StephenBarkley.com

Tigana © 1990 Roc (Penguin) 673 pages With Kay’s pedigree, you know you’re in for quite a story. He worked with Christopher Tolkien in the editing of The Silmarillion. That says a lot: Kay is able to construct and integrate complex mythologies in a way that feels thoroughly realistic and natural. Tigana is more than [...]

I’ve been reading up on Ecclesiastes for the series I’m currently preaching. Michael Fox spends the first chapter of his book—A Time to Tear Down and a Time to Build Up: A Rereading of Ecclesiastes—explaining how interpreters have used various exegetical techniques to explain away the difficult and thorny issues the Qohelet raises in Ecclesiastes. [...]

Here’s one of those oh-too-true observations from the fine mind over at ASBO Jesus: True on many levels.

Encountering Ecclesiastes: A Book for Our Time © 2006 William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company 141 pages Ecclesiastes has long been one of my favourite book in the Old Testament. Limburg taught me why: Where, then, does the book of Ecclesiastes fit in? Someone once wrote that the writer of Ecclesiastes has “pitched his tent at [...]

Here’s a scene from Candide where two philosophers are discussing the joys of Pococuranté, a miserable critic: “But don’t you see,” answered Martin, “that he dislikes everything he possesses? Plato said a long time ago that the best stomachs are not those which refuse all food.” “True,” said Candide, “but still there must certainly be [...]

Hector Berlioz © 1967 The MacMillan Company 168 pages Seroff’s written an excellent biography of a very important Romantic composer. It’s the perfect length to learn enough about his life to make you feel like you understand him—while not growing bored by the minutiae that clogs many biographies. I’ve loved Symphonie fantastique for quite a [...]

Here’s an astute quote on church unity from Karl Barth, as quoted by Volf in After Our Likeness: The Church As the Image of the Trinity. If a man can acquiesce in divisions, if he can even take pleasure in them, if he can be complacent in relation to the obvious faults and errors of [...]

Kiss of the Fur Queen © 1998 Doubleday Canada Limited 310 pages I’m glad I picked this one up at the library instead of spending my hard-earned $32.95 on it. (Okay, I’m a pastor—some would debate “hard-earned”!) I know this is supposed to be a spirited tale of redemption, but it just felt tragic and [...]

Here is one of the best theological rants I’ve ever heard. Believe it or not, in After Our Likeness: The Church As the Image of the Trinity, Volf is defending a Free Church ecclesiology! Whether they want to or not, Free Churches often function as “homogeneous units” specializing in the specific needs of specific social [...]

My blogging adventure began in May, 2005 when I opened up a Typepad account and started writing bi-weekly devotionals on the book of Ezekiel. Our trip through Ezekiel ended 146 posts later in February of 2008. A few months after I finished with Ezekiel, I migrated from Typepad to a self-hosted WordPress account and expanded [...]