Just received the latest Religious Studies Review (Vol. 30, Num. 4, October 2004 — hmm… a tad behind I see!). It has a few review essays that caught my eye:

• From Theological to Cinematic Criticism: Extricating the Study of Religion & Film From Theology, by Christine Hoff Kraemer (pp. 243-250).
• Globalizing Christology: Jesus Christ in World Religious Context, by Amos Yong (pp. 259-266).
• The Origins of the Disciplines of Biblical Archaeology and Biblical Studies, and Their Early Politicization, by Rachel Hallote (pp. 277-282).

As you can discern from its title, the essay on film and religion is concerned that such studies are “still submerged in Christian confessional concerns” and therefore need “to draw more heavily on religious traditions other than Christianity and on secular film and culture techniques.” Fair enough, though in my institutional context the interaction between film and Christianity is still centre stage (In my course on Religion and Popular Culture I will be dealing with the representation of other religious traditions in film and television, using Bend it Like Beckham, The Chosen, and, of course, The Simpsons, as some examples).

The essay on Jesus explores a number of christological works that consciously interact with the world religious context, while the essay on “biblical” archaeology looks at the beginnings of such scholarship and how it relates to where the field of archaeology stands today. (Noting, of course, the irony that the very biblically-oriented faith which inspired the pioneers of archaeology is being actively excluded today).

Everyone — and I mean everyone — has been making top ten lists lately (even Mark Goodacre has commented on this trend!).

I believe this whole thing was started by Scott McKnight with this Top Ten Books: Spiritual Formation (August 3), Missional Formation, Jesus, Paul, New Testament Theology, Earliest Christianity, and Responding to Left Behind (Who does this guy think he is, David Letterman?!).

Then Loren Rossen III started the Top Ten Books of the Bible craze, followed by Jim West (no Genesis, c’mon!) and Ken Ristau (Leviticus as number 2? Huh?).

The New Testament types also had their go at it with top ten lists of Jesus books (Michael Bird, Sean du Toit) and Paul Books (Michael Bird). Stephen Carlson has posted a nice list for those beginning in Biblical Scholarship.

We’ve even had bibliobloggers reduce themselves to making theology lists in response to Ben Myers’s Top Ten Systematic Theologies (See Jim West’s response here). Joe Cathay can only come up with five books most of the time (see here, here, and here), but he managed a top ten Old Testament Theologies. Finally, Rick Brannan has even posted “Ten Books Laying Around My House That I Need to Start and/or Finish Reading“!

Well, I figure it is time to jump on the bandwagon! But I say, forget the Bible! Forget Jesus and Paul! Forget books written by stuffy academics or obtuse and out-dated theologians! (Who’s this Zwingli guy Jim West is always spouting off about?). Forget all this! Here is a top ten list of books that are absolutely necessary for your faith — no matter what your faith may be!

Warning: The following has a dripping sarcasm rating of 9/10. Please do not blame me if the following offends your sensibilities!

Here is the list you have been waiting for; in no particular order:

1. Bruce Wilkinson, The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life. (Who would have thunk that an obscure little prayer from a neglected book in the Hebrew Bible would make anyone so much money!)
2. Michael Drosnin, The Bible Code. (This Christian classic isn’t even written by a Christian!)
3. Grant R. Jeffrey, The Signature Of God. (Just think of the Bible Code on steroids with some out-of-date archaeology thrown in for good measure — what can be better?)
4. Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict. (My verdict: guilty of shoddy apologetics and not knowing what he’s writing about! It’s been updated; I wonder if the new version is any better?)
5. Frank E. Peretti, This Present Darkness. (The standard demonology textbook in most churches.)
6. Clarence Larkin, The Greatest Book on Dispensational Truth in the World. (This book is truly the king of fold-out charts!).
7. Hal Lindsey, The Late Great Planet Earth. (I will never look at locusts or helicopters again in quite the same way. You can actually get this book together with Satan Is Alive and Well on Planet Earth. What a deal!).
8. Edgar C Whisenant, 88 Reasons Why the Rapture is in 1988: The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hash Ana) September, 11-12-13. (Bolder than Lindsey in that he names the date. You can also check out his The Final Shout: Rapture Report 1989. Hmmm… did it happen? Did I get “left behind”? Speaking of “Left Behind”…).
9. Jerry Jenkins & Tim LaHaye, Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth’s Last Days. (There are a dozen books in this series now! I just can’t believe it. I gotta write me a quasi-Bible-based novel!) .
10. Hmmm… so many to choose from. Perhaps you would like to leave a comment with a suggestion?

ChristianityToday.com has an excerpt from a new book about the lead singer for the rock band U2. The book, Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas (Riverhead Books), consists of a series of honest conversations presented in Q&A format with French music journalist and friend, Michka Assayas. The book is available from Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.

There have been a number of books over the years chronicling the Irish rock band. Some of my favourites include:

• Hank Bordowitz. The U2 Reader: A Quarter Century of Commentary, Criticism, and Reviews. Hal Leonard, 2003.
  Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com

• Steve Stockman. Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2. Revelant Media, 2003.
  Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com

• Raewynne J. Whiteley, and Beth Maynard. Get up off your knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog. Cowley Publications, 2003.
  Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com

• Dianne Ebertt Beeaff. A grand madness: Ten Years on the Road with U2. Hawkmoon Publications, 2000.
  Buy from Amazon.ca – Buy from Amazon.com

Next to Peter Popoff, I’ve always got a kick out of Ernest “be healed” Angely. Now I could have the chance to study with him! Here is the story from NewsNet5.com:

SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio — The Rev. Ernest Angely is converting a church he built nearly 50 years ago into a bible college.

The church located on Canton Road in Springfield Township will teach foreign missionaries and ministers.

Angely is spending $2 million to renovate the old church into a 46-room bible college and to construct three dormitories.

The Grace Bible College will have the capacity to accommodate 1,135 students.

As has become my custom, here are the Hebrew Bible and related reviews from this week’s Review of Biblical Literature. Noteworthy is the review by biblioblogger Christopher Heard and fellow Albertan James Linville. The review of Kalimi’s book is also worthy of a gander.

• Walter Dietrich, ed., David und Saul im Widerstreit — Diachronie und Synchronie im Wettstreit: Beiträge zur Auslegung des ersten Samuelbuches. Reviewed by Mark Wade Hamilton
• Knute Larson and Kathy Dahlen, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. Reviewed by Bob Becking
• Isaac Kalimi, The Reshaping of Ancient Israelite History in Chronicles. Reviewed by Lester Grabbe
• S.A. Nigosian, From Ancient Writings to Sacred Texts: The Old Testament and Apocrypha. Reviewed by Russell Arnold and James Linville
• Michael Widmer, Moses, God, and the Dynamics of Intercessory Prayer: A Study of Exodus 32-34 and Numbers 13-14. Reviewed by Christopher Heard
• Dale C. Allison, Testament of Abraham. Reviewed by Jaime Vázquez Allegue
• Jonathan G. Campbell, The Exegetical Texts. Reviewed by Preston Sprinkle
• Craig A. Evans, ed., Of Scribes and Sages: Volume 1: Early Jewish Interpretation and Transmission of Scripture. Reviewed by Corrado Martone
• George W. E. Nickelsburg, 1 Enoch 1: A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch, Chapters 1-36; 81-108. Reviewed by Gerbern S. Oegema