Reformed Readers discussion

Reformed Readers Summer 2012 Challenge
Looking for a break in the routine, this summer? It's time for the annual Summer Reading Challenge. Choose a book using one of the following challenges and post a review. Compete to win the completely imaginary, Reformed Readers Traveling Trophy, awarded strictly by whim of group members and moderators.

Award will be bestowed at the start of September.

How it works:
Read a book for any of the challenges. Write your review. Post a comment in this thread that notes which challenge is completed with a link to the review. Award yourself and others points. Join the conversation.

Notes:
*You award points to yourself or others in whatever completely arbitrary manner you find amusing / meaningful.

*There are no hall monitors in the Reformed Readers group - you choose what books to read for which challenges (If you decide it fits, then it does).

Classic Challenges:
1. Attributes of God - Get grounded this summer by reading or re-reading a book on the attributes of God and post a review. Some titles include: Knowing God by J.I. Packer, The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer, The Attributes of God by A.W. Pink, God: As He Longs for You to See Him by Chip Ingram, The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul, etc.

2. Recommended Reading - choose a book from the recommended reading list of an organization you admire. Ex: your local church, desiringgod.org, 9marks, etc. Post a review and tell us how you found the title.

Here are a couple lists from Desiring God:
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-l...
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts...

Here are a couple lists from 9marks:
http://www.9marks.org/ejournal/recomm...
http://www.9marks.org/ejournal/9marks...

3. Award Worthy?- Read a book that won any type of literary or people's choice award.

4. Clearing the Clutter - Read a book that has been lingering for too long on your 'to-read' list.

5. Pure Pleasure - Read any title you choose simply because you desire to read it.

New Challenges for 2012:

6. Match-Up - Read a book on a theme that matches your plans for the summer. If you're planning a great trip - maybe you'll select something travel-themed. If you expect to be working crazy hours - perhaps you'll select something work related. Sports? Gardening? Family? Choose a title that matches your plans.

7. Delicious Details - Select a favorite non-fiction book and select your next read from among other works referenced within. Dig into the details of the bibliography or appendices or potential 'additional reading' lists that it may contain to spot an intriguing selection.

8. Copy Cat: Read the same title that someone else read to complete a Summer Reading Challenge.

The next few challenges were stolen from The Seasonal Reading Challenge Group because they sounded fun.

9. Great Minds Think Alike
For this task we will find out if this saying is true when in comes to reading preferences. Go to the individual page for a book you gave a 5 star rating to. Scroll down to the section for other reviews and click on the link for 5 stars. Select a person. Visit that persons profile and select another book (one that you haven't read before) that they gave 5 stars to and that will be the book you need to read for this challenge task.

10. All Fired Up! Read a book (fiction or nonfiction) about a subject you're passionate (fired up) about. Explain in your post the subject that you’re all fired up about and how your book relates to that subject.

Hello, all - I'm looking forward to a bit more reading time (and time for goodreads / reformed readers) during these next summer months. Thought I'd post the 3rd annual Summer Reading Challenge.

Anyone else want to dream up a challenge to add to the list?

Parenting? My wife and I are starting Bruce Ware's book, "Big Truths for Young Hearts" this summer. We have two under two so we are reading a lot of parenting, children's books right now.

Heath wrote: "Parenting? My wife and I are starting Bruce Ware's book, "Big Truths for Young Hearts" this summer. We have two under two so we are reading a lot of parenting, children's books right now."

A Parenting focus sounds like a great approach to the challenge. Could work for a number of of the ideas.... Fired up, match up, award winner, clearing the clutter. With 2 under 2, I'm amazed that you have time and energy to read! In fact, I'm awarding 100 points to you for such an audacious goal. And with that the leader-board is off and running....

The New Testament Teaching On The Role Relationship Of Men And Women

I'm in the midst of a long term study (2 years and counting) on the redemptive-historical significance of marriage and have heard this book referenced by both sides of the debate, egalitarians and complementarians alike. So I guess it fits within Clearing the Clutter, although it was never officially on my 'to read' list.

I've been reading through multiple authors on both sides of the issue, and have discovered that it touches not only on the headship/submission debate within the church, but also on issues of biblical inerrancy, Trinitarian theology and hermeneutics. I've even seen its relevance to some of the couples I counsel.

Kevin Giles, who I mention in my review, has written eloquently (and sometimes blindly) in support of the egalitarian position. I've read and reviewed Trinity & Subordinationism, am currently reading Jesus and the Father, and have The Eternal Generation of the Son on my 'to read' list. He's a slow and at times tedious read, as I've found that I cannot trust many of his citations and interpretations. I'm hoping that won't be a problem on the next one of his that I read.

10. All Fired Up!: I'm fired up about evangelism, and the military.... and the South. I just finished "The Great Revival in the Southern Armies." http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Very descriptive of what a revival can do to individuals and a society.

I award myself 30 points for getting "All Fired Up!" about revival.

Al wrote: "10. All Fired Up!: I'm fired up about evangelism, and the military.... and the South. I just finished "The Great Revival in the Southern Armies." http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

..."
Sounds interesting! Have you been keeping an eye on any current revival / church-planting / discipleship movements?

Chuck wrote: "The New Testament Teaching On The Role Relationship Of Men And Women

I'm in the midst of a long term study (2 years and counting) on the redemptive-historical significance of marriage and have hea..."

Is your study just for fun? Or scholarship? Or supporting local church enquiries? Just curious since it looks like you're digging deep into publications from the 70s, etc.

These 2 are rather off topic for the group, but anyway...

4. Clearing the Clutter: Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye
Not sure I like marking Atwood under 'clutter' but the book has certainly been sitting on my shelf for a couple years. :) I put it off partly because I was thinking it might be depressing, but it ended up being kind of a cathartic reading and she's good at delving to the heart of things....
9 points seems appropriate ;)

6. Match-Up: Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
I'm trying to get back to running regularly this summer - this was a great, encouraging, and interesting running read. I keep finding good running books to be good life books too, though - really makes 'running the race' come to life in another way. The people in this one really enjoy pushing through their pain and limits to the something more.
26.2 points, though for the people in this book a marathon is nothing (and they even make it sound realistic... now if I could just get past 3 miles) :)

Laura wrote: "Chuck wrote: "The New Testament Teaching On The Role Relationship Of Men And Women

I'm in the midst of a long term study (2 years and counting) on the redemptive-historical significance of marriage and have hea..."

Is your study just for fun? Or scholarship? Or supporting local church enquiries? Just curious since it looks like you're digging deep into publications from the 70s, etc. "

I second this question - definitely seems like a timely and important study.

Trice wrote: "Laura wrote: "Chuck wrote: "The New Testament Teaching On The Role Relationship Of Men And Women

I'm in the midst of a long term study (2 years and counting) on the redemptive-historical significa..."

I'm a ruling elder in the PCA (Presbyterian Church in America) and decided to put some study into the issue of male-female relationships in marriage and the church after a exchange within my presbytery over this issue. I began with two organizations (Christians for Biblical Equality and The Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood) and what each has written on the subject. I discovered that it is a huge area of discussion that touches on issues in biblical exegesis and hermeneutics, Trinitarian theology, historical theology, the Nicene Fathers, Calvin, Hodge, feminism, patriarchalism, sociology, and on and on.

I've been doing personal study projects like this to supplement my devotions for a few years; and I've found that framing it as a "book" helps me to organize my overall thoughts as well as what I think about the various aspects of the broader topic. So this is a bit for fun and also for scholarship.

Knight's book happened to be the one I was beginning to read when I saw the summer challenge. At least according to Giles, it was the first published work to frame the issue of the relationship of men and women in the teaching and ruling offices of the church and within marriage and the family as role relationships.

Kevin Giles is more recent: Trinity & Subordinationism (2002); Jesus and the Father (2006); The Eternal Generation of the Father (2012) are all on the Trinitarian aspects of the egalitarian/complementarian debate.

There have been differing terms for the two primary perspectives, but I prefer these. It seems to me that the term “egalitarian” succinctly identifies the theological and ecclesiastical views on the role of men and women in marriage and the church by supporters of the organization “Christians for Biblical Equality;” while the term “complementarian” captures the sense of complementary differences between men and women within marriage and the church that is the heart of the opposing organization, the “Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.” The scope of evangelicals writing on this issue does begin in the 1970s and continues through today.

Trice wrote: "These 2 are rather off topic

Hi, Trice! Did you hear that one of the guys from Born to Run died recently? Here's an article about it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/spo....

I agree it's a great, fun read!