The Best Christian Writing 2002 [Paperback]

John Wilson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 26, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0060094834 | ISBN-13: 978-0060094836 | Edition: 2002

This year's volume brings together an elegant and engaging array of essays by Christian luminaries tackling relevant issues. These writers distill the riches of belief into lucid explorations of faith and truth, reflecting the many dimensions of Christianity in the new millennium. Including such diverse and distingushed voices as: Frederica Mathewes-Green, who wrestles with some of the negative results of feminism in "Three Bad Ideas for Women and What to Do About Them." Richard John Neuhaus, examining the tensions and richness of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity in "Salvation Is from the Jews." Barbara Brown Taylor, offering a meditation on the confluence of the holy and the unholy in our lives in "The Derelict Cross." Walter Wangerin JR., recalling the steady, unpretentious wisdom of his farmer father-in-law in "One Man on a Tractor Far Away." Philip Yancey, sharing his lifelong love of G. K. Chesterson in "The 'Ample' Man Who Saved My Faith."

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Feeling inspired by The Best Spiritual Writing series, John Wilson, an editor at Christianity Today, has assembled this impressive collection of standout Christian writing. Considering that some sociologists claim that there are roughly 1.8 billion Christians in the world today, Wilson acknowledges that it would be impossible to represent every angle of Christian vision within one anthology. Instead he gathered a collection of North American voices that reads like a classroom full of the best and brightest seminary students. Each essay and story has a unique personal history and point of view and yet they all have a common purpose--that of exalting, living, and illuminating the Christian path.

The big-name writers in the collection include Jean Bethke Elshtain writing on "Abraham Lincoln and the Last Best Hope," Harvey Cox's essay "The Market As God" (originally published in The Atlantic Monthly), and Eugene Peterson on "Wise Teachers, Sound Teaching." Unfortunately, this anthology leans toward the theological, with only a few essays sustaining a hearty personal narrative. As a result, some readers may find the overall package a little dry. However, connoisseurs of Christian writing will recognize the merits of these well-crafted and provocative essays. In fact, the anthology's strength lies in a very satisfying and familiar formula--one that has always worked for successful sermon writing--linking biblical stories with a smattering of personal anecdotes and then applying them to our collective modern dilemmas. --Gail Hudson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

As editor of the literary review Books & Culture, Wilson is well equipped to survey the world of Christian writing, and he has once again assembled a collection of essays that stimulates and surprises. The presence of writers like Walter Wangerin, Frederica Mathewes-Greene and Philip Yancey will be no surprise, of course, but other less well-known authors like Garret Keizer (The Enigma of Anger) and Sarah E. Hinlicky make equally graceful and compelling contributions. The writing is "Christian" because the writers are (with one exception, Amy Schwartz, an observant Jew who contributes a perfectly tuned updating of C. S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters); the topics range from teaching to farming, from birth to death. There may also be something distinctively Christian about the way that these essays fuse the written word with personal encounter. Yancey celebrates G. K. Chesterton, Joseph Bottum rereads Dickens; Hinlicky bids farewell to her dying grandfather; Sam Torode contemplates an ultrasound of his unborn son; Wangerin remembers his father-in-law, a lifelong farmer, and Gabriel Said Reynolds explores the faith of his friend Mojtaba, a Shi'ite Muslim. A few of the essays are systematically theological, but in most, Christian faith serves as a source of indirect illumination, equipping the writers to perceive deeply without introducing artificial glare and shadows. Christian readers will be heartened by this collection; others may be surprised at how universal the best Christian writing can be.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; 2002 edition (November 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060094834
• ISBN-13: 978-0060094836
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,733,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A mixed bag, as expected, October 14, 2000

By 

Tom Hinkle (Tulsa, OK USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best Christian Writing 2000 (Paperback)

It's difficult to review an anthology-type book like this because the quality (or, more precisely, the usefulness) of the articles vary greatly. The great majority of the essays included, although interesting, cannot be considered life-changing. But one essay, in my opinion, is worth the price of the book. "Jesus the Logician" by Dallas Willard could change (and enhance) the way one looks at the central figure of Christianity. Expounding on a theme introduced in his brilliant book "The Divine Conspiracy", namely, that Jesus is the most intelligent person who ever lived, Willard explores Jesus' use of rigorous logic, especially when answering the queries of his opponents. Indeed, a logical analysis of Jesus' sayings can be the key to their proper interpretation. To me, this article stands head and shoulders above the others.

Other worthwhile essays by other authors include "Wise Teachers, Sound Teaching", "Surprised by Death" and "The Market as God". Other entries, of which "The Recovery of Moral Agency?" is a good example, seem dry and difficult. Everyone will have their favorites in this collection, and normally such a mixed bag would earn this book three stars. But the Dallas Willard article gives this anthology a boost to the next level.

4.0 out of 5 stars mixed bunch, March 15, 2008

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[e-mail] "[e-mail]" (Beaumont, tx USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Best Christian Writing 2000 (Paperback)

There is no real surprise that this is a mixed bag of pieces. There are some really good ones, some really, really good ones, but there are also a lot of dull or pointless pieces. A lot of it comes across as dry, but hey, it is still worth the price. And it is a debut collection, and these always get better as time goes and the editor and others become more experienced.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Writings by Various Christians, June 20, 2003

By 

Allan M. Gathercoal "fdoamerica" (Norcross, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best Christian Writing 2002 (Paperback)

I took this book with me on a spiritual retreat hoping for fresh perspectives, inspiring insights and good, to great, writing. I was not disappointed. The book delivered essays that I would not have otherwise read. Many essays gave me pensive perspectives and prompted me to consider worlds that hithertofore did not exist.

Some of the selections are provocative; they shun being "politically correct" (Read Gilbert Meilaender's essay: After Sept. 11th.). John Wilson's, the editor, selections are broad and cover subjects that probably would have escaped your attention (Paul Elie's 'The Last Catholic Writer in America' for example).

The title of this book pressed me to ask two provocative questions: "What constitutes 'BEST' , and what constitutes 'CHRISTIAN'?.

Editors strive, one would think, for clarity among multiplicity. However, John Wilson says nothing about his criteria for selecting the 'Best' 'Christian' essays. He chooses, and the reader is to accept, in a "fundamentalist" way (without questioning) his discernment.

I wanted to know how Wilson determines what is 'best'? The very word, 'best', by itself, implies a critical comparative judgement. Did Wilson, in his selections, hold these writers to the stellar scale of such 'Christian' writers as: Origin, Augustine, Luther, Bunyan, Kierkegarrd, Schweitzer, Bart, C.S. Lewis, Tolkien or Brueggemann (to name just a few)? Nothing is said.

Then there is the significance of the heavy laden word 'Christian'. I consider myself one (though others would contest this assertion). The word 'Christian' has substantial implications. To most in North America, 'Christian' implies, at the very least, a moral and spiritual value system. However, every 'Christian' tradition has a different take on this. Which tradition does Wilson tap for his guiding standards? Maybe Greek Orthodox? Catholic? Primitive Baptist? Pentecostal? Presbyterian? Lutheran? Episcopalian? Congregational? Unitarian Universalist? Or the Metropolitan Church? Nothing is said.

Also you read the various essays with no specific destination in focus. Normally, "Christian" writing exists to cause one to reflect, or consider, moral or spiritual issues. Most "Christian" writing has an agenda and often presses the question, "How shall we live" as 'Christian'? In this book, with its diverse subjects, you finish the book as you would a good bowl of vegetable soup, satisfied but without a sense of any distinct flavor.

Maybe a more accurate title for this book, maybe: 'Outstanding Writings by Various Christians 2002' I strongly recommend the twenty two essays in this for those who want a devotional that will take them outside of their norm. 4.5 stars