Saturday, July 07, 2007

looking at a Book Catalog and thinking UUCF

I got a copy of the Abingdon Press Fall and Winter 2007/8 Trade Catalog ("Trade" in this case means for retailers and librarians). Abingdon is an United Methodist imprint. And they have Study Bibles, books on theology, hymnals, children's books, sunday school books (including "One Room Sunday School") books for youth - including theology, DVDs for youth, Adult Sunday School Material including DVDs,
Some of this looks very good: such as Adult studies on Hospitality, Forgiveness, Discernment, and Intimacy,and death and dying. "How to act like a Christian". Some look disappointing: The "Christianity Family Tree" mentions many of the current Christian traditions, but liberal Christians arent mentioned in the title of the sessions. There is even "Preaching Annual 2008" which sermons to print out - apparently one for every week of 2008!
Now the UUA catalog is fine, but it's small, and lacks many of these type resources and themes (hard to believe the UUA is that far behind in DVDs....) And as I was looking at these books, I wondered ... what would be right for UU or other liberal Christians?
So, I thought this would be a good starting place to ask:
What books are good for UU Christians? and by that I mean those who are mostly unitarian and universalist - who spent more time with the words in red in the middle, and less with the stuff at the begining and end....(knowing that there are UUs Christians who arent unitarian or universalist or even thiest). These books must be "in print"!

Please add or link by including the book and why, dont just say "Books by Borg" - say which ones and why.... write like you're trying to sell the book to other UUs.


Let me start by adding:
Christian Voices In Unitarian Universalism (2006) Editor: Katleen Kolenz
15 personal stories by those who heard Jesus while being UUs, and their joys and sorrows while doing so....

4 comments:

Mama G said...

Steven, you are barking up my tree here. I have been on a quest to find Christian books to feed my own UU Christian need. I will have to gather my thoughts (and books) and post again with details. While it is hard to find UU books with a Christian message (as opposed to books *about* Christianity), I have found books from other liberal Christian denominations (like Episcopalian, Disciples of Christ, United Church of Christ, etc.) which I think UU Christians would really enjoy reading.

More from me soon...

Anonymous said...

and I've found a couple things from the Church of the Brethren and the Mennonite Church (that once I re-read them) might be appropriate --

and of course, lots of books that are over 50years old .... (and of course, I have lots of denominational histories)

The UUA is small and it's not difficult to see why they wouldnt have that many of these sorts of books that they published....

PeaceBang said...

Thomas Harpur's book "For Christ's Sake" is old by now and perhaps supplanted by things like "Meeting Jesus Again For the First Time" by Marcus Borg, but it changed my life and sent me on the Christian path in the 1980's. Both of these very fine books do a great job of addressing Christian doctrine point by point and providing a liberal Xtian perspective on each.

Steven Rowe said...

I have to admit that Bruce Bawer's STEALING JESUS(1997) was the book that tipped me over back to liberal Christianity (of course when I was in it before I didnt know it was liberal).

I have most of the "recent" and many of the "ancient" pro books on Universalism, right now, I'd say that Ken Vincent's THE GOLDEN THREAD is the best on tying scripture with an eye for contempory popular writing styles.