Favourite Bob Dylan albums

Bob Dylan has released dozens of albums—and again, I must admit I like all of them. Even the notoriously bad albums like Self Portrait and Empire Burlesque give me a great deal of enjoyment. But there are five albums which, for me, stand out above all the rest. Here are my five favourites:

1. Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
2. Blonde on Blonde (1966)
3. Blood on the Tracks (1975)
4. The Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3 (1991)
5. Love and Theft (2001)

If we were to include live albums, then of course I’d also be mentioning the incomparable Live 1966—an album that can never be praised highly enough.

Biblical Studies Carnival III

The new Biblical Studies Carnival has been posted at Ricoblog. Rick has done a great job with this one, and he even kindly mentions my recent podcasts—so make sure you head over to Ricoblog for a look.

New poll

Out of curiosity about the people who read this blog, I have added a new poll which asks whether you are a student, a minister, an academic, etc. So come and add your vote—even if your answer is simply “None of the above”!

Some favourite Bob Dylan songs

If you’ve been visiting Faith and Theology for a while, then you’ll know that I’m something of a Bob Dylan enthusiast.

Bob Dylan is our greatest songwriter. He has written over 500 songs, and, personally, I like just about all of them. But I do have a few favourites. Here are my five personal favourites—these are five songs that I come home to, songs that I inhabit, songs that I can’t imagine ever being without. Here they are, listed chronologically:

1. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (1963)
2. Desolation Row (1965)
3. Visions of Johanna (1966)
4. Tangled Up in Blue (1975)
5. Mississippi (2001)

And here are 20 of my other favourite Bob Dylan songs, selected broadly from across his career (and listed chronologically):

1. I Was Young When I Left Home (1961)
2. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll (1964)
3. To Ramona (1964)
4. Mama, You Been on My Mind (1964)
5. It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue (1965)
6. Mr Tambourine Man (1965)
7. Like a Rolling Stone (1965)
8. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again (1966)
9. Million Dollar Bash (1967)
10. Nobody ‘Cept You (1973)
11. Idiot Wind (1975)
12. Shelter from the Storm (1975)
13. Isis (1976)
14. Angelina (1981)
15. Jokerman (1983)
16. Blind Willie McTell (1983)
17. Brownsville Girl (1986)
18. Dignity (1989)
19. Highlands (1997)
20. Things Have Changed (1997)

Rowan Williams on freedom

“Real choice both expresses and curtails freedom—or rather it should lead us further and further away from a picture of choice that presupposes a blank will looking out at a bundle of options like goods on a supermarket shelf.”

Rowan Williams, Lost Icons: Reflections on Cultural Bereavement (London: Continuum, 2000), p. 32.

Milton's theology of freedom

My book on Milton’s Theology of Freedom is due for release in July, and details are now available online. Obviously monographs like this are too expensive for most individuals to buy; but you might like to ask your library to get a copy.