Conquered Words: November

So I mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to start chronicling what I've read over the month to pass on good books, keep my own personal log of every book I've conquered, and keep myself accountable to read at least one book a month. Also, it's the Monday after Thanksgiving and while I have to write somewhere between 16-22 pages by Thursday, I thought a little warm-up exercise such as this would help.

This has been by far the craziest month of my year. Between moving my brother, me, AND my mom (all FROM different places TO different places) and putting too much on my plate for school and the fact that I work in ministry which is, to say the least, demanding...I'm a little spent. There was a moment where I thought I would have nothing to give but I reclined last night and read for a while, finishing a couple of books. That's what sports announcers call, "clutch."

Here's what I read this month:

1) The Evolution of God by Robert Wright (Little, Brown; 568 pages) - This one got me thinking. At almost 600 words, Wright took up most of my time in November. And because it took up most of my time, I will certainly post a longer response to it when I have more time. I took about 6 pages of notes during my reading and have tons of thoughts. The book essentially argues that people create religions based off of other broad and ancient conceptions of God and adapt/specify their view of him based on the social/political happenings of the time in which they live. He explores the three basic monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) and critiques each with this lens, arguing that there is enough in common and enough unoriginality or accuracy for any of them to be completely true. But he doesn't rule out an existence of a "god," but rather takes a sort of agnostic approach that we're really at the tip of the iceberg. His "Afterward" is most interesting to me, as you see a man struggling in the tension of philosophy and science. While I cannot comment greatly on his critique of Islam/Judaism, I can extensively speak to his Christian criticism of which, I will do later. The book was illuminating and I'm very glad I read it. Wright is cogent and succinct. I'm excited to write more about it.

2) Eat This Book by Eugene Peterson (Eerdmans; 186 pages)- Graduate of Seattle Pacific University, translator of the WHOLE FREAKING BIBLE, and all around stud, Eugene Peterson is a guy who I'm beginning to discover. His knowledge of God is biblical and not surprising, but his articulation is incredible. This is perhaps his most famous book and is a look at what he calls "spiritual reading." His argument, which is valid, is that you can't read scripture like you read anything else. And in fact, you can't read one genre like you read another. He believes that words are dangerous, and that the reader must be very careful as to how he/she takes them in, ingesting as much truth as possible. He tackles scripture, and does a great job with it. I'm even more inspired to be a Christian and excited to read more Peterson.

Look forward to a December edition that will be PACKED OUT. I read a lot in December and have about 10 hours of flying ahead of me. We'll see what happens. Off to write about things I could care less about!