| The President’s Bookshelf
What books does a university president read
in his “spare” time? An avid reader, President
Eaton’s choices are eclectic, but this year they
often relate in some way to the SPU signatures.
Here are several recent selections, with his
comments:
N.T. Wright. The Last Word: Beyond the Bible
Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority
of Scripture (HarperSanFrancisco, 2005). “In
our particular moment in history, especially in
North America and Europe, we are particularly
prone to challenge and dismiss any kind of
authority. How then do we think about the
authority of the Scriptures for our lives, for the
church, for the culture, and the world? This is
the question that receives Bishop of Durham
Tom Wright’s penetrating and thoughtful consideration.
The book is for all Christians
and churches and, yes, universities,
seeking to embrace the Christian
story and put the biblical text at the
center of who we are.”
Vali Nasr. The Shia Revival: How
Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape
the Future (W.W. Norton, 2006).
“This marvelous new book, by a
young scholar and historian of Islam,
brings fresh insight and understanding to the
enormously complex conflicts that blaze across
our newspapers daily. Mr. Nasr will be our
Downtown Business Breakfast speaker this spring. He offers here perhaps a new angle into
the encounter with Islam, and most importantly
within Islam, clearly one of the defining issues
of the 21st century.”
Lawrence Wright. The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda
and the Road to 9/11 (Alfred A. Knopf, 2006).
“This is an outstanding history of that frightening
and violent movement — its roots and
causes and leaders — that exploded into our
consciousness on September 11, 2001. In my
ongoing quest to understand the conflicts of the
Middle East, this book is very helpful.”
Lesslie Newbigin. Foolishness to the Greeks:
The Gospel and Western Culture (SPCK , 1986).
“I have just reread this extraordinary book, written
in 1986, what might be considered dated by
some. It is nothing of the sort. Lesslie
Newbigin — philosopher, theologian,
and missionary to India for most of his
life — remains one of the most penetrating
voices on what it means to
engage the culture with the gospel of
Jesus Christ. If I could require one book
to introduce us all to the strategy and
posture of cultural engagement, this
would be it. What does it mean to live
and think as vibrant Christians in our
modern, postmodern, secular culture? This is a
must-read for all of us who consider, as I do,
this question as a driving task for Christians in
the world today.”
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