Del's Summer Reading

Since I asked all of you about summer reading, I'll list my own, starting (like Sean) with Andrew McGowan's, The Divine Authenticity of Scripture (IVP). I read the British version which was called The Divine Spiration..., and I'm hoping the change of title in the US edition means that other things have changed, too. I'm still trying to work out why my good friend decided to provoke us this way. I'm also going to plough through David Hall and Peter Lillback (eds), Calvin 500 series volume, Theological Guide to Calvin's Institutes (P & R), not because I have a chapter in it (which I do!) but because it looks a phenomenal volume! Furthering my Calvin summer fest, I have had his Acts sermons (BOT) on my desk for a few months and I must get it read through before the end of the summer. On that score I am also dipping into Hans J. Hillerbrand's The Division of Christendom: Christianity in the Sixteenth Century (Westminster/John Knox) -- which looks a heavy read.

On the lighter side, I have two long flights ahead of me in the back seat of the plane. I have Paul Cartledge's Thermopylae: The Battle that Changed the World -- all about Xerxes in the fifth century B.C. Since I'm preaching through Ezra at the minute, I thought this would be fun reading. And I might just gain some strategic insights in how to fight off some villains of my own. Then, there's John Deathridge's Wagner: Beyond Good and Evil (University of California Press)-- just out! Well, not light reading exactly, but just the thing for a long journey, complete with Ipod! And, for good measure, one of Alexander McCall Smith's volumes, The 21/2 Pillars of Wisdom (Abacus). It only requires three brain cells to read!