Open Circle Church
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Resources

Recommended Reading

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Following our monthly book club selections, books are listed under the topics of 1)Biblical Scholarship, Jesus & Early Christianity, 2, Progressive Christianity, 3)Spirituality, 4) Feminist Spirituality & Feminist Studies, 5) Ecology & Environment, 6) Gay/Lesbian, 7) Progressive Politics, 8) Enneagram, and 9) Bibles, Sacred Texts, Religious History. If you have a book to suggest, send us an email.
 

Biblical Scholarship, Jesus & Christianity

 
Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg
This is the most readable introduction to the thinking of one of members of the Jesus Seminar. For many Christians disenchanted with traditional claims about Jesus, this book has been the entryway back to a thinking but spiritual faith.
 
 

Jesus : A Revolutionary Biography , John Dominic Crossan
Crossan tells us what we can know about the social, political, and religious world of Jesus, and then paints a picture of Jesus as a Jewish peasant and political and spiritual revolutionary.

 
 

The Historical Jesus, John Dominic Crossan
Crossan takes seriously what history and the social sciences tell us about the poltical, economic, and religious time of Jesus. A more scholarly version of Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography.

  
Excavating Jesus: Beneath the Stones, John Dominic Crossan and Jonathan Reed
"Why did Jesus happen when and where he happened?" is the question that drives Excavating Jesus, a collaboration between the leading historical Jesus scholar John Dominic Crossan and noted Galilean archeologist Jonathan Reed. Excavating Jesus is a groundbreaking work of popular biblical scholarship, an extraordinarily mature and accessible integration of textual study with archeological research.

 
A Credible Jesus: Fragments of a Vision, Robert Walter Funk
Jesus saw the extraordinary in the ordinary. His extraordinary vision comes to us in bits and pieces, in random stunning insights, embedded in the everyday language of his parables, aphorisms, and dialogues. In A Credible Jesus, Robert Funk sorts and assembles these fragments and examines ways in which the vision they preserve can serve twenty-first century people searching for meaning in a very different world than the one Jesus inhabited. The results are both unsettling and reassuring. Robert Funk is founder of the Jesus Seminar and director of the Westar Institute.
 

Born Divine: The Births of Jesus and Others Sons of God, Robert. J. Miller
 In this compelling study of the birth and infancy of Jesus, Robert Miller separates fact from fiction in the gospel narratives and relates them to stories about the miraculous births of Israelite heroes and of Greek and Roman sons of God. Born Divine analyzes the Christian claim that the birth and childhood of Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. The historical and theological dimensions of the virgin birth tradition are discussed with honesty and insight. This wide-ranging book also presents additional infancy gospels from the second century through the Middle Ages.

Lost Christianities, Bart D. Ehrman
Ehrman looks at the variety of early Christian groups that did not survive the movement towards "orthodoxy." Each of these movements believed that they were being true to Jesus. Ehrman suggests that there was much more variety in early Christianity than our Christian scriptures and standard Christian history would lead us to believe.
 

 
Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas, Elaine Pagels
From Publishers Weekly: In this majestic new book, Pagels (The Gnostic Gospels) ranges panoramically over the history of early Christianity, demonstrating the religion's initial tremendous diversity and its narrowing to include only certain texts supporting certain beliefs. At the center of her book is the conflict between the gospels of John and Thomas. Reading these gospels closely, she shows that Thomas offered readers a message of spiritual enlightenment. Rather than promoting Jesus as the only light of the world, Thomas taught individuals that "there is a light within each person, and it lights up the whole universe. If it does not shine, there is darkness." As she eloquently and provocatively argues, the author of John wrote his gospel as a refutation of Thomas, portraying the disciple Thomas as a fool when he doubts Jesus, and Jesus as the only true light of the world.

 
Jesus Against Christianity: Reclaiming the Missing Jesus, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer
In this book, Nelson-Pallmeyer draws heavily on clues left by other Jesus scholars (Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, etc.) to find what was central to the life and thought of Jesus. He methodically argues that the Bible is full of contradictory and distorted images of God, and rife with stories attributing to God violence, abuse and murder. These images and tales must be jettisoned, for they conflict with the nonviolent God revealed in Jesus of Nazareth, who preached and worked against the domination culture of his era.

In Search of Paul, John Dominic Crossan and Jonathan L. Reed
Crossan and Reed examine the history and archeology of Paul's world and paint a picture of an apostle who challenged the empire of Rome with the radically different kingdom of Jesus.

The Rise of Christianity, Rodney Stark
Stark uses contemporary social scientific methods that describe how religious groups recruit and retain members to paint a plausible picture of how and why Christianity grew in the early centuries.

 
The God of Jesus: The Historical Jesus and the Search for Meaning, Stephen J. Patterson
This book explains the quest for the historical Jesus and how this quest has always been linked to the search for God. It presents a "Jesus theology" based on the life and teachings of Jesus. Stephen J. Patterson is a member of the Jesus Seminar.
 

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Progressive Christianity

Why Christianity Must Change or Die, John Shelby Spong
Spong refers to himself as a believer in exile. He believes the world into which Christianity was born was limited and provincial, particularly when viewed from the perspective of the progress in knowledge and technology made over the past two millennia. This makes any ideas or beliefs formulated in 1st-century Judea totally inadequate to our progressive minds and lives today. So Spong is in exile until Christianity is re-formed to discard all of the outdated and, according to Spong, false tenets of Christianity.

 
A New Christianity for a New World: Why Traditional Faith is Dying and a New Faith is Being Born , John Shelby Spong
This is a follow up to Why Christianity Must Change or Die. In this work Spong begins to spell out a positive vision for a progressive Christian faith.

Christianity for the Rest of Us, Diana Butler Bass
If you think that conservative evangelical churches are the only ones growing and thriving, this book will surprise you. Bass examines mainline progressive congregations around the country that are doing quite well by focusing on a lively spirituality, contemplation and prayer, social justice, diversity and more.
 

A New Spiritual Home, Hal Taussig
A new kind of Christianity is emerging at the grassroots. Full of heart-felt expression, artistic creatiivity, and liberal social values, progressive churches and small Christian communities are springing up and taking shape around the country. The author looks at many, describes what they have in common, and suggest how to start a progressive church.
 

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Spirituality

 
A Path With Heart : A Guide Through the Perils And Promises Of The Spiritual Life , Jack Kornfield
In undertaking a spiritual life, we must make certain that our path is connected with our heart, according to author and Buddhist monk Jack Kornfield. Since 1974 (long before it gained popularity in the 1990s), Kornfield has been teaching westerners how to integrate Eastern teaching into their daily lives. Through generous storytelling and unmitigated warmth, Kornfield offers this excellent guidebook on living with attentiveness, meditation, and full-tilt compassion.

 
Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice Of Vocation, Parker Palmer
The old Quaker adage, "Let your life speak," spoke to author Parker J. Palmer when he was in his early 30s.Thirty years later, Palmer now understands that learning to let his life speak means "living the life that wants to live in me." It involves creating the kind of quiet, trusting conditions that allow a soul to speak its truth. It also means tuning out the noisy preconceived ideas about what a vocation should and shouldn't be so that we can better hear the call of our wild souls. There are no how-to formulas in this extremely unpretentious and well-written book, just fireside wisdom from an elder who is willing to share his mistakes and stories as he learned to live a life worth speaking about.

 
Finding Your Own Spiritual Path : AnEveryday Guidebook , Peg Thompson
This is an excellent practical guidebook for exploring your own spirituality. The author assumes no particular faith commitment, but shows how spiritual experiences are a part of our every day world and spiritual practices can be developed to enhance our life journey.
 

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Feminist Spirituality & Feminist Studies

 
The Dance of the Dissident Daughter : AWoman's Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine , Sue Monk Kidd
Noted author Sue Monk Kidd traces her journey from being a traditional Christian with a traditional understanding of women's roles to her discovery of a vibrant feminism and the feminine divine.
 

 
Sophia : Aspects of the Divine Feminine Past and Present, Susanne Schaup
This work explores Lady Wisdom and Sophia in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures and Sophia's counterparts in other religious traditions. Dr. Schaup also examines the Goddess tradition as it appears in Christian mystics.
 

 
Feminist Theological Ethics : A Reader, Lois K. Daly, editor
This book articulates a range of feminisms (as well as womanist and mujerista perspectives) and a range of ethics that provides an excellent introduction to the discipline of social ethics.

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Ecology & Environment 

The Spirit's Terrain : Creativity, Activism, and Transformation, Christopher Childs
A former Greenpeace spokesperson and activist offers a way to draw on creative spirit and change the world.

 
Life Abundant : Rethinking Theology and Economy For A Planet In Peril, Sally McFague
This is a primer in theology that begins with taking seriously the needs of the planet.

 
Earth Community, Earth Ethics, Larry Rasmussen
Earth Community, Earth Ethics scans our global situation and brings into relief the extraordinary range of dangers threatening all life on our planet. Earth Community, Earth Ethics goes on to explore the worlds of religion, ethics, and human symbolism to glean from them the resources for a necessary "conversion to earth". Earth Community, Earth Ethics concludes by sketching a constructive ethic that can guide us out of our present situation. Earth Community, Earth Ethics builds on the foundations of international discussions of sustainable development and shows how the environmental predicaments underscores a variety of crisis afflicting modern industrial society in economics, politics, gender discrimination, and reproductive relations.

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Gay/Lesbian

The Loyal Opposition: Struggling With The Church On Homosexuality, Tex Sample, Amy E. Delong, editors
What are Christians to do who believe that homosexuals should be welcomed in the church? Should they leave? Should they keep quiet? This book argues that they should neither leave nor keep quiet but continue to work for change as the "loyal opposition."
 

 
Homosexuality and Christian Faith: Questions Of Conscience For The Churches, Walter Wink, editor
Some of the most prominent church leaders in America invite readers to open their hearts and minds "to the Spirit, to tolerance, and to Gospel values."
 

 
Is the Homosexual My Neighbor?: A Positive Christian Response, Letha Dawson Scanzoni, Virginia Ramey Mollenkott (Contributor)
A classic work of gay spirituality--newly revised to reflect today's issues, including gays in the military, the AIDS crisis, and genetic research on homosexuality.
 

Calling a Rainbow Nation Home, ET Sunby
Am I going to hell because I am gay? Is homosexuality a sin? Should I remain celibate my entire life? If you or someone you love is struggling with these issues, this book is for you. Follow Reverend Elaine Sundby’s journey as she takes us on her personal quest for truth and self-acceptance—a path that eventually led her to enter the ministry. Reverend Sundby was determined to discover God’s plan for her and equally determined to do what was right in the eyes of God, without taking “the easy way out.”

The New Testament and Homosexuality, Robin Scroggs
This is one of the best resources available about what the New Testament does and does not say about homosexualtiy.

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Progressive Politics

Engaging the Powers, Walter Wink
In this third and best book in his Powers series, Wink describes the violence that is inherit in our political system and offers a non-violent alternative. This is a basic primer in peace and justice studies.

God's Politics, Jim Wallis
Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners, challenges the religious right and the secular left to a spiritual politics that embodies the values of Jesus.

The Left Hand of God, Michael Lerner
Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun, challenges the secular left to take seriously the search for values and meaning in America, and not cede it to the religious right.

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Enneagram

The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective, Richard Rohr
Catholic spiritual writer Richard Rohr exlores the insights of the Enneagram from a Christian perspective.

Bibles,Sacred Texts, Religious History

The New Oxford Annotated Bible : With Apocrypha
New Revised Standard Version, paperback version. For over 40 years this has been the best Bible for scholars and serious students. With notes from top Biblical scholars and the most faithful translation from original sources, this is an excellent choice for adult study.
 

 
Good News Today English Version
This is a good selection for children. It continues to be revised to reflect modern English usage, making it easy to read. Yet, it remains faithful to the original languages.

 
Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations, Michael Sells, translator
This is the book that caused so much controversy at the University Of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when incoming freshmen were asked to read it. A group of Christians sued the University to stop the assignment. The book is an excellent introduction to Islam and the Qur'an.

The Great Transformation, Karen Armstrong
In the 9th century BCE, the peoples of four distinct regions of the civilized world each discovered a path out of the way of violence and destruction that was endemic in their worlds. These axial age movements laid the groundwork for our current religious traditions and their insights still speak. A very readable history of religions text.

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