« Back to Issue 13

Ten Books I Would Save From the Flames

By Julian Reindorp.

This article allows me to rescue ten books from my blazing study. I am also allowed a Bible (NRSV) and a Hymn Book (Hymns Old and New, New Anglican Edition) of my choice.

Two commentaries - Dennis Nineham on Mark (Penguin 1963) sceptical, but packed with insights, and Diarmuid McGann's Journeying within Transcendence, The Gospel of John through a Jungian Perspective (Collins 1989) which is part commentary and part meditation.

Two other books on the Gospels - The Shadow of the Galilean: The Quest of the Historical Jesus (Gerhard Theissen, SCM 1987) makes New Testament scholarship exciting and accessible, while Four Gospels, One Jesus? (Richard Burridge, SPCK 1994) sees the Gospels through their prologues and their symbols, but also emphasises their likeness to ancient biography.

On spirituality I read God of Surprises (Gerrard Hughes, DLT 1985) in its first edition and it has been a constant standby as have his other books. For Lent, Martin Smith's A Season for the Spirit (Fount 1991) is a yearly reminder of needing to befriend the selves within us, a book that people of all Christian traditions have valued.

For radical questions about mission and evangelism, I would rescue Christianity Rediscovered, An Epistle from the Masai (Vincent Donovan, SCM 1978) He had to rethink what the Gospel meant for the Masai in East Africa, resulting in a book that can change the way you look at mission. Then, to remind me of my theological training in India, a book that opened my eyes to Hinduism and inter-faith dialogue -Hindu and Christian in Vrindaban (Klaus Klostermaier, SCM 1969 and 1993).

I was born in South Africa, so Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom (Little Brown, 1994) says it all, while Trevor Huddleston's Nought for Your Comfort (Collins, 1958) reminds me of the man through whom I first heard the call to ordination. A photo of Trevor and Nelson Mandela shaking hands resides on my desk to this day.

Julian Reindorp is Team Rector of Richmond, Surrey and a member of the RBIM Board of Trustees.