The New Testament in Bob Dylan song titles

• Matthew: “Narrow Way”
• Mark: “Marchin’ to the City”
• Luke: “Man of Peace”
• John: “Born in Time”
• Acts: “Hurricane”
• Romans: “With God on Our Side”
• I Corinthians: “We Better Talk This Over”
• II Corinthians: “Man of Constant Sorrow”
• Galatians: “Chimes of Freedom”
• Ephesians: “It’s All Good”
• Philippians: “Emotionally Yours”
• Colossians: “Final Theme”
• I Thessalonians: “Lo and Behold!”
• II Thessalonians: “All Along the Watchtower”
• I Timothy: “Clean Cut Kid”
• II Timothy: “Lord, Protect My Child”
• Titus: “Handle with Care”
• Philemon: “Ballad for a Friend”
• Hebrews: “Changing of the Guards”
• James: “Dignity”
• I Peter: “Living the Blues”
• II Peter: “Someday Baby”
• I John: “Make You Feel My Love”
• II John: “Is Your Love in Vain?”
• III John: “Odds and Ends”
• Jude: “The Devil’s Been Busy”
• Revelations: “Going, Going, Gone”

* Songs from Slow Train Coming and Saved excepted (too easy)

Stabat Mater: standing beside Mary in Holy Week

Here in Sydney, two of our classically trained seminarians are doing a series of Holy Week performances of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. If you're in Sydney and would like to come along to a performance, the details are on Facebook. I wrote this short reflection on the Stabat Mater for the programme notes:

Holy Week is more than a memorial. It is a time of participation. We celebrate Holy Week as a way of participating in the great story of Jesus’ rejection, suffering, and death. We are among the crowd that cheers and waves palm branches when Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey. We are with Jesus when he shares his last meal with his friends. We share in their astonishment when our Lord stoops down to wash our feet and tells us to do likewise. The next day we join our voices to the crowd that cries out, “Crucify him!” And we are there when Jesus takes up the cross and lays down his life for the ones who have rejected him.

The 13th-century hymn, Stabat Mater, is a powerful expression of our participation in the events of Good Friday. In the Gospel of John, we read that Jesus’ mother was standing by the cross as her son hung dying between two criminals (John 19:25-27). The Stabat Mater places us there with Jesus’ mother. We contemplate the cross with her. We see it through her eyes. We shed her tears. Our heart is pierced like hers. We identify with her shattering experience of grief and trust.

The Stabat Mater leads us from the grief of Christ’s mother to the sufferings of Christ himself. As we stand with Mary beneath the cross, we ask that our own lives would be pierced by Christ’s wounds. The hymn invites us, like St Paul, to “bear in our bodies the death of Jesus” (2 Corinthians 4:10). It reminds us that the crucifixion is not just a mournful spectacle observed from a distance. We don’t watch the death of Christ in the same way that we watch a sad movie, shedding a few tears so that we will feel better afterwards.

When we fix our eyes on the crucifixion, we are contemplating the depths of God and the hidden depths of our own lives. The cross reveals the deepest truth about ourselves. It tells us who we really are. It shows us that we are loved; that we are wanted; that our lives have already been fully judged and fully forgiven; that “neither height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).

Composed in the final weeks of his life, as he lay dying from tuberculosis at the age of just 26, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s setting of this hymn is a profound musical exploration of human mortality, grief, solidarity, and ultimate hope. 

If you don't know the hymn, the words are below with their lovely melancholy Latin rhymes. You can see a performance of Pergolesi’s setting here – or better yet, come along and join us for a live performance in Sydney!

I      Stabat mater dolorosa                 The grieving mother stood
juxta crucem lacrimosa                 weeping beside the cross

       dum pendebat filius                      where hung her son.

II    Cuius animam gementem           Her soul, lamenting,

       contristatam ac dolentem             sorrowing and grieving,

       pertransivit gladius.                     pierced by the sword.

III   O quam tristis et afflicta             O how sad and afflicted

       fuit illa benedicta                         was that blessed

       mater unigeniti                             mother of an only son.

IV   Quae moerebat et dolebat           Mourning and grieving

       et tremebat cum videbat              and trembling to behold

       nati peonas incliti.                       the torments of her glorious child.

V    Quis est homo qui non fleret        Who would not weep

       Christi matrem si videret              to see Christ’s mother

       in tanto supplicio?                        in such agony?

       Quis non posset contristari          Who would not grieve with her,

       piam matrem contemplari            looking upon the blessed mother

       dolentum cum filio?                     suffering with her son?

       Pro peccatis suae gentis              For the sins of his people

       vidit Iesum in tormentis              she saw Jesus in torment

       et flagellis subditum.                   and subjected to the scourge.

VI   Vidit suum dulcem natum           She saw her own sweet child

       morientem desolatum                  dying, forsaken,

       dum emisit spiritum.                    as he gave up his spirit.

VII  Eia mater fons amoris                 O Mother, fount of love,

       me sentire vim doloris                 that I may feel the power of sorrow,

       fac ut tecum lugeam.                   let me mourn with you.

VIII Fac ut ardeat cor meum              Let my heart burn

       in amando Christum Deum          with the love of Christ the Lord,

       ut sibi complaceam.                     That I may be pleasing to him.

IX   Sancta mater istud agas               Blessed mother, do this:

       crucufixi fige plagas                     impress the wounds of the Crucified

       cordi meo valide                           firmly upon my heart.

       Tui nati vulnerati                         The precious pains of your wounded

       tam dignati pro me pati                child, suffered for my sake:

       peonas mecum divide.                 share them with me.

       Fac me vere tecum flere              Let me truly weep with you,

       crucifixo condolere                      mourn the Crucified One

       donec ego vixero.                        as long as I live.

       Iuxta crucem tecum stare             To stand with you beside the cross,

       te libenter sociare                         to freely join you in your weeping,

       in planctu desidero.                      this is my desire.

       Virgo virginum praeclara             Virgin, peerless among women,

       Mihi iam no sis amara                  be not now harsh to me:

       Fac me tecum plangere.               grant that I may weep with you;

X    Fac ut portem Christi mortem      That I may bear the death of Christ,

       passionis fac consortem               share his passion,

       et plagas recolere.                        remember his wounds;

       Fac me plagis vulnerari                That I may suffer his wounds,

       cruce hac inebriari                        inebriated by this cross

       ob amorem filii.                            with love for your son.

XI   Inflammatus et accensus              Ablaze and aflame,

       per te virgo sim defensus              may I find a defender

       in die iudicii.                                 on the day of judgement:

       Fac me cruce custodiri                 Guarded by the cross,

       morte Christi praemuniri              armoured by Christ’s death,

       confoveri gratia.                           cherished by grace.

XII  Quando corpus morietur             When the body dies,

       fac ut animae donetur                  may the soul be granted

       paradisi gloria.                             the glory of paradise.

       Amen.                                             Amen.

Rock songs for (named) Gospel characters

• Zechariah: “Shut Up and Dance” (Aerosmith)
• Elizabeth: “A Woman Half My Age” (Kitty Wells)
• Mary (mother of Jesus): “Send Me an Angel” (Scorpions)
• Gabriel: “Undercover Angel” (Alan O’Day)
• Joseph: “I Don’t Know Where I Stand” (Joni Mitchell)
• Simeon: “This Old Heart of Mine” (Isley Brothers)
• Anna: “Battered Old Bird” (Elvis Costello and the Attractions)
• Herod the Great: “Children of the Grave” (Black Sabbath) 
• John the Baptist: “The Times They Are A-Changin’” (Bob Dylan)
• Simon Peter: “I Am a Rock” (Simon and Garfunkel)
• Andrew: “Gone Fishin’” (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
• James: “So Long, Dad” (Manfred Mann)
• John: “Thunder Rolls” (Garth Brooks)
• Philip: “Come On” (Wynn Stewart)
• Nathaniel: “What’s Going On?” (Marvin Gaye)
• Matthew: “After Taxes” (Johnny Cash)
• Thomas: “Touch Me” (Doors)
• James (son of Alphaeus): “Who the Hell Am I?” (Hoobastank)
• Thaddeus: “Hey Jude” (Beatles)
• Simon (the Cananaean): “Street Fightin’ Man” (Rolling Stones)
• Judas Iscariot: “Friend of the Devil” (Grateful Dead)
• Herod Antipas: “Political Man” (Cream)
• Herodias: “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” (Cyndi Lauper)
• Nicodemus: “In the Still of the Night” (The Five Satins)
• Joseph of Arimathea: “A Well Respected Man” (Kinks)
• Mary Magdalene: “Respect” (Aretha Franklin)
• Joanna: “Uptown Girl” (Billy Joel)
• Susanna: “Rich Girl” (Hall and Oates)
• Jairus: “Child of Mine” (Fleetwood Mac)
• Bartimaeus: “Sweet Blindness” (Laura Nyro)
• Zacchaeus: “Short and Sweet” (Espernaza Spaulding)
• Martha: “Take It Easy” (Eagles)
• Mary: “Listen to What the Man Said” (Wings)
• Lazarus (John): “Stayin’ Alive” (Bee Gees)
• Lazarus (Luke): “Who’s Sorry Now?” (Connie Francis)
• Caiaphas: “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us” (Sparks)
• Pilate: “Hands Clean” (Alanis Morissette)
• Simon of Cyrene: “Walk Like a Man” (Four Seasons)
• Mary Magdalene, Mary (mother of James and Joseph), Salome: “Honkey Tonk Women” (Rolling Stones)
• Cleopas: “Liberty Road” (Elf)

Church attendance manual (2): singing

Each Christian tradition has its own special attitudes towards singing. When attending a service, it is vital to understand these attitudes in order to avoid the dreaded liturgical faux pas. Mistakes where singing are concerned can incur grave ecclesiastical penalties. The visitor who sings like a Pentecostal during a Presbyterian service will run the risk of being escorted from the premises and given a referral to a clinical psychologist; while the one who sings like a Presbyterian during a Pentecostal service will be regarded as an infidel and may therefore become a target of Friendship Evangelism; this can lead in turn to ten pin bowling, dating, and then eventually marriage and who knows what else. Such misfortunes can easily be avoided if one takes care to observe the following liturgical rules:

Presbyterian
What to do: Let your singing be tempered by a manly soberness and austerity, as if you were respectfully singing somebody else's national anthem. Let your lips remain thin, your body erect, and your hands at your side where everyone can see them.
What to think: As a matter of fact, I'm not 100% certain of the doctrinal correctness of this verse. I'd better mumble the words just to be on the safe side.

Pentecostal
What to do: Let your depth of feeling be inversely proportional to the depth of meaning in the lyrics. Too much meaning = boring. "I'm coming back to the heart of worship" = very intense. The singing must also be done with the aid of an exceptionally talented band.
What to think: I'm not thinking, I'm worshipping.

Evangelical
What to do: You should sing all the Pentecostal songs, but sing them as if you were a Presbyterian. This means you get the best of both worlds: you can sing songs that don't mean anything while feeling nothing at the same time.

What to think: I thank you, God, that we are not like those Pentecostals. (Especially the part about the talented band.)

Roman Catholic
What to do: Don't even bother opening the hymn book.
What to think: Hymns? You can't expect Vatican II to be right about everything.

Anglican
What to do: Same as above.
What to think: On second thought, I should probably open my hymn book.

Orthodox
What to do: Same as above. Except that there is no hymn book. And no hymns really.
What to think: Is this another hymn? I wish there were some kind of hymn book. I guess I'll just keep belting out "Kyrie eleison" every twenty seconds and hope for the best.

African American church
What to do: Sing! Sing like your life depended on it! Sing till your heart cracks and your eyeballs sweat and your great grandmother taps her bony foot in the grave.
What to think: Anything worth singing once is worth singing forty times over. 

Quaker
What to do: Same as above. (Just kidding. Don't even think about it.)
What to think: Think whatever you like, as long as you keep it very Zen.

Fresh Expressions
What to think: Singing is a culturally relative and outdated form of religious expression. We don't do that kind of thing around here because we wouldn't want to create unnecessary obstacles or to make anybody feel uncomfortable.
What to do: Put the latest Matt Redman album on your iPod and listen to it very prayerfully on the way to church. But never tell a soul. (If anyone asks, tell them it's U2.)

Progressive
What to think: Same as above.
What to do: Step 1: Change the lyrics to remove all references to God. Step 2: Resume singing like a Presbyterian.

The story of Jesus in 55 rock songs

by Kim Fabricius

Annunciation (Mary): “She Talks to Angels” (Black Crowes)
Annunciation (Joseph): “I Heard It through the Grapevine” (Marvin Gaye)
Birth: “Push It” (Salt-n-Pepa)
Presentation: “Cut It Out” (Indigo Girls)
Boy in the Temple: “Runaway” (Del Shannon)
John the Baptist (person): “Wild Thing” (Troggs)
John the Baptist (message): “People Get Ready” (Impressions)
Baptism: “Muddy Water” (Nick Cave)
Temptations: “Hotter Than Hell” (Kiss)
First Sermon in Nazareth: “Jive Talkin’” (Bee Gees)
Wedding at Cana: “Don’t Drink the Water” (David Matthews Band)
Sermon on the Mount: “What I’d Say” (Ray Charles)
Healing of the Paralysed Man: “Up on the Roof” (Drifters)
Parables: “Mind Games” (John Lennon)
Mary and Family outside House: “Rag Mama Rag (The Band)
Woman Caught in Adultery: “We Will Rock You” (Queen)
Woman with the Alabaster Jar: “Hot Stuff” (Donna Summer)
Woman with the Haemorrhage: “U Can't Touch This” (MC Hammer)
Crippled Woman Healed on Sabbath: “Daughter of Abraham” (Arcade Fire)
Jairus’ Daughter: “Wake Up, Little Suzie” (Everly Brothers)
Feeding of Four/Five Thousand: “Stoned Soul Picnic” (Laura Nyro)
On the Lake: “Madman across the Water” (Elton John)
Caesarea Philippi: “My Days Are Numbered” (Blood, Sweat, & Tears)
Transfiguration (Jesus): “Sunshine of Your Love” (Cream)
Transfiguration (Peter, James, and John): “Dazed and Confused” (Led Zeppelin)
Rich Young Man: “Go Your Own Way” (Fleetwood Mac)
Lazarus: “Wake Me Up Inside” (Evanescence)
Children: “Give the Kid a Break” (Alice Cooper)
Zacchaeus: “Your House” (Alanis Morissette)
Triumphal Entry: “Don’t Rain on My Parade” (Glee)
Cleansing of the Temple: “Whip It” (Devo)
Scribes and Pharisees: “Hey Fuck You” (Beastie Boys)
Judas’ Betrayal: “Can’t Buy Me Love” (Beatles)
Basin and Towel: “Stink Foot” (Frank Zappa)
Last Supper: “Don’t You (Forget about Me)” (Simple Minds)
Gethsemane: “In the Midnight Hour” (Wilson Pickett)
Arrest: “Kiss” (Prince)
Peter’s Denial: “My Best Friend” (Jefferson Airplane)
Mocking Soldiers: “Don’t Be Cruel” (Elvis Presley)
Before Pilate: “Ain’t It the Truth” (Dramarama)
Before the Crowd: “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” (Righteous Brothers)
Crucifixion (Elevation): “I Can See for Miles” (The Who)
Crucifixion (First Word): “Forgiven, Not Forgotten” (Coors)
Crucifixion (Second Word): “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” (Bob Dylan)
Crucifixion (Third Word): “A Real Mother for Ya” (Johnny “Guitar” Watson)
Crucifixion (Fourth Word): “Help!” (Beatles)
Crucifixion (Fifth Word): “Drinkin’ Thing” (Gary Stewart)
Crucifixion (Sixth Word): “Shout” (Otis Day and the Knights)
Crucifixion (Seventh Word): “This Is the End” (Doors)
The Centurion: “I’m a Believer” (Monkees)
Resurrection (Angel): “Nobody’s Home” (Avril Lavigne)
Resurrection (Mary Magdalene): “No Woman, No Cry” (Bob Marley and the Wailers)
Resurrection (Emmaus): “Thunder Road” (Bruce Springsteen)
Resurrection (Thomas): “Scar Tissue” (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Ascension: “Eight Miles High” (Byrds)

Rock songs for 40 philosophers

by Kim Fabricius

Heraclitus: “Fire” (Bruce Springsteen)

Socrates: “What’s Going On?” (Marvin Gaye)

Plato: “Cave” (Muse)

Aristotle: “Politician” (Cream)

Epicurus: “Let’s Live for Today” (The Grass Roots)

Epictetus: “Emotional Rescue” (Rolling Stones)

Plotinus: “The One” (U2)

Augustine: “Time and Love” (Laura Nyro)

Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham: “School” (Supertramp)

Desiderius Erasmus: “School’s Out” (Alice Cooper)

René Descartes: “Suspicious Minds” (Elvis Presley)

Thomas Hobbes: “Welcome to the Jungle” (Guns N’ Roses)

John Locke: “Uncle John’s Band” (Grateful Dead)

Baruch Spinoza: “You Are Everything” (The Stylistics)

Gottfried Leibniz: “Wonderful World” (Sam Cooke)

George Berkeley: “It’s All in My Mind” (George Jones)

David Hume: “Are You Experienced?” (Jimi Hendrix)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau: “Sincerely” (The Moonglows)

Adam Smith: “Hand in My Pocket” (Alanis Morissette)

Immanuel Kant: “A Well Respected Man” (The Kinks)

Jeremy Bentham: “Rock That Body” (Black Eyed Peas)

 Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: “Spirit of the Age” (Hawkwind)

Arthur Schopenhauer: “Dark Turn of Mind” (Gillian Welch)

John Stuart Mill: “Liberty Walk” (Miley Cyrus)

Søren Kierkegaard: “One Is the Loneliest Number” (Aimee Mann)

Karl Marx: “Money” (Pink Floyd)

Friedrich Nietzsche: “If I Had a Hammer” (Trini Lopez)

Ludwig Wittgenstein: “Vienna” (Ultravox)

Miguel de Unamuno: “Tragedy” (Bee Gees)

Martin Buber: “It Takes Two” (Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock)

Martin Heidegger: “Life Will Be the Death of Me” (The Ordinary Boys)

Jean-Paul Sartre: “Me Myself I” (Joan Armatrading)

Emmanuel Lévinas: “Faces” (Scary Kids Scaring Kids)

A. J. Ayer: “Positively 4th Street” (Bob Dylan)

John Austin: “What’s the Word?” (Lil’ Kim)

John Rawls: “Long Black Veil” (The Band)

Michel Foucault: “Fight the Power” (Public Enemy)

Harry Frankfurt: “Rock N’ Roll Bullshit” (Against Me!)

Jacques Derrida: “Hit the Road, Jack” (Ray Charles)

Slavoj Žižek: “Super Freak” (Rick James)

Rock songs for 50 theologians

by Kim Fabricius

Irenaeus: “Long Road Out of Eden” (Eagles)

Origen: “The First Cut Is the Deepest” (Sheryl Crow)

Pelagius: “The Fall of the World’s Own Optimist” (Aimee Mann)

St. Augustine: “Tortured, Tangled Hearts” (Dixie Chicks)

Isaac the Syrian: “Friend of the Devil” (The Grateful Dead)

St. Francis of Assisi: “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” (Temptations)

Anselm: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (Rolling Stones)

Thomas Aquinas: “The Logical Song” (Supertramp)

Torquemada: “Torture” (Jackson Five)

Thomas More: “Chelsea Morning” (Joni Mitchell)

Thomas Cranmer: “Light My Fire” (The Doors)

Martin Luther: “Faith” (George Michael)

Ignatius of Loyola: “Soldier Boy” (The Shirelles)

John Calvin: “Show Some Emotion” (Joan Armatrading)

John of the Cross: “One of These Nights” (Eagles)

John Wesley: “Georgia on My Mind” (Ray Charles)

Jonathan Edwards: “Boris the Spider” (The Who)

William Blake: “Heaven and Hell” (Black Sabbath)

G. K. Chesterton: “The Weight” (The Band)

Rudolf Bultmann: “Do You Believe in Magic?” (The Lovin’ Spoonful)

Paul Tillich: “Sex-O-Matic Venus Freak” (Macy Gray)

Karl Barth: “Revelator” (Gillian Welch)

Anders Nygren: “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” (Tina Turner)

C. S. Lewis: “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (The Tokens)

Reinhold Niebuhr: “Love Is War” (Bon Jovi)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “Folsom Prison Blues” (Johnny Cash)

Mother Teresa: “Foxy Lady” (Jimi Hendrix)

Thomas Merton: “Crazy Baldhead” (Bob Marley)

Billy Graham: “Hallelujah” (Leonard Cohen)

Herbert McCabe: “Whiskey on the Rocks” (AC/DC)

Jürgen Moltmann: “High Hopes” (Pink Floyd)

Pope Benedict XVI: “Shoes” (Shania Twain)

John Howard Yoder: “Give Peace a Chance” (John Lennon)

William Stringfellow: “The Tears of a Clown” (Smokey Robinson & the Miracles)

Mary Daly: “She’s Always a Woman” (Billy Joel)

Camilo Torres Restrepo: “Rebel Rebel” (David Bowie)

Robert Jenson: “I’ve Got My Music” (Marvin Gaye)

Martin Luther King: “I Want to Break Free” (Queen)

John Shelby Spong: “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You” (Sting)

Jerry Falwell (and Friends): “Hey, Hey! We’re the Monkees” (The Monkees)

James Cone: “Paint It Black” (Rolling Stones)

Colin Gunton: “Gone Too Soon” (Michael Jackson)

Stanley Hauerwas: “Rock Dat Shit” (Prodigy)

Alan Lewis: “Saturday Night Fever” (Bee Gees)

John Piper: “Gloria” (Van Morrison)

Wayne Grudem: “Just Like a Woman” (Bob Dylan)

Rowan Williams: “The Beard Song” (The Bandettes)

John Milbank: “Rave On” (Buddy Holly)

David Bentley Hart: “Beautiful” (Carole King)

Joel Osteen: “Money for Nothing” (Dire Straits)

Ninety-minute sermon blues

On Sunday morning we went along to a big African American church here in LA. I always enjoy this kind of worship service – though on this occasion, it turned out to be a whopping three hours of singing, preaching, praising, preaching, foot-stomping, and, yes, more preaching. Afterwards I wrote a blues song about the experience. I'd like to dedicate this one to all you preachers out there...

Ninety-Minute Sermon Blues

[Chords: A7, D7, E7]

Well preacher-man talking
About David and King Saul
But if he don't stop talking soon
Ima crawl on out that door
I'm stuck in my pew
With the ninety-minute sermon blues

At first I was so happy
I shouted out Amen
But that was back before the preacher
Started up again
I'm stuck in my pew
With the ninety-minute sermon blues

Well you took away my sins Lord
And I know that's a fact
But if that preacher don't stop soon
Ima have to take them back
Cause I'm stuck in my pew
With the ninety-minute sermon blues

Well get me some whisky
Lord and get me some gin
Cause the preacher-man's still shouting
And it's nearly half-past ten
Still stuck in my pew
With these ninety-minute sermon blues

[mournful harmonica solo]

Oh sister can you help me
I'm feeling mighty blue
And if you need some loving
Sister, I can help you too
If you're stuck in your pew
With those ninety-minute sermon blues
Baby I'm stuck here too
Ninety-minute sermon blues

Best books (films, music, TV, websites) of 2011

OK folks, it must be time for a round-up of some highlights from the past year – mainly books, but also music, TV, films, and websites:

 

Theology:

• Denys Turner, Julian of Norwich, Theologian (Yale University Press). An exciting theological reading of Julian of Norwich, collapsing the divide between mysticism and systematic theology.
• Lewis Ayres, Augustine and the Trinity (Cambridge University Press). A deep reading and thoroughgoing reevaluation of Augustine's De Trinitate.
• Ralph Wood, Chesterton: The Nightmare Goodness of God (Baylor University Press). An exploration of the darker side of Chesterton's religious imagination.
• Geoffrey Rees, The Romance of Innocent Sexuality (Cascade Books). A sort of meta-critique of the contemporary sexuality debates, and a retrieval of the good old Augustinian doctrine of original sin.

Theological memoir: 

• Margaret Miles, Augustine and the Fundamentalist's Daughter (Cascade Books). One of my all-round favourites of the past year – a delightful autobiographical narrative that follows the structure of the 13 books of Augustine's Confessions. More than an autobiography, it's really an autobiographical commentary on the Confessions. I read this on the way home from San Francisco after AAR, and it reminded me why theology matters.
• Eberhard Busch, Meine Zeit mit Karl Barth: Tagebuch 1965-1968 (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht). Eberhard Busch's diaries from the last years of Barth's life are crammed full with insight and incident. An enormous contribution to Barth studies.
• Eugene Peterson The Pastor: A Memoir (HarperOne). I'm awarding this one preemptively, since I haven't actually read it yet. I've dipped into it, and it looks like a beautiful memoir – I hope to get to it soon.

Theology translations: 

• Erik Peterson, Theological Tractates, translated by Michael Hollerich (Stanford University Press). A very important contribution to English-language theology. This collection includes some of Peterson's most brilliant and influential essays.
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Theological Education Underground, 1937-1940, translated by Victoria Barnett (Fortress Press). Letters, journal entries, sermons, and lecture notes from Bonhoeffer's time in the Finkenwalde seminary. As the young folks say: epic.
• Sergius Bulgakov, Relics and Miracles: Two Theological Essays, translated by Boris Jakim (Eerdmans). This sounds like a quirky topic – but actually, this little book offers penetrating reflection on the doctrine of creation, the theology of the body, and a theology of transcendence and materiality. Definitely one of the most profound pieces of doctrinal writing that I read all year. Light-years ahead of most of the tosh that gets written about the doctrine of creation.

Edited collections:

• Donald MacKinnon, Philosophy and the Burden of Theological Honesty: A Donald MacKinnon Reader, edited by John McDowell (T&T Clark). MacKinnon was a master of the short, punchy essay – the kind of thing you read in half an hour, and then spend the rest of your life thinking about. It's great to have more of his essays available in this form. 
• Nicholas Wolterstorff, Hearing the Call: Liturgy, Justice, Church, and World (Eerdmans). A fabulous, spirited collection of short pieces exploring the intersections between liturgy and justice.
• Sarah Coakley and Paul Gavrilyuk, eds., The Spiritual Senses: Perceiving God in Western Christianity (Cambridge University Press). An important contribution to theologies of spirituality and theologies of the body. Taste and see! 

Popular theology:

• Rob Bell, Love Wins (HarperOne). I've recommended this book to several people, and I've talked to people who found it enormously helpful. In spite of all the kerfuffle surrounding it, it's really an excellent little book. Even my wife read it – twice! No theologian could ask for more.
• N. T. Wright, Simply Jesus (HarperOne). I haven't read this yet – but again, it looks like just the kind of book to recommend to people. It's a shame we don't have more theologians who can write in this kind of attractive plain speech.

Reference work:

• Hilarion Alfeyev, Orthodox Christianity: Volume I: The History and Canonical Structure of the Orthodox Church (St Vladimir's Seminary Press). The first volume of a massive new reference work, by the prodigiously learned Russian scholar. Just think of it: a single-author reference work! It's a feat of Herculean proportions!

Novels: 

• Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending (Knopf). A tender, hurtful meditation on time and memory.
• Téa Obreht, The Tiger's Wife (Random House). A spell-binding first novel from this young Serbian writer. It's a delightful story, told in gorgeous prose. First sentence: "In my earliest memory, my grandfather is bald as a stone and he takes me to see the tigers."
• José Saramago, Cain (Houghton Mifflin). Translated posthumously, this is Saramago's irreverent and funny re-telling of the Pentateuch. It's not one of his best books, but it's – well, its Saramago.

Children's novel (chosen by my daughter):

• Clare Vanderpool, Moon Over Manifest (Yearling). My daughter loved this book so much that I've started reading it too. Here's a few lines from the first chapter: "The seven-forty-five evening train was going to be right on time.... Being a paying customer this time, with a full-fledged ticket, I didn't have to jump off, and I knew that the preacher would be waiting for me. But as anyone worth his salt knows, it's best to get a look at a place before it gets a look at you."
  

Poetry:

• Francis Webb, Francis Webb: Collected Poems (UNSW Press). A major publishing event, collecting the luminous work of this tragic, strangely neglected religious poet. Read it, and you'll understand why Sir Herbert Read called Webb "one of the most unjustly neglected poets of the century."
• Kevin Hart, Morning Knowledge (University of Notre Dame Press). Poems of grief, loss, faith, and love, surrounding the death of a father.

Literary criticism:

• Harold Bloom, The Anatomy of Influence: Literature as a Way of Life (Yale University Press). I'll be the first to admit that Bloom can be more than a little annoying. But his great virtue is his enormous – really, his megalomaniacal – love of reading. And that infectious love comes booming through in this boisterous swansong about a life lived through literature.
• Nathaniel Philbrick, Why Read Moby-Dick? (Viking). Quirky, concise, lucid, brimming with energy and personality – and it's all about Moby-Dick. What more could you want?

Best fine edition:

• Oscar Wilde, Salomé: A Tragedy in One Act, illustrated by Barry Moser (University of Virginia Press). A lavishly produced book, with Barry Moser's wonderfully dark and vivid engravings.

Art book:

• Matt Kish, Moby-Dick in Pictures: One Drawing for Every Page (Tin House Books). After following Matt's blog for years, it was a joy to see the published version of this whale-sized art project.

History:

• Elisheva Carlebach, Palaces of Time: Jewish Calendar and Culture in Early Modern Europe (Harvard University Press). Another beautifully produced book, full of sumptuous colour illustrations, and crowded with strange and improbable facts about the history of calendars. An enchanting book.

Philosophy:

• Giorgio Agamben, The Kingdom and the Glory: For a Theological Genealogy of Economy and Government (Stanford University Press). A magisterial essay on the political impact of the doctrine of the economic trinity. Somehow I've always found Agamben's writing – that gentle blend of history, philosophy, theology, Jewish mysticism, and sheer sleight of hand – as soothing as a lullaby.

Best new book series:

• Princeton University Press's Lives of Great Religious Books. What a great concept for a book series! So far I've only read Garry Wills' biography of Augustine's Confessions – and it was a real treat, especially the opening chapter on the practice of writing in antiquity.

Best older books I read this year:

• Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain (1948; Mariner). It's true – somehow I'd never got around to reading this before. What a book! What a writer! What a life! Not so much a life as a one-man Broadway show, a runaway steam train, a carnival of sin and grace. Absolutely tremendous.
• Mark Van Doren, Shakespeare (1939; New York Review Books Classics). One of the most beautiful, precise, elegantly crafted pieces of literary criticism I've ever read.

Albums: 

• Tom Waits, Bad As Me. Nobody is as bad as Tom Waits. Or as good.
• PJ Harvey, Let England Shake. A blistering, rich, eloquent, disturbing provocation about warfare and the violence underlying contemporary society.
• Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues. Fleet Foxes: enough said.
• We Are Augustines, Rise Ye Sunken Ships. A pretty compelling rock debut. I discovered them by accident because I thought it had something to do with Saint Augustine. But I kept on listening long after I realised my mistake.

Television: 

• Australian: Cloudstreet (Showcase). Wonderful mini-series about two working-class families sharing a house in Perth. It's a poignant family drama punctuated by moments of magic realism. Geoff Morrell's Lester Lamb is one of the grandest TV characters I've seen in years – a character of Dickensian proportions. (Honourable mention: ABC's The Slap, another excellent Aussie series.)
• American: Boardwalk Empire (HBO). Only halfway through this at the moment, but I'm loving it – a smart, classy series about organised crime during 1920s Prohibition.
• British: The Hour (BBC). Utterly gripping edge-of-your-sofa suspense about a 1950s current affairs show. Ben Whishaw is captivating as the slovenly genius Freddie Lyons.

Films:

• Australian: Brendan Fletcher, Mad Bastards. A raw piece of storytelling about three generations of indigenous Australians. The film used non-professional actors from indigenous communities, and the result feels gritty and confrontingly authentic.
• American: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life. This beautifully filmed cosmic/domestic epic is a sort of visual commentary on the Book of Job, a cinematic theodicy in answer to the dark Manichean theology of Lars von Trier's Antichrist.
• European: Lars von Trier, Melancholia. The end of the world has never been lovelier.

Web:

• Religion site: ABC Religion & Ethics. Scott Stephens' work on this site has catapulted public discourse about theology and religion to completely new levels of depth and sophistication.  
• Innovative site: Bibledex. A video for every book of the Bible. Why didn't someone think of it sooner?
• Blogs: Women in Theology and An und für sich. These team-blogs have produced some of the most fruitful and sustained discussions about theology in the past year. I've learned so many interesting new things from these discussions. When I only have time to lurk at a couple of blogs, those tend to be the ones I go to – and then I head over to Jason's relentlessly productive Per Crucem ad Lucem.

Worst first lines

We had a splendid good time talking about best first lines. But today my wife suggested I should also do a post about the worst first lines. Her nomination is pretty hard to beat – it's the opening sentence of a Katy Perry song called "Firework" (which Wikipedia describes as "a self-empowerment anthem with inspirational lyrics"). Here are the inspiring and self-empowering first lines:

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag
Drifting through the wind,
Wanting to start again?

In just three lines, Katy Perry has achieved something that I never would have dreamed possible. She has managed to vulgarise that-than-which-nothing-more-vulgar-can-be-conceived: the plastic bag.

Brothers and sisters, until I heard those lines I was seriously tempted to believe in universal salvation. But I have turned aside from my errors: nobody who writes like that will inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Butterflyfish: giveaway winners

When Matt Myer Boulton saw all the comments responding to our giveaway post, he kindly offered to provide not one but three copies of the new Butterflyfish album. So here are the three lucky winners (please email Matt with your shipping address):

• Dave Belcher (for being the first to comment)
• Peter Orchard, aka Besideourselves (for having 7 children and still finding time to study theology)
• Pamela (for teaching kindergarten children)

To get a copy of this great new album, head on over to the Butterflyfish website (also available from iTunes).

Giveaway: Butterflyfish, Great and Small

I've posted before on the wonderful children's band, Butterflyfish, headed up by Harvard theologian and all-around-nice-guy, Matthew Myer Boulton. The band now has a new album, Great and Small – and they've kindly offered a giveaway copy, so leave a comment to enter the draw.

I can't recommend this album highly enough, especially if you (a) have children in your house, (b) get migraines from the usual clatter of kids' music, (c) enjoy a bit of gospel-jazz-country music, and (d) think that children are actually smart enough to understand the Christian faith, not just pious banalities.


The new Butterflyfish songs (also blogged about here and here) are a jubilant celebration of music, life, forgiveness and grace. My favourite song, "You Be You", is a gorgeous, musically luxuriant duet about the joys of singing and making music – I dare you to try listening to it without grinning from ear to ear. 

The title track, "Great and Small", is based on the Hasidic saying that each of us should carry around two pieces of paper, one in each pocket. One piece of paper says "I am but dust and ashes": I read this when I'm feeling proud and self-important. But when I'm feeling worthless or ashamed, I read the other piece of paper, which says: "For me the world was created." The song reflects this humble-yet-proud duality of our relationship to God:

Deep down here inside my pocket there’s a little piece of paper

I take it out and read it when I’m feeling out of shaper

To keep my fears at bay,

It says you are great

Deep down in my other pocket there’s another piece of paper

I take it out and read it when I’m getting into shaper

When I’m walking tall, 
It says you are small

Dust to dust we shall return

The whole wide world was made for us to learn

That we are great and small

We are tiny and tall

Remember through it all

We are great and small

Another song, "The Gospel Story", serves up some serious theological reflection on the relation between our world and the coming kingdom of God:

I ain't goin' up to heaven in the sky
I ain't flyin' with the angels when I die
I ain't gonna rise up in the clear
Cause I do believe my dear
Heaven's comin' down here

That's the gospel story
That's the gospel plan
Kingdom of glory's right here at hand
So don't you worry, woman and man
That's the gospel story
That's the gospel plan

This is a fun and colourful song, but the theology is potent. Honestly folks, is there anything more disturbing than the way Christian books and music for kids cultivate a life-denying obsession with the afterlife? A few months ago, I was having a conversation with a young church-going kid. I asked what she wants to do when she grows up, and she replied right away: I want to die and go to heaven to be with Jesus. If the gospel teaches our children to be in love with death, is that really better than not hearing the gospel at all? Of course I'm not suggesting that the eschatological hope should be erased: but the point of eschatology is that it floods this world and this life with the light of hope. 

The other day my six-year-old daughter (who loves to draw) asked me about heaven. I gave her my own theories on the subject, and then she said: "I think heaven is where I won't make any mistakes in my drawing." I told her that I couldn't possibly improve on that definition.
Anyways, leave a comment if you'd like to be in the running for a free copy of this terrific new album, Great and Small.

Oh and in other musical news, last night I enjoyed a long and lively conversation – about ghosts, haunted houses, Karl Barth, Abraham Kuyper, fireplaces, pickled eggs, and special revelation – with Eric of the indie band Fielding. They have a new album, The Voice of Us, which I've been listening to lately. My favourite song is "Asher" – you can hear on their Myspace page. The album is available from iTunes, Rhapsody, or eMusic.

Best albums of 2009

Here's my pick of the year's 20 best albums:

1. Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion
2. jj, jj N°2
3. Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest
4. Iron & Wine, Around the Well
5. M. Ward, Hold Time
6. The Decemberists, The Hazards of Love
7. Lisa Mitchell, Wonder
8. The Mountain Goats, Life of the World to Come
9. The Avett Brothers, I and Love and You
10. Girls, Album
11. Dan Deacon, Bromst
12. The Flaming Lips, Embryonic
13. Florence and the Machine, Lungs
14. Fever Ray, Fever Ray
15. Antony & the Johnsons, The Crying Light
16. Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
17. Sweet Billy Pilgrim, Twice Born Men
18. David Bazan, Curse Your Branches
19. Ben Harper, White Lies for Dark Times
20. YACHT, See Mystery Lights

Most theologically interesting albums: M. Ward, Hold Time; and The Mountain Goats, Life of the World to Come (in this latter album, each song is based on a Bible verse)
Best live album: Tom Waits, Glitter and Doom
Best covers album: Bob Dylan, Christmas in the Heart
Best debut album: jj, jj N°2
Best compilation: Dark Was the Night
Best children’s album: Butterflyfish, Ladybug
Most disappointing album: Bob Dylan, Together through Life