Books, Books, Books

Yesterday was a good day for my reading prospects.

First off, Tim Keller's new book, King's Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus arrived in the mail. I can't tell you how glad I am to get this one. Delighted, in fact.

Second, coming to me not in the mail but through Interlibrary Loan, two books by Stanley Hauerwas. I forget now what got me interested in him this past week. Something I'd read on a blog somewhere, no doubt. Anyway, the two books that came to me yesterday are going to be stimulating indeed. One is called Resident Aliens (written with William Willimon). I read the first chapter last night. Here are a couple of choice snips:

"The world was fundamentally changed in Jesus Christ, and we have been trying, but failing, to grasp the implication of that change ever since."

"The bible's concern is whether or not we shall be faithful to the gospel, the truth about the way things are now that God is with us through the life, cross, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth."

"In Jesus we meet not a presentation of basic ideas about God,world, and humanity, but an invitation to join up, to become part of a movement, a people."

The other Stanley Hauerwas book that fell into my lap this week, on loan from a local seminary, is his commentary on Matthew . Here's a snip from its first chapter, which should get you thinking a little about the world-shattering nature of the plan of God:

"Matthew's Gospel is meant to train us, his readers, just as Jesus had to train his disciples, to recognize that the salvation wrought in the cross is the Father's refusal to save us according to the world's understanding of salvation, which is that salvation depends on having more power than my enemies."

That may not say it all, but it says an awful lot. I have a feeling I'm going to be spending time with these books long after I've finished reading them.