Funky theology

[JohnL]

I was in a Christian bookstore last week and noticed there seems to be a lot of feel good, “self-care” books on the shelves claiming to be Christian. Can y’all point me to sources that carry books based on solid, Bible based theology? I liked what I saw at the Pilgrim website. I liked a lot of the Hutterite teachings on Christian community. Are there any more authors that stick to Bible teaching instead of new age funk?

[cmbl]

Here are some old books:
A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life - William Law
Holy Living - Jeremy Taylor
The Life and Character of Gerhard Tersteegen - S. Jackson

[Praxis+Theodicy]

Christian bookstores have been like that since I was a kid. A whole generation or more of that has really affected mainstream evangelical Christianity and watered it down.

I'm not familiar with any actual Hutterite publications. The Bruderhof is a branch-off from the Hutterite church and they have maintained a long-running publishing house called Plough publishing. You might like some stuff from there. For a book on Christian community, I'd recommend "Called to Community." But first and foremost i'd recommend to anyone the spiritual successor to that book, "Following the Call". The latter book is a commentary on the Sermon on the Mount by people from all over church history, from Tertullian to Bonhoeffer to Tim Keller. Both books are edited by the brilliant Charles Moore. I also recommend some of their little "backpack" sized books with stirring quotes from significant Christian's throughout history. The one I specifically recommend is the one on Clarence Jordan. He has a lot of thoughts on community and nonresistance and the Word of God that were wonderful to read. He was from the Southern Baptist church but he was shunned from there. A lot of the lectures that are published in that book were delivered at Goshen College in the 50s and 60s.

Plough is more recently releasing a series of graphic novels about the lives of radical reformers. They released one about Felix Manz ("By Water"), and Jakob Hutter ("By Fire"). A while ago they also released one on the White Rose Society, a student organization that called Germany to nonviolent resistance against the fascist regime of their time.

Pro tip: if you visit a Bruderhof community, they almost always have a "visitors library," and unless something is marked against this, you can take whatever you want for free. They absolutely love giving people things for free, it's like their shared hobby. But especially books. They own the publishing house so it's cheap and easy for them to give away the books they publish. They also will have a ton of back issues of their quarterly magazine (Plough) in there, you can grab as many as you want.

[JohnL]

Here are some old books:
A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life - William Law
Holy Living - Jeremy Taylor
The Life and Character of Gerhard Tersteegen - S. Jackson

Christian bookstores have been like that since I was a kid. A whole generation or more of that has really affected mainstream evangelical Christianity and watered it down.

I'm not familiar with any actual Hutterite publications. The Bruderhof is a branch-off from the Hutterite church and they have maintained a long-running publishing house called Plough publishing. You might like some stuff from there. For a book on Christian community, I'd recommend "Called to Community." But first and foremost i'd recommend to anyone the spiritual successor to that book, "Following the Call". The latter book is a commentary on the Sermon on the Mount by people from all over church history, from Tertullian to Bonhoeffer to Tim Keller. Both books are edited by the brilliant Charles Moore. I also recommend some of their little "backpack" sized books with stirring quotes from significant Christian's throughout history. The one I specifically recommend is the one on Clarence Jordan. He has a lot of thoughts on community and nonresistance and the Word of God that were wonderful to read. He was from the Southern Baptist church but he was shunned from there. A lot of the lectures that are published in that book were delivered at Goshen College in the 50s and 60s.

Plough is more recently releasing a series of graphic novels about the lives of radical reformers. They released one about Felix Manz ("By Water"), and Jakob Hutter ("By Fire"). A while ago they also released one on the White Rose Society, a student organization that called Germany to nonviolent resistance against the fascist regime of their time.

Pro tip: if you visit a Bruderhof community, they almost always have a "visitors library," and unless something is marked against this, you can take whatever you want for free. They absolutely love giving people things for free, it's like their shared hobby. But especially books. They own the publishing house so it's cheap and easy for them to give away the books they publish. They also will have a ton of back issues of their quarterly magazine (Plough) in there, you can grab as many as you want.

Thanks to you both. These seem to be good meat for my devotional meal the rest of the year.

[JohnL]

Pro tip: if you visit a Bruderhof community, they almost always have a "visitors library," and unless something is marked against this, you can take whatever you want for free. They absolutely love giving people things for free, it's like their shared hobby. But especially books. They own the publishing house so it's cheap and easy for them to give away the books they publish. They also will have a ton of back issues of their quarterly magazine (Plough) in there, you can grab as many as you want.

I just found out there's a Bruderhof community over in TN about 4 hours away. Are they still there? Someone said they're still a new community and still fixing up an old college.

[barnhart]

A group from the Bruderhof worshipped with us in Brooklyn several weeks ago, including the general editor of the Plow and other publications. I had a nice conversation with him and expressed my appreciation for his work.

[Praxis+Theodicy]

Pro tip: if you visit a Bruderhof community, they almost always have a "visitors library," and unless something is marked against this, you can take whatever you want for free. They absolutely love giving people things for free, it's like their shared hobby. But especially books. They own the publishing house so it's cheap and easy for them to give away the books they publish. They also will have a ton of back issues of their quarterly magazine (Plough) in there, you can grab as many as you want.

I just found out there's a Bruderhof community over in TN about 4 hours away. Are they still there? Someone said they're still a new community and still fixing up an old college.

Yeah, Hiawassee. When we stayed with them, that was a very new community, they had JUST purchased the space. I think it is more up and running and has space for visitors now, but I'm not sure. We just visited some BH friends and Hiawassee was mentioned, they are still there. I was told about some of the work they are taking on in the manufacturing chain of Rifton Equipment. But some of the church planters at Hiawassee have a vision of manufacturing some kinda cutting edge scientific fertilizer too. I don't think that's taken off yet.

[ken_sylvania]

But some of the church planters at Hiawassee have a vision of manufacturing some kinda cutting edge scientific fertilizer too. I don't think that's taken off yet.

I suppose once it does they will end up with a very healthy crop of churches.

[JohnL]

But some of the church planters at Hiawassee have a vision of manufacturing some kinda cutting edge scientific fertilizer too. I don't think that's taken off yet.

I suppose once it does they will end up with a very healthy crop of churches.

[JayP]

I have never been enthused by the Bruderhof. My favorite “how Christian are they?” Moment was trying to understand how flying charter planes for folks like rock stars fit into the WWJD concept.