What are we reading?

Since posting The Reading Habit on Feb. 23, I’ve decided to post on a monthly basis about what we’re all reading. Please share, won’t you?

As I mentioned previously, I’m usually reading at least three books at a time, from different genres and for different times of the day. Presently:

Devotional/spiritual – Still working on Hans Schwartz’s Christology, begun for the Lenten season. I’m over halfway through Christology, taking a long time not because the book is heavy or hard, but because I’ve read infrequently due to other early morning priorities. Recently, in this book that, according to Carl E. Braaten, “tells us what Christians have believed about Jesus from the beginning” to the present, I learned about the “Johannine Comma,” extra words in 1 John 5:7-8 in some early printed editions of the Greek New Testament. The import of these words regards the then-developing doctrine of the Trinity. A comma or a few extra words may seem trivial in our present age, but there were times when believers died over these controversies. Here’s what Rose Harris, a believer but not a dogmatist regarding the Trinity, said in Sunday by Sunday I:

How would I have fared as a person of faith in the days when professing what you believed could be a matter of life or death? In light of modern thought and contemporary ecclesiastical/religious culture, the Trinity hardly seems worth dying over. So, if a stern, squinty-eyed inquisitor had asked me, “Do you believe in the Holy Trinity as ultimate Truth?” I would have looked him straight in the eye and said, “Youbetcha.” I can see the headline:  “Hypocrite Heretic Not Burned at Stake.”

Fiction – A self-published novella I plucked off the local author exhibit at the library. Started out pretty good with a compelling story and articulate language but didn’t go the distance. I have to think the author made the common mistake of foregoing an editor.

(Auto)Biography – Population 385: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time. Have you discovered Michael Perry yet? Funny, charming writing about his experiences as volunteer in a small town in Wisconsin. I think I love it a lot because it reminds me so much of Ringwood IL, my hometown. “Population 250, counting the dogs,” I always heard.

What are you reading? I eagerly anticipate receiving some responses. Don’t forget:  The name of any of you who comment between now and June 30 will be put in a drawing for a Sunday by Sunday gift set, lovely for your bookshelf or as a special gift. So, tell us what you’re reading today…