Yet Another Book Notice

I guess November can be chalked up as a Duke month for my blog, as I have yet another post featuring a book by a Duke University professor. This book is a bit outside of my area of expertise, though still interesting. It is written by Grant Wacker, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Christian History at Duke Divinity School. If I'm not mistaken, he is a premier American religious historian, and I remember when I first got to Duke a few years ago, I talked with him for a while for a job as a research assistant that involved working on a book on Billy Graham. I should mention though that I did not get the job, but given my own area of interest that was completely incongruous with his project, he was still very gracious enough to meet with me and was great fun to talk to. Over four years later, his book seems to have come to completion with America's Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation (according to Amazon, published Nov. 7, 2014). If you're at all interested in modern American religious history, this is a book you want to pick up.

Rudolf Bultmann

One of my hobbies is reading biographies and it just so happened that I came across a recently translated biography¹ of a NT scholar from the early 20th century, so in this particular case, I get to double-dip in terms of my interest in NT studies but also my hobby in reading biographies. The person I am talking about is none other than Rudolf Bultmann (1884-1976). He is arguably the most influential NT scholar of the 20th century; among others he has published books on the development of the synoptic tradition (rigorously applying form-criticism),² theology of the NT,³ and a commentary on the Gospel of John,⁴ that still remain as important books for students of NT studies. I have worked through some of his commentary for a paper I wrote a while ago for a seminar on John, and while I sort of understood his well-known program of 'demythologizing' and his pioneering work in form-criticism, the biography does a good job filling out the portrait of a real human being who wrestled hard with questions posed by the text and the experiences of a person living in the world. Though keep in mind, much of what he has written and reacting against are issues that were at the foreground spurred on by the pains of modernity during the early-mid 20th century, but I think his writings are still interesting nonetheless. I will just quote one little snippet of something he wrote:

"The object of theology is God, and the reproach to liberal theology is that it has dealt not with God, but with human beings. God signifies the radical negation and cancellation of the human being; theology whose object is God, can on this account have only the λογος του σταυρου [message of the cross] as its content; but this is a σκανδαλον [stumbling-block] for the human being. Accordingly, the accusation against liberal theology is that it has sought to evade this σκανδαλον or to soften it."⁵

I'm only about 1/3 done (the biography is 536 pages!) but so far the book has done a great job opening up the mind and world of this fascinating figure of the early 20th century.

---

1 Konrad Hammann, Rudolf Bultmann: A Biography (trans. Philip E. Devenish; Salem, Or.: Polebridge Press, 2013).^↩
2 Rudolf Bultmann, History of the Synoptic Tradition.^↩
3 Rudolf Bultmann, Theology of the New Testament.^↩
4 Rudolf Bultmann, The Gospel of John: A Commentary.^↩
5 Rudolf Bultmann, "Die liberale Theologie," GuV, vol. 1, 2.^↩

Bio busts

Unfortunately, the two biographies I mentioned in an earlier post, on John Calvin and the other on Cicero, were not very interesting at all. They were dry, too detail-oriented, without giving any real insight to the unique personalities. The Cicero one was a tad bit better, but I eventually got bored of that one as well. To switch gears a little bit from famous political-historical figures, per a friend's recommendation, I am going to start reading the autobiography of the greatest college basketball coach in history (I don't think I'm biased here, even if UCLA is my alma mater), John Wooden. Another friend of mine had the chance to visit Coach Wooden at his home to take a portrait shot before he passed away, and told me what a gentleman he was. I'm not much of an autobiography fan, but let's hope it's better than the last two!

People's lives are interesting... to me at least (and hopefully to you too)

I'm not sure what it is, but I've always been very curious to learn the details behind the lives of figures in history. So, one of my reading habits is reading biographies of anybody I'm mildly interested in whenever I get the chance. I don't even recall what my first biography was, but thankfully, for the most part, I've enjoyed almost every single biography I've read to date. This past year, I've read a biography of the following (in no particular order):

George Whitefield

John F. Kennedy

Cornelius Vanderbilt

C.S. Lewis

Jesse James

George Eldon Ladd

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (#2)
Winston Churchill

George Washington

Cleopatra

Jonathan Edwards

Louie Zamperini
Alexander the Great

I admit, a couple of the books above I did not finish because they were not very good, but otherwise, the rest of them were fun to read. In terms of being the most compelling read, I'd have to say Metaxas' book was probably the best page-turner (despite the critique of some reviewers). And on the other hand, the Vanderbilt book lost a lot of steam as it continued and I basically skimmed the 2nd half... I'll be starting two biographies soon: one on John Calvin and the other on Cicero. Hopefully they'll be interesting reads.

My question to you is, do you like biographies? If so, what have you read that is worth reading? Any suggestions welcome!

Cursing?

Even though my main interest is in the New Testament and I spend most of my time reading books, journals, monographs, etc., about NT studies, I also enjoy reading biographies throughout the year to give my brain a break. In 2011, I've finished one on WWII, a short (saw the longer version and got intimidated... will probably read it later) one on Jonathan Edwards, and currently reading two others: one on Bonhoeffer and one on George Whitefield. George Whitefield has always interested me to some degree and reports of him preaching to thousands in open-air preaching without amplified sound piqued my skepticism as well as curiosity in what really happened in his life. Dallimore's two-volume biography has been pretty good so far, and I like how he includes excerpts from Whitefield's own writings. In one particular sermon, titled Cursing and Swearing, Whitefield writes (and preached):

"What shall we say to the unhappy men who think it not only allowable, but fashionable and polite to take the name of God in vain; who imagine that swearing makes them look big among their companions, and really think it an honour to abound in it. Alas! Little do they know that such behaviour argues the greatest foolhardiness and degeneracy of mind.
...Men dare not revile a general at the head of an army. And is the Almighty God, the great Jehovah, the everlasting King, who can consume them with the breath of His nostrils, and frown them into hell in an instant; is He, I say, the only contemptible being, that may be provoked without fear and offended without punishment?
No! Though God bear long, He will not bear always!..."

I suppose in some ways, Whitefield was ahead of his time, as it is virtually ubiquitous that you'll hear on a given day: "Oh my God!" or "Jesus Christ!" or the more modern adaptation, "Jesus H. Christ!"