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An Intersect Summer Reading List: How to Think, Eugene Peterson, Racism, Poetry

Center for Faith and Culture | May 16, 2018
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Summer is upon us, so now is the time to plan your summer reading. As you craft your reading list, Intersect contributors would like to recommend some books. We’ll share their recommendations over the coming weeks. (Read list 1.)

This week, our contributors highlight books on how to think, spiritual theology, racist ideas and poetry — from authors Alan Jacobs, Eugene Peterson, Ibram Kendi and Richard Wilbur.

Editor’s Note: You can download two Intersect-exclusive ebooks from Bruce Ashford for free. Details>>

How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds
by Alan Jacobs (Currency, 2017)

Matt Mullins: In How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds, Alan Jacobs offers both conceptual and practical tools for thinking that are especially important for Christians who want to engage in public discourse.

 

Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology
by Eugene H. Peterson (Eerdmans, 2008)

Cas MonacoCas Monaco: For a rich theological and deeply devotional perspective on every day life, I’d recommend Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places by Eugene Peterson. There’s something so inviting about the way Peterson introduces his readers to “the lived quality of God’s revelation in and among us.” With the wisdom of a sage and fresh faith like a child, he invites his readers to build a firm Scriptural foundation and cultivate a “Trinitarian imagination.”

Peterson has mentored me through his books over the course of my graduate work, and I am so thankful for his insights. If you are in need of spiritual refreshment, this or any other book in his “Spiritual Conversations” series is well worth the read.

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America 
by Ibram X. Kendi (Nation Books, 2016)

Michael GuyerMichael Guyer: Stamped from the Beginning will stretch you, both in its page count and its content. It is 500+ pages. It addresses the history of racism by looking at the lives of five prominent Americans.

You will not agree with everything the author concludes or assumes. However, learning our shared history has never been more important for pursuing racial justice and reconciliation.

Richard Wilbur: Collected Poems 1943-2004
by Richard Wilbur (Harcourt, 2016)

Josh HerringJosh Herring: I recently discovered Richard Wilbur, and his poetry draws on the goodness of God’s creation and the ways in which science magnifies the creator.

He is a great anitdote to the depression of the contemporary news cycle!

 

What books are you reading this summer?

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The L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture seeks to engage culture as salt and light, presenting the Christian faith and demonstrating its implications for all areas of human existence.

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