Church History

Last night I finished: A People's History of Christianity, by Diana Butler Bass. I was amazed by the sweep and majesty of this book, and it was made all the more delightful because it was written by one of my seminary peers when I was a Duke. She wouldn't remember me, but then, no one would. I kept to myself at Duke, ate my sandwiches in the crypt below Duke Chapel, and talked only in Hebrew verbs and conjunctives. I wore my hair and beard long and used the restroom on the bottom floor of the library (for safety) in the event of a nuclear blast.

But Diana has a winner of a book here, and it is filled with many exciting and remarkable sagas of the faithful throughout two thousand years of history. Her author photo on the book jacket also reveals that she is beautiful, which may also be part of her varied successes as a writer and professor of church history. Me, I'm still trying to write a book that will sell enough copies for me to buy a 1979 Pinto and add it to my collection of junk automobiles.

Incidentally, my 1993 Chevy pickup stalled on the corner of 267-Northfield yesterday and it had to be towed. No problems. I'm used to walking. That's part of the history of my Christian faith. Having junk cars keeps me humble and in shape. I even put some extra steps on my little pedometer so my health insurance premiums won't sky rocket again.

Thanks, Diana, for writing a nice book. I'll keep it on my shelves and read it again very soon.