Reading as a Spiritual Practice

Here at First Baptist Church, we believe that the ability to access and engage with the rich tradition of the written word is a blessing from God. This of course includes the Bible, but also the vast ocean of books we have come to hold near and dear. I (John Jay) am the one creating the majority of this list, since I sit most central in the teaching life of our church. It is helpful to see what kinds of writing have shaped my working theology. This is not an exhaustive list, and is constantly changing as our thinking enlarges in concert with our curiosity. We offer this list unlinked to any specific retailer, however, we do have a strong preference for Vroman’s, our local Pasadena bookstore. They can order any copy you see below.

The list in no particular order

The Gift by Lewis Hyde
This book has been through several rounds of publication by various names. It is one of my most treasured finds, and I have at least three copies in rotation at home and the office. When I talk about generosity, much of the language and understanding comes from this book.

To Bless the Space Between Us by John O’Donahue
This is the book we give to new members when we receive them during our liturgy services. A copy of this book is never far from my reach. So often when I am praying for someone, I find inspiration within these blessings. The last chapter is an essay on the lost art of blessing, which is a core practice of our community.

Writings on Reconciliation and Resistance by Will Campbell
I was introduced to Campbell’s work in graduate school, and it radically changed my self-understanding as a baptist pastor-in-training. Campbell’s own story intersected with mine in some surprising ways. He is from the same part of the American South that I call home, was hard to categorize within current ideologies, and was a trickster of the highest order. He has many books of essays as well as works of fiction and memoir. This collection of essays is a great primer on his work and thought. He is also a polemicist, so expect to be lovingly offended plenty of times.

An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor
This book is an invitation to rediscover the world around you as a place of spiritual practice. From learning about the importance of walking barefoot on the earth to the spiritual practice of saying “no,” this book is a gift in every sense of the word.

Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich
My friend Kevin would tell you that the “w” in Norwich is silent, so now you know. This is probably the first published writing from a woman written in English, and no matter what translation you read, find at least a snippet of the original text to experience the older forms of the words we now pass over as common. There is a delicacy to the original, and it is still comprehensible to the modern English reader. Julian is known for her famous saying from this same book, “all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” She lived in a time and place when all was very much not well, yet her faith and ecstatic experience took her right to the heart of God. There her visions were gifted to her and now to us, a glimpse into a brilliant understanding of God, suffering, hope, among so many other areas that still occupy our hearts and minds. During Covid I read a lot of Julian as a way to see through the fog of the immediate crisis.

The Writing Life by Annie Dillard
I have a practice of reading extensively in fields tangental to theology. This has served me well in expanding my imagination so when I come back to the Bible, I can see more than before. Annie Dillard is one of the most powerful prose writers I have encountered, so there is sheer joy in lingering on a sentence or two from her works.

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Really, you could put any of Morrison’s books on this list. I came across this novel when studying about the Powers and Principalities during graduate school. Morrison takes the principality of racism and builds a world around it, illuminated the insidious way that these powers bring death and despair in their wake.

An Ethic For Christians and Other Aliens in a Strange Land by William Stringfellow
I read this book about once a year, and it has become on of my core texts. His thesis could be stated this way: “Death reigns, and we are free from its power.” His writing style is challenging for some, with his love of insanely long sentences with a million clauses set end to end. But it is worth the struggle to allow the central ideas to form you.

A Feminist Ethic of Risk by Sharon Welch
This one is really niche, and I doubt everyone be able to make use of it. But for those of you who resonate with the core thesis, it is a strong read. Welch is considering ethics when outcomes are uncertain, offering a contrast to the ethic of control most often assumed when making choices in the world. I read this book as part of my training in the Powers and Principalities, which in large part sought to reframe what seems impossible in the realm of cultural and social change. When the challenges are as huge as the climate crisis, or institutionalized racism, the imagination can whither.

The Christian Imagination by Willie Jennings
Jennings taught a class based on this book that happened before after my preaching seminar when I was graduate student. I did not get to take the class, but my friends who studied with Jennings were forever changed. They would wander into preaching class with their hearts bleeding and their eyes wide. A couple of years after seminary I dove into Jennings’s work. He is probably the most powerful theologian writing in the West today. When we preached on the book of Acts, his commentary was my close guide. When studying a theology of race, Jennings is required reading.

The Five Books of Moses by Everett Fox
This is beautiful translation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, known as Torah or the Pentateuch. It is a very close rendering of the lyrical nature of the Hebrew, and its footnote and commentary bring fresh insights to familiar texts. My copy is falling apart from how often I reach for it.

God and World in the Old Testament by Terence Fretheim
Fretheim is one of my favorite writers on a theology of creation. This is a great overview of how essential a full view of creation is to the rest of the scriptures.

My Bright Abyss by Christian Wiman
Read it when you are sad, confused, in the shadow season. Read it when you are scared of dying (which is most moments of most days for most people). These essays are as beautiful as you will find, the writer being a poet whose body breaks and mends through his illness.

The Liberating Image by J. Richard Middleton
This book melted my brain the first time I read it. It recasts the idea the humanity is made in the image of God into a democratized understanding. Middleton has another book that should be considered, A New Heaven and a New Earth. This takes a look at the end of all things, and is also quite earth-shattering in its implication. It turns out that what we believe about how things began and how they might end can really help or hurt the way we inhabit our faith and this world.

The Supper of the Lamb by Robert Farrer Capon
Part recipe book, part meditation on existence. There is an entire chapter about the hidden meanings found when preparing an onion for the meal. For those of us starved for the goodness of God, this is a feast.