Favourite Books of 2021

Since so many friends are doing this I thought I would join them. I am a slow reader so I am in awe at the piles of books some people get through. I have read books in the fields of theology, missiology, religion, church history, military history, and horology (yep), as well as a few novels. I read to warm my heart as well as to feed my mind, or just to relax. A few books are re-reads, and one I have now read three times.

Here are my favourites, in no particular order:

The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self is Carl Trueman's attempt to trace the development of modern Western culture with its focus on sexuality and identity. He traces the development from Rousseau through the romantic poets, Wordsworth, Shelley and Blake, and the philosophies of Nietzsche, Marx and Darwin, and on to Freud and the New Left. He is a good writer so it is not as difficult as you might think. Well worth the effort.

In Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord? Michael Morales gives us a biblical theology of Leviticus. It is packed with insights into the text and connections between the various parts of Leviticus and with other parts of Scripture. I found it very helpful.

I have been reading books on creation since I was a teenager. I started with The Genesis Flood but when I studied geology at university became dissatisfied with its treatment of the evidence.

In Seven Days That Divide the World, John Lennox, professor emeritus of maths at Oxford, argues, convincingly, that the biblical data does not require us to take a young earth position. 

Ray Ortlund's The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ is a powerful little book. It is in the 9Marks series on Building Healthy Churches and focusses on how a local church needs to cultivate a healthy gospel culture that matches and adorns the gospel doctrine that it confesses.

Juicy quote: "The command of Christ is that we love one another. The example of Christ is that we die for one another. The promise of Christ is that our love will show a skeptical world the difference he really makes" (112).

Everyone would benefit from reading this.

I have been following Tom Holland for a short while and am praying for him often. Last year I read his magisterial Dominion. He is on a journey, in his understanding of history and, I hope, in his understanding of the gospel.

This is the previous book he wrote, on the history of Islam. It didn't go down well with Muslims as it casts serious doubt on nearly all the claims of Islam's origins and early development. I met a lovely Muslim Pakistani doctoral student in Leiden last year who said that Holland's book destroyed his faith. Like Holland, though, Mohammed was not yet ready to confess Christ.

It is really important, in seeking to understand Muslims, to both read critical studies and talk with Muslims themselves. This book does a great job with the former.

I have developed a fascination with the history of the Burma Campaign in WW2, probably because it features the Gurkha Regiment so much. 

This is the sequel to Master's first autobiographical book, Bugles and a Tiger. It tells the story of his leading a battalion of Gurkhas and others behind enemy lines as part of the Chindit force. The description of battles and deprivation is gripping. The book is sadly spoiled by the parallel account of his unfolding adulterous relationship with another officer's wife.

This is my favourite devotional book of the year. We read it slowly at the breakfast table each day over a period of several weeks. Dane Ortlund (Ray's son, see above) takes a deep dive into the Bible's portrayal of the person of Christ, expounding especially Matthew 11:28-30, in which the Lord Jesus tells his disciples that he is gently and lowly of heart.

Some in the family did not find the extended quotes from Puritans so helpful but if you are struggling it is not a problem to simply skip onto the next paragraph where Ortlund lays it all out in contemporary language. Much to dwell on and chew over. Worth working through it slowly.

This is the book on horology - the study of time. Really fascinating historical account of how the 'longitude problem' was solved. I won't spoil it for you but it is a wonderful story of patience and persistence in the face of a consensus of scepticism. Clock making may seem not to offer much promise of interest but Sobel is a master story teller. I loved it.

Finally, this great little book by a bunch of pastors, many of whom are friends of mine, on the issue of depression. I have written about it already here.