ON MY BOOKSHELF
Challenging reads People have been revealing their bookshelves on video calls in recent months. Salvationist asked a number of people to tell us about books on their bookshelf – this week, Lieutenant Sam Tomlin (Liverpool Stoneycroft)
THE BLOOD OF THE MARTYRS IF you like novels, history and theology then this is the book for you. Written by Scottish novelist Naomi Mitchison in 1939, it tells the story of a group of Christian slaves and their masters in Rome at the time of severe persecution under the emperor Nero. The main dramatic storyline weaving through the book follows the life of Beric, the son of a defeated Gaulish king, who has been taken under the wing of Flavius Crispus, a Roman nobleman who treats Beric more like a son than a slave. When Beric finds out that some of the other house slaves are Christians, we follow his journey of being compelled by the story of Jesus and tempted by a life of relative comfort, with the promise of one day becoming a Roman citizen. Which way will he go? In the comfortable West we have often forgotten what it might mean to be persecuted and marginalised for our faith. While not wanting to romanticise persecution, this book will deeply challenge believers and at the same time give them a fascinating historical and political history of the early Church and Roman empire.
GILEAD MARILYNNE Robinson is a celebrated writer of our time, and this is perhaps her most well-known novel. It considers ideas of death, generations coming and going, and racism and poverty, among other things. Set in 1950s America in a small Iowan town called Gilead, it follows an ageing Congregational minister, John Ames. He writes a number of letters to his six-yearold son, anticipating that he will not see him grow up. The letters are beautifully crafted and describe John’s own father and grandfather and how they helped shape who he is. It is a profound reflection on life and its meaning, and invites the reader to consider what they might say to future generations as they reflect on what they have learnt in their lives. WHY WE CAN’T WAIT MARTIN Luther King Jr was one of the most famous activists of the 20th century. Reading him in his own words is important if we want to understand the motivations and realities of the man behind the headlines and popular conceptions of his life. This volume includes several of his writings concerning the history and politics of the 1963 campaign for equality and civil rights in Birmingham, Alabama.
What struck me most about this book was the way in which King subverts accepted categories of thought and challenges the reader to confront the uncomfortable realities. The ‘white liberal’ is a target of much frustration, for example, as he or she continues to uphold racism unconsciously. King’s foundational Christian faith also shines through the book in a way that is arguably forgotten in much contemporary analysis. Racism remains an issue for us today. We have a way to go as an Army to uncover the conscious and unconscious racism in our midst, something we are thankfully beginning to talk about a little more. THE HAUERWAS READER IN recent years I have been deeply impacted by an American theologian called Stanley Hauerwas. This collection of his essays would be ideal for someone looking to get into his work. Widely considered to have changed the face of modern Christian ethics, Hauerwas transcends the traditional ‘right-left’ political spectrum. For example, he is both a pacifist and someone who holds to the sanctity of life before birth – positions that do not often go together. He encourages Christians to consider ways in which their formation and imagination have relied upon narratives foreign to the gospel and teachings of Jesus, but which they assume are compatible. Hauerwas’s work is not without its criticism, which he tries to address in some of the essays. While Salvationists may not agree with everything, I do think there is much for us to consider as a denomination trying to navigate the complex realities of the 21st century. Salvationist 1 May 2021
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