of Astronomy

Age 10: Robert A. Heinlein, Tunnel in the Sky

Age 14: Arthur C. Clarke, Childhood’s End

Age 16: Loren Eiseley, The Night Country

Age 20: William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom!

Age 22: The Philosophy of Paul Ricoeur

Age 24: W. H. Auden, The Dyer’s Hand

Age 30: Mikhail Bakhtin, The Dialogic Imagination

Age 35: Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society

Age 38: W. H. Auden, “Horae Canonicae”

My favorite Starbucks

Tony Reinke Reading, Writing

I doubt I exaggerate when I say that I’ve ordered coffee in 100 different Starbucks stores in my life, spread across 15+ states. I’ve help support new ones, old ones, some in airports, a couple in Target or in grocery stores. I frequent one store weekly and another local store I avoid like Sanka.

Each store is unique, but deciding which one is my favorite is not difficult, it’s the one about one hour east of where I live that we stumbled upon as a family one Sunday afternoon during a sight-seeing drive around the Chesapeake Bay. We drove up into the town of Annapolis, Maryland, the state capitol and home of the Naval Academy. The Starbucks we discovered was in the basement of an old hotel and was first opened in 1784. Lore says Benjamin Franklin once enjoyed a drink there. It was a pub at the time. Later the pub morphed into a jazz club and four years ago it became a Starbucks.

It has undergone a lot of change but the stone walls, stone floors, and the thick lumber in the ceiling holding up a historic hotel above it are all original. It sits just across the street from the state capitol building and the governor’s mansion. An old underground tunnel from the state house empties into the back wall of the basement Starbucks, providing an escape for diplomats. While the back half of the store is no longer used as a safe haven for sprinting politicians, it is a nice and cozy and quiet place to read and write (unless a hobbyhorse lobbyist is trying to make a convincing point to an associate at a nearby table—then you’ll need earbuds).

Converting a historic marker into a Starbucks was not easy and a friend who lived in Annapolis at the time (2005-2006) said it stirred up quite a brewhaha. But I’m glad it was converted and it’s now my favorite place to re-caffeinate.

Here it is on the map and here’s a poor iPhone pic. If you are in the area, you should stop in.

So where is your favorite Starbucks or coffee shop? What makes it great for reading/writing?

Reading for Delight

Tony Reinke Fiction, Literature, Reading

Vladimir Nabokov, Lectures on Literature (Harvest, 1982) p. 64:

Although we read with our minds, the seat of artistic delight is between the shoulder blades. … Let us be proud of our being vertebrates, for we are vertebrates tipped at the head with a divine flame. The brain only continues the spine: the wick really goes through the whole length of the candle. If we are not capable of enjoying that shiver, if we cannot enjoy literature, then let us give up the whole thing and concentrate on our comics, our videos, our books-of-the-week.

Biblical Theology

Tony Reinke Biblical Theology, Old Testament, Reading

“Biblical theology is principally concerned with the overall theological message of the whole Bible. It seeks to understand the parts in relation to the whole and, to achieve this, it must work with the mutual interaction of the literary, historical, and theological dimensions of the various corpora, and with the inter-relationships of these within the whole canon of Scripture.”

This definition is taken from the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology. Biblical theology (BT) is one of the most rewarding ways to study the Bible and especially if you have good tools. Here are a few of the best BT resources I have used in the past:

From Eden to the New Jerusalem: Exploring God’s Plan for Life on Earth by T. Desmond Alexander ($14). Often BT is theme-centered and here Alexander takes the theme of God’s dwelling place and walks from Genesis to Revelation. God’s hope of global presence on the earth (Eden) was shattered by sin. Later, God’s presence on earth is concentrated with a nation (Israel), then in a tent (tabernacle), then in the city of Jerusalem (the temple), then to the Savior (Christ as the tabernacle; John 1:14), then to a group (the Church), and—in the future restoration—God’s presence will dwell across a rejuvenated planet (New Earth). If you have never read any BT, this little book by Alexander is a wonderfully developed and well-written example of how BT is done.

Also, on this topic of God’s dwelling presence it should be noted that a more detailed work is G. K. Beale’s contribution to the New Studies of Biblical Theology series (edited by D.A. Carson), titled: Temple and the Church’s Mission: Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God ($20). I highly recommend it. But if you are new to BT stick with Alexander.

Another very good general intro to BT and it’s major themes of study see According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible by Graeme Goldsworthy ($16).

Biblical Theology by Bruce Waltke and Gordon Fee ($60). This collection of 23 lectures (29 hours in length) was recorded in 1995 at Regent College. Waltke covers an intro to BT and OT BT in 12 lectures. Gordon Fee covers NT BT in 11 lectures. The collection is packaged with two PDF files: a massive 390-page OT lecture outline (Waltke) and a 125-page NT lecture outline (Fee). An outstanding resource.

The Ways of Our God: An Approach to Biblical Theology by Charles H. H. Scobie ($36). A thematic approach to BT that sketches out the connections between the OT and the NT on 20 major themes of the Bible under four broad headings of God’s Order, God’s Servant, God’s People, and God’s Way. A one-volume BT of the entire Bible will leave the reader unsatisfied at times but for thematic scope Scobie is useful and especially if you are new to the discipline of BT.

New Dictionary of Biblical Theology ($34). Contributions from the best biblical theologians including D.A. Carson, Alexander, Scobie, and Graeme Goldsworthy. It’s comprised of three sections: (1) essays that provide a wonderful intro to BT, (2) a look at the theology of each canonical book of the Bible, and (3) articles on the 200 most prominent biblical themes. It illustrates how BT is done canonically and thematically.

I came to value the NDBT when I took a BT course at RTS-DC (Futato/VanPelt). It is the most often referenced dictionary in my library as evidenced by the fact that I own three copies—one printed copy in my home office, one printed copy in my work office, and an easily searchable electronic version in Logos. Some books would be a bargain if they were twice the cost. The NDBT is one of them.

Old Testament Theology by Paul R. House ($27). The most readable single-volume BT of the OT, House is always inspiring and packed with theological punch. Slightly more advanced readers will appreciate Bruce Waltke’s An Old Testament Theology: A Canonical and Thematic Approach ($30).

Introduction to Biblical Theology by D.A. Carson. I list this out of personal curiosity. This is a course taught each autumn at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. I’m told that after an intro to BT, Carson teaches through 20 various themes from Scripture. As hard as I’ve tried, I have been unable to find any existent audio recordings of this course or even copies of personal notes from students of the course. If you do have notes from this course, and you are willing to share them, please let me know in the comments. [UPDATE: Daniel passed along two versions of student notes from the course. Thanks a ton!]

Other works that come to mind (like Geerhardus Vos) but I’ll stop.

So what about you? What other BT works have you benefited from?