A month ago we moved house. It’s not really the most enjoyable of experiences but is something that has to be done when the time comes. The process of moving house meant that i had to move all the books that i have. I’m an avid reader and aim to read a book each fortnight (on average over the course of a year). The “industry” i’m in also lends itself to be around books. Ministry requires reading, preaching requires reading, studying requires reading. This means i have a growing collecting of around 700 books on the shelves and when the library reaches this point it’s probably time to get it sorted out.
I did toy with the idea of working the Dewey system or using the Library of Congress numbers but decided that might be a bit extreme. In the end the best advice came from Andy Naselli’s post on “Why you should organise your theological library and a way how”. I’ve adjusted some of what he’s suggested but used the main categories to organise mine. My library is obviously not as big as his so it probably doesn’t need as much detail as what he has laid out. But here it is:
1. Biblical Theology
Languages (NT Greek)
Hermenuetics (how to interpret the Bible etc.)
Commentaries (on each book of the Bible)
OT & NT introductions, theologies, and overviews
2. Historical Theology
Biographies
Church & Christian History
“Works” by old dead guys
3. Systematic Theology
Bible doctrine (the sort of topics in a general systematic theology book)
Apologetics
Philosophy
4. Practical Theology
Christian Living (all those great books people pick up at the front of Christian bookstores )
Preaching
Leadership
Youth Ministry
Church
Pastoral Ministry
Missions
At this stage all sub-categories are mixed in together in the broad categories. I’m not convinced this works for the Practical Theology section at this stage but it’ll take too much time sorting it out at the moment.
Earlier this week i was playing around with Google Reader – deleting a few blogs and adding a couple of new ones. For the last 3-4 years i have subscribed to a variety of websites and blogs through GR and it is without a doubt the best way to get the content you want.
If you’re like me then no doubt you visit the same sites each week, perhaps even each day. With GR the content that is on those sites come to one place and immediately after it’s posted. GR is then an efficient way of reading the articles and posts that i find interesting. It also means i don’t have to go searching for what i want, i can decide whether or not to read the content straight away, leave it for later or not even read it at all.
If you look at a number of sites each day or week then i’d recommend getting on GR. There’s just no other way.
If you’d like to subscribe to this blog then put joncoombs.com/feed in the search box over at GR. Alternatively, sign up via email on the right hand side of this page.
The beginning of this year has seen me start reading through some of the issues related to believer’s baptism vs. infant baptism. A few months ago I baptised a couple of young people at church and it sparked the realisation that I’d never investigated “the other side” (infant baptism). In any case, these holidays I’ve taken the time to read two books on the topic thus far and I’ve at least 3-4 to go.
A few initial comments on these books:
- They are both great books on baptism and I’m glad to have chosen these as the first two to read. They’ve covered all the issues that differentiate the baptist and infant views.
- Witherington is rather persuasive in his thoughts about the importance of infants and children. Not convinced this means that they should be baptised so young and without making a decision for themselves but puts the issue on the table well.
- The point above is linked to the very real question of whether children of Christian parents are saved or not. This has practical and theological ramifications and Witherington does well to persuade here.
- The importance of baptism seems to be undermined a little when Witherington questions it’s importance in the NT. This is odd considering he writes a whole book on baptism anyway. Certainly the weight of the NT on baptism is a consideration in whether one should make a larger than life issue out of it.
- Acts seems to be be main book for where the main arguments come from in this book. I did wonder whether it was relied on too heavily or not.
- The three views book is excellent with two particular scholars, B. Ware and S. Ferguson going at each other.
- Ware, a proponent of the baptist view, is more convincing here. Ferguson spends heaps of time explaining the covenants, which is good but isn’t so convincing re baptism and the NT.
- Ware is thorough in his exegetical points whereas the other two aren’t as much. The third view, a middle ground view that includes both views by A. Lane, is interesting but quite inventive and too reliant on historical grounds and not the NT.
Overall, these are two good books to begin with. It’ll be time to crack on with a few more in the coming weeks.
The List is a selection of articles that i have seen over the course of the week that interested me – perhaps they’ll interest you…
Top 10 photos – The top photos from National Geographic.
Will Gen Y ever be leaders? – A look at how to groom Gen Y as leaders and having to put up with their eccentricities of their (our) generation.
The company of the year – None other than Evernote. My love for them is known and has been written about here before. Get on them, they’ve got a brilliant product.
The other day i was talking with one of my youth leaders about Bible reading plans for the coming year. I gave a few suggestions but thought that it was probably time i decided on one too. I’m not sure how you’ve done this year with reading the Bible – i’ve battled – but perhaps it’s time to begin thinking about it so that the first reading can actually be on Jan 1st.
So, here is a list of plans that may suit your needs and wants. Reading the whole Bible once throughout the year should be the minimum i think for any believer. It’s a matter of discipline and commitment in sticking to it and a great sense of accomplishment if you’ve ever done it even once. There are a variety of plans out there – for those who like to meditate on passages, for those who like to just read and read, for those who want to work through slower etc. In the end you probably don’t need a plan, after all it only takes reading 4 chapters per day to get through the Bible in a year. However, a plan will help guide you where to next and give you a system for reading – there’s nothing like putting a line through what you’ve done either.
The crew at ESV have a selection of 13 different plans - They are excellent and will suit a variety of needs. I would particularly highlight the Chronological Plan, McCheyne’s Plan, and the simple Bible Reading Plan.
I’ve come across the Horner Plan – this requires a big effort but will no doubt result in massive gains. This is 10 chapters p/day that gets you through the Bible pretty much twice with a few books up to 5-6 times in the year. Challies has a good description of the plan here.
Justin Taylor has a heap of them listed from a post 12 months ago. They are mainly through the ESV site but also a few extra thoughts about Bible reading. See here.
A month ago we moved house. It’s not really the most enjoyable of experiences but is something that has to be done when the time comes. The process of moving house meant that i had to move all the books that i have. I’m an avid reader and aim to read a book each fortnight (on average over the course of a year). The “industry” i’m in also lends itself to be around books. Ministry requires reading, preaching requires reading, studying requires reading. This means i have a growing collecting of around 700 books on the shelves and when the library reaches this point it’s probably time to get it sorted out.
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