Post of posts

Suggestions for godly reading and listening

My dear readers,

I am grateful always for your attention to my scribblings and ramblings. You may have wondered where the ideas come from. To that end, I am devoting this post to a list of what I have been reading and listening to recently, for your persual and delight.

To read

Winters in the World by Eleanor Parker observes the cycle of the year in Anglo-Saxon England. Though not an explicitly Christian book, it does stealth evangelism by making the connection between the old ways of English country life and the Kalendar of feasts and fasts in the Church, expounded by selections of Old English poetry and prose. A good start for those seeking to “do a Kingsnorth” on English religion.  Mark Atherton’s Complete Old English has been helping me to go deeper into the language and literature.

I’ve long been a sucker for Le Carré, Lovecraftiana, and exorcist horror, but only in Declare by Tim Powers have I found a story where all three of those interests coincide. Weaving the stories of Kim Philby and Lawrence of Arabia, among others, into a global occultist plot involving fallen angels, Powers tells a tale which lives up to his name. One for relaxing with in summer.

Prompted by the Lord of Spirits podcast (on which more below), I’ve been reading the Bible from cover to cover and dipping into such Old Testament Apocrypha as 1 Enoch and Jubilees. Fr De Young’s Apocrypha makes for an excellent guide.

If you haven’t already read it, I would commend to you his Religion of the Apostles for prior reading. Drawing on the Second Temple tradition of Judaism and the work of the Church Fathers, De Young shows how the first Christians read Scripture, how they worshipped, and what they believed.

These books tie in well with the Orthodox Study Bible, which is full of notes and study essays, making it one of the best bibles I have come across for cover-to-cover reading: especially on an e-reader.

To listen

Speaking of Fr De Young, his Lord of Spirits podcast with Fr Andrew Damick is very erudite, for those with time to listen: the episodes are good for long journeys or sessions in the gym! It is basically an Old Testament podcast which brings out typological and symbolic elements very clearly. I’m currently listening to their exposition of The Devil(s). Good for debunking Milton.

Anglican seminarian and Cambridge PhD student Clinton Collister hosts a likewise erudite podcast from an Anglo-Catholic perspective. The recent episode on A Catholic View of Scripture with Brad East is well worth listening to, as are back episodes with Hans Boersma, Gerald McDonnell and George Westhaver. Dig deep enough and you’ll even find one with me on it.

On the subject of Scripture, we often think about the contents without giving too much consideration to the form in which they have historically been transmitted. A recent interview with Seraphim Hamilton on Jonathan Pageau’s ever-excellent Symbolic World podcast, The Symbolism of the Book, sets this right, exploring the metaphysical and symbolic implications of the transition from scroll to book, and the biblical symbolism of books themselves. Mark, learn, and inwardly digest!

One more: it’s not Prayer Book, admittedly, but when on the go, I have found this podcast of chanted Morning and Evening Prayer from the Catholic daily office very good indeed. Paul Rose sings the ancient chants in something of a modern idiom, adding a pedal-note “drone” to give it an Eastern flavour and introducing some folksy harmonies to the responses somewhat redolent, surprisingly, of Anglican chant. Fifteen minutes of this are fifteen minutes well-spent.

To do

That’s all from me for now, but may I make one request? No, not money (though any support of my ministry by writing is gratefully received). Rather, I would like you help me grow this list. If you know someone who is interested, please could you encourage them to subscribe? It is all I ask. Here’s a button:

Thank you for helping to spread what I hope is a deepening sense of God’s Word and work.

Yours in Christ

Fr Thomas