Steve Chong is a pastor in Australia, and a student together with me in Portland Seminary's Doctor of Ministry program in Semiotics. In our program, we read lots of deep and heady books, then comment on them to each other in a weekly forum. Just recently, we were reading and talking about F. Scott Spencer's book, "Passion of the Christ: The Emotional Life of Jesus in the Gospels." Steve—whose posts are always creative—decided to both illustrate and summarize his response. Then, he created the same illustrated summery for his wife, Naomi Chong, and I was utterly charmed when he created one for me as well.
“Passions of the Christ” by F. Scott Spencer
I was already intrigued by and warmly disposed to reading a book about Jesus’s emotional life. Clearly he had one, being, as it were, fully human, and though ancient texts do not spend nearly the time modern ones do on descriptive detail in this vein, still, the Gospels all portray Jesus as having a range of feelings.
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Guest Post: “Seeing Creation as Ongoing Revelation” by Trey Harris
Trey Harris is a pastor in North Carolina, and a student together with me in Portland Seminary's Doctor of Ministry program in Semiotics. In our program, we read lots of deep and heady books, then comment on them to each other in a weekly forum. In the following post, Trey offers wisdom and poetry inspired by Paul Mariani's "God and the Imagination."
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“Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart,” by Russ Ramsey
The discussion of pain, that sharing is a precondition for dignity and hope, that we mistake suffering as failure rather than a means of grace, and that our sorrows are hallowed by God, “who enters fully into the painful stories of our own lives,” is so richly realized in the lives of the artists highlighted here (x, xi, xii).
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“Telos,” by Leonard Sweet and Len Wilson
“Telos” is a Greek word meaning “consummation,” which positions it as apposite to eschatology, which studies those things which will occur at the end of time.
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“Church Going,” by Andrew Ziminski
Early on I came to trust the order of our book selections, as each builds on the ones that come before. Church Going lives up to that trust. I found this narrative delightful, enjoyable, and informative. Again, as I read along, pieces fell into place for me.
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“Parish Church Treasures,” by John Goodall
Though I never have had that home-church-for-centuries experience, I find myself wishing I had experienced what that must have been like
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“A History of English Churches,” by Matthew Byrne
So, this was a fascinating book, and I really enjoyed reading it. I’ve never made English archaeology my study, though I (like everyone else) went through my Arthurian phase and read The Crystal Cave, Mary Stewart’s (1916–2014) Arthurian saga.
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“Contextual Intelligence,” by Leonard Sweet and Michael Beck
Throughout this book, the authors refer to the tribe of Issachar’s contribution to Israel’s strength. "Of Issachar, those who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, two hundred chiefs, and all their kindred under their command." 1 Chronicles 12:32 NRSVUE
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“The Love of Learning and the Desire for God,” by Jean Leclercq
For the monk, everything, all things, if beautiful were worthy of sculpting into something praiseworthy for God, and as a means to draw ever deeper into God’s mysteries. But we may also take something from scholastic theology, because we seek not only to communicate to each other, we seek to communicate with the wide world, to open eyes to the glorious revelations of God all around us.
