JUBILEE REVIEW COMING SOON
Beth and I are exhausted from the last weeks of heavy planning, prepping, packing and setting up our gigantic book display at the truly extraordinary Jubilee conference. Each February I write passionately about it, and will again soon. After the actual Pittsburgh event — with 3000 college students, hearing about the call to evangelical, gospel-centered cultural renewal, the Biblical story of the restoration of creation, and the invitation to true spirituality, finding God in our callings as we serve Christ’s reign in all areas of life — we bring back the rented truck, still half full from unsold books, supplies, and bushels of paperwork, not to mention exquisite, lasting memories. More on all of that later (including a big sale on some Jubilee-ish books.) But first…
JOIN US FOR AN AUTHOR APPEARANCE NEXT WEEK
Our weariness is tempered by our great enthusiasm for our next little project: hosting a visitor to Dallastown from Dallas, Texas. Dr. David K. Naugle will join us this coming Tuesday, March 3rd at 7:00 PM. Davey, as he likes to be called, is an esteemed author and a good friend and a great guy. He has, by the way, spoken at Jubilee.
His first book is very important — the only book of its kind — a big, fat overview of how the word “worldview” has come to be used, and its linguistic genealogy. Who introduced this mysterious and potent word to the English language, and how did certain sorts of Christian folks come to appropriate it? From Holland’s Abraham Kuyper to Toronto’s Brian Walsh & Richard Middleton, from the Philly born, Swiss Francis Schaeffer to Wheaton-area James Sire, from Scottish James Orr, to American Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcey to so many more, the word has been used, mis-used, abused, tweaked and written about, celebrated and criticized (think of Jamie Smith, just for instance) and Naugle’s Worldview: The History of a Concept (Eerdmans; $34.00) tells you all you need to know, and more. It is fascinating, a major contribution to Christian and Reformed cultural studies, and we are, as you might guess, true fans.
He also has written Philosophy: A Students Guide (Crossway; $11.99) which is a nice little book in the brief, but serious series series for students called “Reclaiming the Christian Intellectual Tradition” published by Crossway. (See the whole series, here.) Naugle’s is obviously on philosophy (which is what he teaches at Dallas Baptist University) and is one of the best in the set. It is, in my view, the best very brief introduction to why philosophy is important for Christian thinkers, and a fine proposal for what it means to develop a uniquely Christian philosophy. Philosophy, in a way, is more fundamental and basic than theology, and the need for foundational Christian rumination on philosophical subjects should precede (some would say) serious work in theology. Anyway, it’s a lovely little book, making a fine and helpful argument for a distinctively Christian mind, informed and strengthened by a faithful and intentionally integrated Christian philosophy.
REORDERED LOVE, REORDERED LIVES
Although we value these two other books books of Dr. Naugle, and commend them with great gusto any time we can, these are not what Davey will talk about when he visits with us on Tuesday. He will be talking about his most general book, Reordered Love, Reordered Lives: Learning the Deep Meaning of Happiness (Eerdmans; $18.00.) It is a mature and thoughtful book to be appreciated by any educated Christian reader, or anyone who seeks a deep and good life. As the subtitle suggests, it is a book about being happy. It promises to unlock the deep meaning of happiness.
It really is one of our favorite books, and we are delighted that Davey can be with us to share a bit about it.
If you are anywhere near Central Pennsylvania you are very warmly invited (no pun intended: we’ll make sure it is plenty toasty if you come) to join us to hear a brief presentation by Dr. Naugle (held near the shop at Living Word Community Church) and then to listen in on a conversation between him and me. I’ll interview him a bit, and then we’ll have plenty of time for questions and replies. It will be a fun and inspiring evening, I’m sure. Naugle is a great communicator and a good teacher and a really pleasant, joyful leader. Just listen to what Steve Garber (of Visions of Vocation fame) says of him,
I regard David Naugle as one of the most gifted professors in America. Perennially his students learn to think and care about the most important things — remarkably so, in fact.
Garber continues, “Reordered Love, Reordered Lives allows all of us the grace of learning over his shoulder and through his heart; listening in on the unusual pedagogy that is uniquely his. Amazingly wise, incredibly well-read, he is always attentive to what matters most, and his book should find its way into hearts and minds, courses and colleges, far and wide.”
Listen to what James K.A. Smith, author of Desiring the Kingdom writes of it:
We Protestants tend to have hang-ups about happiness. We know God wants us to be good, but we’re not sure whether he wants us to be happy. David Naugle obliterates this dichotomy. With the clarity and wisdom of a master teacher, Naugle invites us to become everyday philosophers in pursuit of the good life. And with the help of a range of voices — Gerard Manley Hopkins to Stephen Colbert, from J.R.R. Tolkien to Johnny Cash – he accomplishes a veritable coup d’etat, showing that a fourth-century African bishop has life-shaping insights for an iPod generation. This book is a winsome invitation to rethink discipleship, whether your 17 or 70.
The African bishop he refers to, of course, is one of the most famous Christian thinkers, writers, and leaders in all of church history, beloved (mostly) by Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox alike, Saint Augustine of Hippo.
Augustine once quipped that if one wants to really know a person, don’t ask what he believes. Ask what he loves. What a person loves, you see, what he or she desires, is what is most fundamental and will shape them profoundly. As Smith himself has shown in recent books, we humans are not primarily, firstly thinkers, but lovers. God made us to love, to worship, to serve, and while we of course need to think well and rightly, having the right ideas (even the right theological ideas) simply will not fundamentally change our lives. We are oriented and pushed along by desire. We want what we want.
And so, dear friends, come out and join us (or tell others, if you can’t make it) to hear this fine author reflect a little on this extraordinary book, a book about our loves. Loving the right thing in the right way is the key to faithful Christian living, and the key to happiness. We must (as Os Guinness writes in his rave review) “disentangle the true longings of our hearts from the false seductions of our culture.” It isn’t easy, but it is fascinating, and vital. This book can help.
MARCH 3, 2015 at 7 PM at LIVING WORD COMMUNITY CHURCH / RED LION, PA
As the poster shows, we will again partner with our friends at Living Word Community Church to host Dr. Naugle, so join us there (2530 Cape Horn Road, Red Lion, PA) at 7:00 PM. Some of our very good friends who are staff members there (Brian Rice, Aaron Kunce, Gordon Carpenter) adore this book and are eager to have their own young singles group (meeting as Liquid Tuesday) hear more about it. So we are sneaking in on their weekly Liquid Tuesday gathering as they willingly yield their regularly scheduled program to us. There will be some opening worship music (loud, no doubt) and then the Hearts & Minds Naugle talk and discussion. We’ll have refreshments, we’ll have books for sale, and a good time will be had by all. I trust that we all shall grow a bit in faithful happiness.
Sponsored by Hearts & Minds / Hosted nearby at Living Word Community Church, 2530 Cape Horn Road, Red Lion, PA
Love, virtue, character formation, spirituality, desire, relationships, nature, worldview, justice, pop culture, discipleship, church history, Biblical studies, a touch of continental Dutch philosophy and some US rock and roll. Did I mention love? Naugle brings it all together. This is a truly great book, and it will be a very good evening. Join us, please, and help us spread the word.
If you would like to order the book, we have it at our customary 20% off for mail-order BookNotes readers. Here is a BookNotes review I did of it a few years back. If you want an autographed copy, we can send it after the event. Just tell us if you just want it signed, or if you wanted it inscribed to someone special. We’re happy to try to make that happen.
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