The Best Books I Read in 2008

1. Encountering the Mystery by His All Holiness Eccumenical Patriarch Bartholemew:

Orthodoxy is neither just a theological system nor just a set of liturgical disciplines; it is in the most serious and full sense wisdom – a perspective of Spirit-led insight that transforms both vision and action. In this exceptional book, Patriarch Bartholomew inducts his readers into this wisdom and demonstrates with authority how it bears upon a range of global issues. There is nothing archaic here, though plenty that is traditional; nothing merely fashionable, though plenty that is sharply contemporary. It is a treasury of sane and generous theology, from one of the truly great figures in the Christian world today

2. Surprised by Hope by NT Wright:

Subtitled, Rethingking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, I could have just as easily listed this one as number one. N.T. Wright can write. . . when it comes to questions of Christ’s resurrection and what that means, no one is more persuasive. Wright’s new book, Surprised by Hope, builds on C.S. Lewis’ succinct defense of the faith and takes it to a new level. A crystal-clear, powerful course-correction for all of us--Christian or otherwise. If you want to know what Easter is about, get yourself a copy of Surprised by Hope and hunker down for the read of a lifetime....literally.

3. Tokens of Trust by Rowan Williams:

The first book I have read by the renowned Archbishop of Canterbury, and I was not let down in the least. In this thematic group of reflections based on the ancient creeds of Christendom, the 104th archbishop of Canterbury once again demonstrates his stature as a scholar with a deep concern for the spiritual welfare of contemporary believers. At times sober, but rarely inaccessible, the learned archbishop brings a restrained passion to these meditations that will make them more available to readers seeking pastoral guidance along with their theology.

4. Jayber Crow & Selected Poems by Wendell Berry

Wendell Berry is an American man of letters, academic, cultural and economic critic, and farmer. He is a prolific author of novels, shorts stories, poems, and essays. If you have never heard of him or read him, this is a great place to start. A breath of fresh air in our day and age.