One of the few scenes from the Revelation that stuck with me as a kid was the one in Revelation 10:8–11.

In this brief pericope, the Revelator receives a “little book” from a colossal angel, who commands him to consume it. Normally, I ingest my books through the senses of hearing or seeing, but John uses taste instead. Although it is sweet at first, he suffers indigestion later on.

Frankly, I picture John looking a bit like Pooh Bear . . . joyfully chomping down on a honey-flavored scroll . . . then rubbing his belly with an air of dejection at the consequent tummy ache.

Anyway, I want to keep you all up to date on my reading progress. As entertaining as John’s bookish adventures were, I intend to consume my tomes in more conventional fashion.

May was a rather dry month, though not as dry as April.

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Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Life Together. 1939. Translated by John Doberstein, 1954.

An excellent read. Not my first Bonhoeffer. I fell in love with the writing of this pensive theologian in Discipleship, probably the best book written in German in the 20th century.

Here, Bonhoeffer discusses the reality of Christian fellowship even when it is invisible. In free society, we conflate the luxury of frequent and public assembly with brotherhood, although the latter exists independent of our ability to be physically present.

I found this book to be very thought-provoking, especially in light of the realities of Christian life in countries like Iraq or Sudan, where there are often no believers with whom to assemble—even if it were safe to do so.

In his discussion of worship, he makes an argument for the value of unaccompanied, congregational, unison singing. I’ll probably discuss this in another post.

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible. 1940. Reprinted, Minneapolis: Broadleaf Books, 2022.

Short and sweet. Fits well with Life Together.

Bonhoeffer suggests that the Psalms are best understood from the lens of Christ. That is, we will understand them more deeply by reading Jesus as the psalmist rather than David. Obviously this has limitations (e.g., Ps 51 (50 LXX)), but it’s a framework I’m willing to consider.

Chesterton, G.K. The Man Who Was Thursday.

Chesterton is always a delight, of course. This book is a mystery/thriller and it certainly keeps you on your toes . . . even though you suspect you know the truth.

Although it is clearly a Christian allegory, this book still feels like a real story. Lewis learned from the best.

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Read well and read often, my friends. And remember,

“The books that influence the world are those that it has not read.”

G.K. Chesterton

‌Your friend,

Andrew