Best Book I've Read in Years

I'm a professor, OK? (You already knew that.) And as a professor, I NEVER buy books in bookstores, unless there's a huge discount. I can get most books that I'm interested in for free (or at least at a big discount) from the publishers.

I read a LOT of fiction, but I get most of that from the Ashland library or via interlibrary loan. So I don't buy fiction books, unless I'm flying.

Anyway. Every time I buy books in a bookstore, I regret spending the money. I can get what I need elsewhere.

WELL. A couple of weeks ago, I bought a book at Barnes & Noble in Lexington. I paid full price. And I don't regret it a bit, because it's the best book I've read in years.

The book? N.T. Wright's Surprised by Hope. It's a popular (less scholarly, more readable) version of his massive The Resurrection of the Son of God. It's the perfect book to read as you prepare for Easter.

Wright's basic questions in the book are:

• What is the nature of the Christian's hope for the future?
• What should we believe about the second coming, our eternal destiny, etc.?
• What does Easter have to do with these other questions?
• What about (as Wright would say) "All this Left Behind nonsense"?

It's the best and most important book I've read in a LONG time. Every educated Christian needs to read this book. If you take my Theology class at any point in the future, expect to read this book. You WILL be blessed.

Book of the Year

I think the contest is already over. The best and most significant "theology for the undergraduate or the educated general reader" book of 2008 is N.T. Wright's Surprised by Hope.

It will be required in my Theology classes from now on.