A Rector's Recommendations
Christians have always been a people of the book, in part because we have always been a people of the Word. Our God is a God who speaks, and we are created to hear His voice (through Word and Spirit) and then to respond; often in song, poetry, and theological reflection.
As part of our response, we are also called to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Indeed, the cultivation of the mind has a rich history in scripture. From Daniel studying pagan literature in the courts of Babylon, to Paul studying theology under the great rabbi, Gamaliel, we can see how God uses the minds and literary abilities of His people for His glory.
From a more secular perspective, we also recognize the sheer world-transforming power of the written world, for good and for ill. Writers have always been, in the words of Shelley, the ‘Unacknowledged legislators of the world.’
Or, as Arthur O’Shaughnessy put it in a poem about poets:
We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams; —
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.
With wonderful deathless ditties
We build up the world's great cities,
And out of a fabulous story
We fashion an empire's glory:
One man with a dream, at pleasure,
Shall go forth and conquer a crown;
And three with a new song's measure
Can trample a kingdom down.
And certainly throughout history we can see how the written word has the capacity to transform civilization in profound ways.
From the Torah and the New Testament, to the Koran and the Analects. From Plato’s Republic to Marx’s Communist Manifesto. From Shakespeare and Dante to Tolkien and Rowling. From Bronte and Hugo to Tolstoy and Dostoyevski. From Luther’s 95 Theses to Darwin’s Origin of Species. From the Gettysburg Address to the Letter from Birmingham Jail, writers have profoundly shaped the world.
My own personal spiritual journey has also been shaped by books to an significant degree, and as we move into a new season of ministry at Holy Comforter, I’ve wondered if it would be helpful to share the books that have most impacted me. Therefore, it is my goal to add one genre of recommended books to our website each month, throughout 2026.
​
In closing, I will here offer two caveats.
​
-
These are not by any means the ‘best’ books ever written, but simply the books that have most impacted and shaped my own spiritual journey. I don’t pretend to be well-read. I’m simply sharing what I’ve found to be meaningful.
-
By including a book in this list, I am by no means endorsing everything in the book. In the words of one of my seminary professors, the late Rev. Dr. Rod Whitacre, ‘I don’t agree with everything in any book, including the ones I’ve written.’ Obviously, we are all on a journey, continually learning and growing, and thus we should have the capacity and maturity to appreciate without requiring categorical approval. Thus, for example, many of the books on this list will be by non-Christian authors. Some of them will even be crass and vulgar. And yet all of them have helped me on my journey. I hope they will help you too.
One last observation and invitation: one of the best bits of good news when it comes to reading is that most of us have plenty of time!
As John Mark Comer has observed, ‘The average American reads two hundred to four hundred words per minute. At that speed we could all read two hundred books a year…in just 417 hours. Sounds like a lot, right? 417? That’s over an hour a day. But can you guess how much time the average American spends on social media each year? The number is 705 hours. TV … 2,737.5 hours.’
May we embrace the challenge and adventure of reading, as we love and glorify God with our minds!
​
- Fr. David Booman, Rector