Which books have influenced your Christian formation the most?
26 Mar 2009
I posted a tweet and facebook update today about how Nouwen’s, ‘In the Name of Jesus’, whilst only just over 80 pages, in large print, with a small page size format, yet has so much depth and impact.
It’s one of those books, that is challenging me to the core of my identity and relationship with Jesus and others.
Some of the facebook comments from friends, highlighted some similarly impacting books, and that got me wondering. What other treasures are out there, that have impacted you?
Now I’m looking for books, like this, that speak directly to our identity in Christ and within the Church, in terms of identity and formation. I guess people would often locate this genre under spiritual direction/formation.
Which books have moved you the most to prayer, and obedience, and submission to a cruciform identity and way of live with others?
Tagged: Books
38 comments
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Comment by jadunham
10.14 pm on 26 Mar 2009
The Supernatural Ways of Royalty
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Comment by justin c godfrey
10.35 pm on 26 Mar 2009
for myself, early in my walk with christ, cs lewis’ “mere christianity” was a priceless reference. i still try to read it at least once a year, and every year glean new wisdom and insight on what christianity is to me and to the natural order of all that is.
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Comment by brunettekoala
1.03 am on 27 Mar 2009
Perhaps not so much ‘influenced’ but more ‘affirmed’ or ‘reminded’…
-The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne
-Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
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Comment by Garrett Beatty
4.48 am on 27 Mar 2009
- Making of a Man of God, The: Lessons from the Life of David
By Alan Redpath
- Fearless Faith
By John Fischer
- The Great Omission
By Dallas Willard
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Comment by brett jordan
9.33 am on 27 Mar 2009
The Origin of Paul’s Gospel – Seyoon Kim
Scripture and Truth – D. A. Carson, John D. Woodbridge (Eds)
The Cross of Christ – John Stott
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Comment by Pippa
1.22 pm on 27 Mar 2009
‘In the name of Jesus’ has been massively influential on me too – it’s the book I re-read weekly when I am in leadership roles.
The other one that impacted hugely and which I revisit regularly is Yancey’s ‘What’s so amazing about Grace?’
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Comment by Josh Rhone
4.35 pm on 27 Mar 2009
Life and Holiness- Thomas Merton
Life of the Beloved- Henri Nouwen
The Cost of Discipleship- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Man Who Was Thursday- G.K. Chesterton
No Man Is An Island- Thomas Merton
Life Together- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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Comment by rodney neill
7.47 pm on 27 Mar 2009
Interesting question!
The Jesus Creed by S McKnight (I use this creed as part of my prayer time each day)
The Solace of Fierce Landscapes by Belden Lane
The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg
In reaction to some of the other titles mentioned – I have been inspired by T Merton and have heard appreciative comments about H Nouwen and Shane Claiborne even though I have not read their books,,,
The supernatural ways of Royalty is an interesting title – I will google it.
As an avid reader it is important not to suffer from information overload from books so I am restricting myself to 2 books per month!
Rodney
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Comment by Dan MacDonald
1.21 am on 28 Mar 2009
In my view, ‘In the Name of Jesus’ is one of the best leadership books written. I make a point to re-read it at least once a year. Other top leadersip books include ‘Leadership is an Art’ or ‘Leadership Jazz’ by Max DePree and ‘On Becomin a Leader’ by Warren Bennis
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Comment by Karen
3.34 pm on 28 Mar 2009
A New Kind of Christian was the first book that made me feel ‘at home’ in the Christian church. Until then, I never felt that I quite fitted the archetypal construct of ‘Christian’ that I had in my head and which seemed to be confirmed by so many Christians I met. I felt ‘odd’ and out-of-step and wondered if I were a real Christian! Having found an intellectual ‘home’, I would like to embed this approach within my local community – hard!
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Comment by Graham Hunter
1.16 am on 29 Mar 2009
How encouraging!
‘In the Name of Jesus’ is possibly/probably the most influential book on Christian leadership I’ve read. I re-read it every year on retreat as a discipline!
During an MA module on Christian Leadership, I became so exasperated by the number of awful books written (usually at great length) which just seemed to repackage and Christianize secualar models of leadership.
Nouwen’s insights remain incredibly important to me – and I’m so pleased to know they’ve been important to others… (And I’ll try to read some of the other books mentioned here…)
Ps. The most important book for my theological development was Karl Barth’s ‘Evangelical Theology’. Not many would describe it as ‘Spiritual Direction/Formation’ – but I think I’m still committed to the Church because of its influence!!
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Comment by jason smith
1.32 am on 29 Mar 2009
parker palmer’s
let your life speak
and
the courage to teach
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Comment by David
9.48 am on 30 Mar 2009
“Devotional Classics”, collated by Richard Foster and James Bryan Smith – I think it took me about 2 years to read, which is very unusual, since I normally read much too fast
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Comment by James Prescott
9.59 am on 30 Mar 2009
“Velvet Elvis’ by Rob Bell had, and continues to have, a profound effect on my faith. It gave direction to a place I was already headed theologically and gave me a fresh perspective.
‘A Generous Orhtodoxy’ by Brian McClaren was also a very thought provoking book for me. Didn’t agree with it 100% but it certainly made me think.
“Courageous Leadership’ by Bill Hybels also had a big impact on me.
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Comment by David M
10.04 am on 30 Mar 2009
In recent years:
‘Christianity Rediscovered’ by Vincent Donovan
‘Take this Bread’ by Sara Miles
‘Surprised by Hope’ by Tom Wright
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Comment by gozzy
10.04 am on 30 Mar 2009
Bible has been pretty influential for me !
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Comment by Orion
10.43 am on 30 Mar 2009
For me a crucial turning point in the way I think (and live) was Wendell Berry’s ‘The art of the commonplace’. Perhaps consolidated by reading, more recently, Wright’s ‘Surprised by Hope’.
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Comment by Alan Bright
12.28 pm on 30 Mar 2009
‘The Fight’ by John White
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Comment by John Tancock
12.53 pm on 30 Mar 2009
For me a life changing book was ‘the books and the parchments’ by F F Bruce.
It rescued me from superstitious and fundamantalist faith. Showed me the Divine and human nature of scripture and has shaped my approaches , apologetics and communication since that time. (30-35 years ago now!! It didnt shake my faith either and ‘are the nEw Testament documents reliable’ by the same awesome author made sure of that.
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Comment by Joan Ball
1.58 pm on 30 Mar 2009
This is an interesting question for me as a woman and an author. As I reflect, my list is filled with wonderful books like Sit, Walk, Stand by Watchman Nee, the Screwtape Letters by Lewis, The Inner Voice of Love by Nouwen, The Exemplar by Henry Suso and others, I find mostly men on my list. This led me to reread the comments above, where I found one woman author listed. Returning to my own journey, I recalled an evangelical, Beth Moore, and a charismatic, Joyce Meyer, whose books I read frequently when I first came to faith in my late 30s. Spiritual direction from a Benedictine nun from the Order of St. Helena’s led me to Sister Ellen Stephen who pointed me toward Julian of Norwich.
This got me thinking. If there are any women writers (current or aspiring) who are reading this (or men who know and love women writers) let’s connect to offer support, encouragement, and to share our contacts or whatever else comes up as the spirit leads. Nurturing female voices – not in competition with male voices, but in concert with them. My email is joanpball@gmail.com if you are interested.
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Comment by Karen Blakeley
6.21 pm on 30 Mar 2009
Hi Joan,
I see what you mean by women’s voices. When I first became a Christian I was looking for books with a concrete, philosophical and almost ‘critical’ tone to help me sift through the wheat and chaff, to help me understand my faith. I kept picking up books by female authors that seemed too subjective and grounded in their personal emotional responses, which I did not share (Joyce Huggett comes to mind).
However, since having had my own book published, I have noticed that a book comes to prominance by means of vigorous promotion and an extensive community of practice (which, of course, helps the promotion). *warning – massive generatisation coming up* I believe that women are less effective at (self)promotion and are rarely found as the central focus of a community of practice.
Having said that, I found ‘The Wild Gospel’ by Alison Morgan and ‘Mysticism’ by Evelyn Underhill both very influential.
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Comment by Joan Ball
1.53 am on 1 Apr 2009
Karen: Is yours the book on Leadership Blind Spots I found online? I’m beginning my PhD in Organizational Leadership this May…
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Comment by Karen Blakeley
11.48 am on 1 Apr 2009
Yes, that’s right. What aspect of leadership are you interested in Joan? Do you have a working title for your PhD? I did mine in how people learned when their organisations went though change and the book is based on the leader’s role in facilitating this. What strikes me when surfing the net on ‘Emergent Church’ is how few women are in leadership positions – either active or thought leadership. It would be nice to have an internet forum to discuss issues such as these. Do you know of an internet forum where people discuss issues around Emergent Church? Perhaps Jason could attach one to his blog! You can download PhpBB forums for free…
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Comment by Joan Ball
10.51 pm on 5 Apr 2009
I am interested in transformational leadership (both personal and organizational) and creating/changing organizational culture. I’ve not yet specified my dissertation topic, but I have time. As for a dialog among women interested in the ‘Emergent Church’ I am not a good source. There may be some interesting and worthwhile conversations happening out there, but I have not yet found them.
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Comment by Joan Ball
10.53 pm on 5 Apr 2009
Hi Karen: I am interested in transformational leadership (both personal and organizational) and organizational culture/climate. I’ve not yet specified my dissertation topic, but I have time. As for a dialog among women interested in the ‘Emergent Church’ I am not a good source. There may be some interesting and worthwhile conversations happening out there, but I have not yet found them.
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Comment by Trey Doty
4.44 pm on 30 Mar 2009
A Testament of Devotion by Thomas Kelly. (Harper and Row, 1941).
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Comment by Bill Colburn
8.03 pm on 30 Mar 2009
Probably the most recent book to both challenge and inspire my own Christian formation has been Michael Frost’s book: “Exiles” – primarily because it has encouraged me to rethink my faith in a much larger context, eliciting a more holistic and intentional spiritual development.
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Comment by John Duncan
8.09 pm on 30 Mar 2009
I would like to mention the Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard, and God of Surprises, Gerard Hughes. More recently, I would highly recommend the Interpretation Commentary on Job by Gerald Janzen. Really hard work (and perhaps not strictly a spirituality text) but has been of extraordinary help to me in re-envisaging God hrough a time of personal difficulty.
In view of the above comments it is interesting and rather sobering to look at my own bookshelves and see how many of the spirituality books are by male authors. Is there a tradition that needs to emerge here? Modern female spirituality writers who I have benefited from would include Margaret Silf (Ignatian) and Esther de Waal (Bendictine/Celtic).
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Comment by rodney neill
11.18 am on 31 Mar 2009
I suppose women from the Christian mystical tradition such as Teresa of Avila (The Interior Castle) spring to mind as important and influential writers but I agree with John Duncan. Some authors that I have appreciated reading are Elisabeth Johnson, Phillyis Tickle and Simone Weil.
Rodney neill
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Comment by treforW
11.37 am on 31 Mar 2009
‘Mister God this is Anna’ – opened me up (and still opens me up) to a god who is approachable, knowable… and kind.
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Comment by Steve
2.08 pm on 31 Mar 2009
He Loves Me – Wayne Jacobsen
So You Don’t Want To Go To Church Anymore – Jake Colsen
Grace: The Power to Change – James Richards
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Comment by Colin and Margaret
5.19 pm on 31 Mar 2009
Father Heart of God Floyd McLung
From Prison to Praise Merlin Carothers
Something More Catherine Marshall
Practice of the Presence of God Brother Lawrence
When the Spirit comes Colin Urquart
All books by David Watson
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Comment by Mary Publicover
9.28 pm on 31 Mar 2009
The Narnia books- lots of concepts become real to me in these stories- always have. And they started me off, and gave me a good nose for honesty and humanity. Similarly Lewis’s science fiction trilogy.
Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton opened my eyes to the merry dance my ego, my invented self, takes me on. This seems to be at the root of much of my day to day silliness. This book gives me hope for a freer kind of life- and it seems so simple and achievable when I read it.
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Comment by Phil Robinson
5.21 pm on 14 Jan 2010
Thanks for the tip Mary …I must read this as I love Merton’s stuff.Apologies for late post but I have only discovered Deep Church recently while listening to God pod !
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Comment by todd
4.40 am on 5 Apr 2009
Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel
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Comment by Phil Groom
10.36 am on 6 Apr 2009
Most recently for me, Alan Mann’s A Permanent Becoming. I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to describe this book as a postmodern spiritual classic, a book that should be on every theological student’s essential reading list. A book that should be on your reading list, whoever you are.
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Comment by Jenny Page
7.51 pm on 13 Apr 2009
Some books that have shaped my Christian life are:
. God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew
. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
. The Healing Presence by Leanne Payne
. The ‘Quiet Talks’ series by S. D. Gordon, esp. Quiet Talks on Following the Christ
. The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen
. God’s Strategy in Human History by Roger T. Forster and Paul Marston
. There were Two Trees in the Garden by Rick Joyner
The first two I read when I was young (about 12); good old-fashioned stories about what it means to lay down your life for your friends, and what it can cost to follow Christ.
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Comment by Phil Robinson
5.13 pm on 14 Jan 2010
I believe in the Holy Spirit by Yves Congar
Escaping Fundamentalism by James Barr
Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton
The Psalms (Tyndale Commentaries) Derek Kidner
Commentary on Isaiah (Speakers Commentary) William Kay
Joy Of Bible Study by Harrington Lees
Commentary on Genesis (3 vols) by Griffiths Thomas
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