At the beginning of 2011, I made a resolution to read a book a week. As with most resolutions, it hasn't happened. But I am still striving to finish 52 books this year. Admittedly, some of those books I have read have been short books to help me reach that goal (The Final Question of Jesus - Joseph Stowell), but I try to balance those with books that I know going in are going to take me longer than a week to read.
This past week, I finally made the dive into the writings of John Dominic Crossan. His "God & Empire" is a Rob Bell-recommended book (a great resource that I would love to provide you with a link to, but I can't find it . . . ) and so I found it for $6 and decided now was the time to jump in. For those of you unfamiliar with Crossan, his reputation is one of liberal scholarship at its finest. Christians recognize him as one of the lead voices of the Jesus Seminar, while the media recognizes him as one of the foremost scholars on the historical Jesus.
I don't know what I expected from a book on Christianity written by someone whose theology undermines (in my mind) the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth, but I was absolutely blown away by Crossan's writing. His synthesis of Scripture is phenomenal and his brilliance was evident. Even in the places where he lampoons conservative scholarship (and usually, rightly so), he came across as engaging and generous. I was reminded again why I believe so strongly in a God-follower's need to read books from across the theological spectrum. I don't agree with all (or even most) of what Crossan says, but I walked away with a deep appreciation of the diversity of the kingdom and the greatness of our God. Even the greatness of our Christ.
I'm still ruminating on much of what I read, as I imagine I will be for some time. But I'm pretty sure that this will not be the last JD Crossan book that I read. I hope it's not.
