Learning and knowing are things I enjoy. I tend to enjoy learning most about philosophy, history, personal stories, and how or why things happen. My reading list in the past few years has been quite eclectic. I’d like to share a handful of my selections with you.
This book didn’t come out until 2015, two years after our first twin revealed their identification as transgender. I wish it had existed sooner. It is a scholarly book with a pastoral tone. I found it while I was searching online for transgender information and support, especially for persons of faith. Our family scheduled a multi-day session with him and his team for our first twin and my husband and me in the spring of 2016. I’ll detail that experience in a future episode.
Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence by Sarah Young
The book takes the form of a daily devotional and is written in first person language as if Jesus is speaking directly to you. I’ve found in speaking with friends and family that the book’s message resonated with many of them. I’ve also read the reviews of some pastors and authors who find Sarah’s method of speaking in the voice of Jesus to be heretical.
All I can say is that the work has deepened my knowledge of the grace of God and brought peace to my struggling journey. The daily entries help me to get past my own weaknesses, hurts, and limitations, and instead move me to trust God with my own life and with the lives and circumstances of my children and spouse. It is, in fact, that the book is written in the voice of Jesus that speaks to me most powerfully.
The Fate of Gender: Nature, Nurture, and the Human Future by Frank Browning
I was doing a search for transgenderism at the public library and this was one of the books in the results. Broadly it discusses the whole concept of gender, feminism, sexism, birth control, sexuality, gender identity, etc., from a perspective of history while also taking a look towards the future. It attempts to place all of these topics into historical perspective and discuss what societal, political, and legal changes have impacted our current views.
Theological Method: A Guide for the Perplexed by Paul Allen
We have recently begun attending a new church who has a program of continued faith learning called Diakonia. One can take a single five-week class, or participate in the whole two-year program of 12 classes, each 5 weeks long, 6 classes each year. I’m on class number two, Christian Doctrine, with a current plan to complete all 12. I think the subtitle of the book is entertaining, “A Guide for the Perplexed.” That would insinuate that reading the book would make one less perplexed. I’m ready to read chapter four, and I think I’m a little more perplexed. 🙂
The Books of the Bible: New Testament published by Zondervan
Zondervan published versions of the Old and New Testaments that have removed all of the chapter and verse headings. It is amazing how much more readable scripture is when you read it formatted this way. It is less of a textbook, and more like whatever type of writing it was at the time it was written. For instance, the letters of Paul seem so much more like a letter.
Redeeming Sex: Naked Conversations About Sexuality and Spirituality by Debra Hirsch
I am aware that issues of sex and sexuality are not the same as issues of gender. But they are at least somewhat related. And Christians talking about sex in a healthy, holistic way doesn’t seem to be common. This book does address gender, but in a broader perspective of how important it is to include sex and sexuality in our faith conversations and perspectives. A quote to give a little taste:
“To seek wholeness in sexuality we need to look at the larger aspects of our humanity and relationships – the way we perceive other people, our sense of gender and how others perceive us, how to be loving toward our own body, just to name a few.”
I believe in the power of story and personal experience and like to read about it. This is an autobiographical account of a tenured English professor at a large university whose specialty was Queer Theory (a postmodern form of gay and lesbian studies). She was in a lesbian relationship and actively involved in the gay community. In researching for a book she planned to write on the rise of the Religious Right in America, she began to confront some of life’s unanswerable “Big Life Questions.” Her search for answers to those questions brought her into a relationship with a person of faith who accepted her as she was, invited her into his family’s home, and just did life together. This relationship started her journey into faith and her move away from lesbianism. One viewpoint she shares speaks of feminism, Christianity, and the university culture:
“Too often the church does not know how to interface with university culture because it comes to the table only ready to moralize and not dialogue. There is a core difference between sharing the gospel with the lost and imposing a specific moral standard on the unconverted. Like it or not, in the court of public opinion, feminists and not Bible-believing Christians have won the war of intellectual integrity. And Christians are in part to blame for this.”
I was thinking one post about my book list would be short and sweet, but I’m only halfway through my list of the fourteen books I chose to share with you! To continue now would be way too many words, so I’ll finish with the other seven selections next time!! 
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