I’ve finally finished Tim Keller’s The Reason for God and I only say “finally” because I’ve had 10ish pages to read for the past week or so which is not only annoying but embarassing. I found the book very helpful especially the attitude and grace with which Keller approaches the issues many in his New York context find most difficult to deal with when thinking about Christianity (e.g., exclusivist claims).

Keller’s use of endnotes has led me on a quest to follow up some of the referenced material for further reading on topics of interest. Of particular interest was his reference to Miroslav Volf’s Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation, a book which I have since and currently checked out of the library. It speaks of the formation of identity based on excluding others and the need (read: Christian imperative) for reconciliation. This might be one that I just skim read to catch the gist of and survey for quotables.

On a slightly differerent note, I have categorized this post in the Reasons to Read section simply to point out the trail of further reading which footnotes can provide for the reader. The mention of Volf’s book above is exemplary. In reading The Reason for God I was intriqued by the thoughts of Volf which were being incorporated into Keller’s book and decided to look into them in more depth and ad fontes. The reason for reading here given then is that books are connected and one will lead you to another and seemingly ad infinitum. (OK, I’ve just ended two sentences in a row with Latin phrases. Anyways…) It would go like this: Read Keller’s The Reason for God. Find out about Volf’s Exclusion and Embrace. Read it and find out about blah blah blah, etc (et cetera? I’ve done it again). Maybe this is how you read books already or find what to read after you finish the book you’re currently reading, but the idea just kind of dawned on me while constantly flipping to the back of Keller’s book to take in the endnotes.

I was even thinking that it would be neat to set up a web site where people could see connections between books and get ideas on what to read after what. This could be computer-generated based on footnotes/references or user-submitted. But then again maybe it’s best to leave it up to the reader’s fancy to string books together which help maintain an interest in reading altogether instead of easing a reader into a rut. Rut notwithstanding, I reckon it could be a useful tool. So, let me make the first suggestion(s): check out Exclusion and Embrace after reading The Reason for God; other options include: Mere Christianity (Lewis) or Simply Christian (Wright), both of which are repeatedly referenced by Keller.

How do you figure out what to read after what? Can books be strung together?