Top 20 most influential books
Since Ben Myers of Faith and Theology has published his list of the top 20 books that have influenced him, I might as well join the party. My list is not limited to theological titles, mainly because what brought me into theology was the study of literature. These are the books that have shaped my thought in general the most, which thus includes my theological thought. I welcome your comments as well as your own lists.
(Some of the titles stand-in for other works by that same author, and I only listed an author once, no matter how many books deserve to be in the top 20.)
20. Alan Lewis, Between Cross and Resurrection
19. Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
18. Flannery O’Connor, Everything That Rises Must Converge
17. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion
16. The Study Catechism (PCUSA)
15. Thomas Cranmer, The Book of Common Prayer
14. Martin Luther, The Freedom of a Christian
13. William Shakespeare, King Lear
12. Hans Urs von Balthasar, Mysterium Paschale
11. William Cavanaugh, Theopolitical Imagination
10. John Webster, Confessing God
9. Augustine, Confessions
8. T. F. Torrance, The Mediation of Christ
7. Dante, The Divine Comedy
6. G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
5. R. S. Thomas, Laboratories of the Spirit
4. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison
3. Eberhard Jüngel, God as the Mystery of the World
2. Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics IV/1
1. T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets
(Some of the titles stand-in for other works by that same author, and I only listed an author once, no matter how many books deserve to be in the top 20.)
20. Alan Lewis, Between Cross and Resurrection
19. Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
18. Flannery O’Connor, Everything That Rises Must Converge
17. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion
16. The Study Catechism (PCUSA)
15. Thomas Cranmer, The Book of Common Prayer
14. Martin Luther, The Freedom of a Christian
13. William Shakespeare, King Lear
12. Hans Urs von Balthasar, Mysterium Paschale
11. William Cavanaugh, Theopolitical Imagination
10. John Webster, Confessing God
9. Augustine, Confessions
8. T. F. Torrance, The Mediation of Christ
7. Dante, The Divine Comedy
6. G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
5. R. S. Thomas, Laboratories of the Spirit
4. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison
3. Eberhard Jüngel, God as the Mystery of the World
2. Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics IV/1
1. T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets
Comments
;-)
I've recently been enjoying Webster's Confessing God enormously.
Byron, I will sincerely try to write more about Eliot. Recently he has been less of an influence, but I simply would not be studying theology if my life hadn't been so radically shaped by his poetry and writings.
Ben, I love George Herbert, and while I have read a fair amount of his poetry, he was never the influence that Eliot and Thomas were (and I could include Denise Levertov and Scott Cairns as well). Herbert's poem, "Love (III)," however, is enough to place him in the top 20, and perhaps that will indeed be the case the more I feed on his poetry. Sneak peak: "Love (III)" is how I plan on closing my series on universalism. All in good time.
Lewis was definitely formative for me in ways for which I am truly grateful. However, my thought patterns today are no longer shaped by him in any significant material way. I still enjoy reading Lewis (and I had a long debate about whether or not to include Till We Have Faces), but most of his nonfiction work feels like looking into the past rather than the present.
That said, Mere Christianity never influenced me in any real way. If I had to pick a book besides Till We Have Faces (which would be high on a list of my favorite novels), it would be The Great Divorce.