The Weekly Wrap: August 9-15

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The Weekly Wrap: August 9-15

Reading Projects

Have you ever thought of reading through an encyclopedia, from A to Z? In 2004, A. J. Jacobs published The Know-It-All, chronicling his big project of reading through the 32 volumes of the print edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. I am reading the book, and while I haven’t gotten to the end of the book, it is apparent that he discovered that lots of factual knowledge is not the equivalent of wisdom. I liked browsing our family’s encyclopedia as a child, but reading through one? No way!

A reading project usually involves either a number of books or one very large and challenging book. For many, the ultimate challenge seems to be the reading of James Joyce’s Ulysses or Tolstoy’s War and Peace or Hugo’s Les Miserables. Frankly, I have no interest in Joyce, but Les Miserables is on my TBR. I’ve known some to take on a topic, like the biographies of the presidents or the English monarchs. Others like to read all the works of an author. One of my reading goals for this year is to read the major novels of Jane Austen.

It seems to me that one of the reasons to pursue a reading project is that you’ve found an author or topic you love and simply want to read as much on it as you can. However, there is a certain allure for some to read through a set, whether an encyclopedia, a multi-volume theology like that of Karl Barth, or The Great Books.

I have two reading projects that I hope to get to. One is to read the set of Balzac novels my grandfather collected and handed down to my mom, who loved reading them when she was young. The other is to read the three-volume Systematic Theology of Charles Hodge. I bought it from a retiring pastor forty odd years ago. So, maybe in my retirement I’ll get around to reading it.

In the end, what it comes down to is that there are so many good books to read. But we only have one life to read them. So the project is choosing those books that will mean the most to us, to read and re-read.

Five Articles Worth Reading

Do you like thrillers and mysteries? I certainly do. The New York Times just published “Readers Pick Their 100 Best Thrillers of the Century.” You’ve probably read some and might find some others that pique your interest.

Richard Russo grew up in a hardscrabble town and his books revolve around characters from these places. In “Hard-Luck Men in Hardscrabble Towns,” Mark Oppenheimer looks at the corpus of his novels as well as reviewing the latest.

Many of us from the Vietnam era read Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Now Susan Farrell has written Vonnegut’s War: The Making of Slaughterhouse-Five looking back at Vonnegut’s World War II experiences as a P.O.W. and how they influenced the book. Here is the Publishers Weekly starred review.

Melanie Challenger has written what looks to be a fascinating book on human agency, Alive: The Hidden Intelligence of the Living World. She previews the book in “Where Does the Will To Live Come From… in Humans and Nonhumans Alike?“

“Wielding the Blue Pencil” reveals that British publishers only added editors to their staff after World War II. The article explores the reasons why publishers added editors and the relationships formed between authors and editors.

Quote of the Week

John Galsworthy explains why politicians in power don’t always advocate the same things they did when in opposition:


“There is one rule for politicians all over the world: Don’t say in Power what you say in opposition; if you do, you only have to carry out what the other fellows have found impossible.”

Miscellaneous Musings

“Jason Arday, Cambridge Scholar Who Resigned Under Scrutiny, Is Found Dead.” This story turned up in my email late yesterday. Police do not believe his death was suspicious. He was the youngest professor appointed at Cambridge but recently faced charges of plagiarism and of embellishing his resume. He resigned from Cambridge last week. Out of respect, I will not speculate, particularly because cause of death hasn’t been established and the investigations of the charges against him were ongoing at the time of his death. Very tragic.

This case also brings to mind authors rightly and wrongly accused of using AI generated text and not disclosing it. Recently, a novelist lost a $2 million dollar deal over such accusations. My son passed along this very helpful article: “You Will Be Accused of Using AI. Here Is How to Prove You Wrote It.”

Earlier this year, Daniel Kraus’ Angel Down won this year’s Pulitzer Prize. Three hundred pages. One sentence. Andrew Krivak’s Mule Boy is not that extreme but I’ve counted a single sentence covering a least four pages. Can’t say that I’m a fan of this kind of writing. Probably too much training about run-on sentences! But probably no one challenged him for using AI to write it!

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: David Nasaw, The Wounded Generation

Tuesday: Christine Jeske, Racial Justice for the Long Haul

Wednesday: T.A. Gibson, A Wayfarer’s Poems: The Invitation

Thursday: Andrea Ferrari, The Fall and Redemption of Conscience

Friday: Andrew Krivak, Mule Boy

So, that’s The Weekly Wrap for August 9-15.

Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page.

Review: Paul’s Gospel in Romans

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Cover image of "Paul's Gospel in Romans" by Jarvis J. Williams

Paul’s Gospel in Romans

Paul’s Gospel in Romans, Jarvis J. Williams. Baker Academic (ISBN: 9781540963291) 2026.

Summary: Argues that Paul in Romans articulates a gospel with vertical, horizontal and cosmic dimensions.

Volumes have been written about Paul’s gospel in Romans. Some emphasize the vertical dimension of justification by faith, forgiveness of sins, reception of the Spirit and deliverance from God’s wrath. Others emphasize the horizontal dimension, including living righteously through the Spirit, in unity with other believers including between Jews and Gentiles. Yet others focus on the cosmic dimensions of the gospel, the deliverance of all creation from death, the resurrection of our bodies, and the new creation.

If Jarvis J. Williams were asked to choose which most faithfully describes the gospel in Roman, he would answer “yes.” In this book, he proposes that the best way to understand the gospel in Romans is that it is vertical, horizontal, and cosmic. All three are present. And by exegesis of selected texts, he shows how Paul elaborates each of these.

However, Williams begins by contending that we must first consider the “matters of first importance” that Paul elaborates in 1 Corinthians 15. These are Christ’s death for sins, bodily resurrection, ascension, and return. Then, before discussing the three dimensions in Romans, He shows how these “matters of first importance,” particularly the resurrection and death of Jesus in that order are present in Romans.

In introducing the three dimensions, he says they are interdependent but that the vertical good news is foundational. Williams then devotes one chapter each to the three dimensions. In each, he offers an extensive exegetical treatment of relevant texts.

For the vertical dimension, he shows the sinfulness of all humanity. Then he discusses justification, forgiveness, deliverance from wrath, and reconciliation. All are aspects of the gospel. Under the horizontal dimension, he shows how the Spirit transforms us to live lives of sacrificial love. He also renews our minds. Lastly, he restores relationships across all boundaries. Paul’s cosmic gospel is one of liberation for all creation that is subject to futility because of sin. As co-heirs with Christ, we await resurrection and the final defeat of death.

Williams offers a brief applicatory conclusion. He contends that we ought focus first on the matters of first importance rather than repentance in our proclamation. While we may not emphasize all the dimensions at any one time and must prioritize the vertical as the basis for the others, we have a great and expansive gospel to share. That was my takeaway from this book. We have a great gospel that touches every dimension of life and all of time and space. Furthermore, Williams show how all these dimensions cohere as one great gospel of the crucified, risen, ascended, and returning Lord. And he does all this in a clear and concise 144 pages.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Oh What A Day

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Cover image of Oh What A Day" by John B. Hatch, with Phil Keaggy

Oh What A Day

Oh What A Day, John B. Hatch with foreword and commentary by Phil Keaggy. Palmetto Publishing (ISBN: 9798318835919), 2026.

Summary: The background, composition, recording, and impact of Phil Keaggy’s debut solo album, a milestone in Christian music.

I come at this review from a unique perspective. Phil Keaggy and I both grew up in the Youngstown area. In 1970, he came to faith about the same time as I started following Christ. While I had heard of Glass Harp, the rock group of which he was lead guitarist, our paths first crossed at a Jesus rally on the front lawn of my church that might have been the launch of the local manifestation of the Jesus Movement in our area. On that Sunday afternoon, I spoke publicly about my faith in Christ for the first time. And Phil sang a song titled “The Answer” about how Christ is indeed the answer to all our searching.

Subsequently, he rented half of a duplex owned by an elderly woman from my church who lived at the other end of our street. I cut her grass and shoveled her drive and walks, which gave me a chance to make Phil’s acquaintance. This was about the time that he was leaving Glass Harp to go on his own. In the foreword to this book, Phil mentions recording the songs that would become “What a Day” on his Sony recorder. He played some of those recordings for me. I was in awe of both his guitar artistry and the beauty of the music. When the album came out, I snapped it up immediately. I still have it 52 years later and am listening to it as I write.

John B. Hatch, a retired communications professor and church mission also loved this album. This book is part of a larger project, a case study of Phil Keaggy’s career as an analysis of using music to “communicate spiritually and theologically.” But his study of “What a Day” was lengthy enough that he turned it into a book of its own.

As alluded to above, “What a Day” was Phil Keaggy’s first solo album, recorded in 1973. The ten tracks on the album were recorded at a cost of $1800, paid by a generous donor. Phil Keaggy plays all the instruments on this album. An interesting side note was that Gary Hedden, the recording engineer for the album came to faith in the process. After being rejected by several Christian labels, it was released in 1974 under New Song, a label launched by Christian disc jockey and leader of the Love Inn ministry in upstate New York.

John B. Hatch has researched the background of this album and the musical influences evident in the recording. Furthermore, he devotes a full chapter to each of the ten tracks on the album. Each chapter consists of three parts. First, Hatch gives us an initial description of the track and the musical elements and lyrics and how they work together. Then he offers a “Musical Deep Dive” walking through the track, looking in detail at key changes, providing transcriptions of interesting details, and other elements of Phil’s compositions and how they were recorded. Hatch also includes a helpful glossary of musical terms that he uses throughout the book. Finally, Phil offers his own reflections on the inspiration of the song, how he wrote it, recorded it, and its impact in performances. Hatch recommends listening to each track before and after reading each chapter, which I found helpful.

I’ve listened to this music for over fifty years. Yet Hatch helped me appreciate details of Keaggy’s musical genius I had missed. For example, in the opening track, he notes the acoustic and electric guitar octave descents that open “That is What the Lord Will Do for You” and how octave descents and ascents convey the joy of new life in Christ in the same way as the octave descent in “Joy to the World.” He writes:

“The timbre of acoustic guitars creates an intimate feel, while the regally marching low notes and briskly dancing high notes evoke majesty and celebration together, foreshadowing the sublime yet accessible music to follow. What a perfect introduction for a song (and album) about God who graciously ‘gives life to all mankind.’ “

The “deep dives” identify influences as diverse as Bach and The Beatles, including classical guitarist Julian Bream, whose records Phil played for me.

Hatch also helped me see two things about the album as a whole. While not conceived as a concept album, there is a seamlessness of flow from one track to the next, yet the tracks were only sequenced after the recording process was complete. He says the album “functions less as a collection of songs than a deeply immersive experience, a cohesive journey through the Spirit-saturated world of a young artist….” He also notes how the two sides on a vinyl recording focus on witness (side A) and worship (side B).

Hatch also addresses something I notice as I listen fifty years later. The lyrics are actually quite simple. However, what Keaggy manages to convey through the sheer musicality of the album transcends what the lyrics look like on paper. For example, “Hallelujah” consists of just that word, and yet leads the listener into exultant praise.

From my own background, I felt John B. Hatch characterized both Phil Keaggy and “What a Day” as I remembered them. But he also deepened and renewed my appreciation for music I hadn’t listened to for some time. There are both YouTube and a special 50th Anniversary recording available if you missed out on buying the album. If you love Phil Keaggy’s music, it will only enhance your appreciation. It certainly did for me.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Guards! Guards!

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Cover image of "Guards! Guards!" by Terry Pratchett

Guards! Guards! (Discworld 8)

Guards! Guards! (Discworld, 8), Terry Pratchett. HarperCollins (ISBN: 9780063373761) 2024, first published in 1989.

Summary: When a secret society summons a dragon to get rid of Ankh-Morpork’s Patrician, the Night Watch gains a new sense of purpose.

Carrot Ironfoundersson is an orphan raised by dwarfish parents. But he’s human, even though he has tried to fit into the society of the dwarves. So they send him off to become a guard in the Night Watch. He’s a strapping young man with high ideals who has learned the laws of Ankh-Morpork. But his idealism is quickly put to the test. The Night Watch consists of just two officers and Captain Vimes. They have reduced the job to announcing all is well and avoiding trouble, as well as copious drinking.

Meanwhile. a secret criminal society has plotted to replace the Patrician, who runs Ankh-Morpork with a figurehead they can control. To do so, they have stolen a book from the library of the Unseen University, incensing its orangutan Librarian, who goes to the Night Watch. The book is about summoning dragons. The first hint of the secret society’s success comes when some criminals go up in smoke, leaving a pile of ashes. Captain Vimes connects these events to the theft of the book, concluding a dragon is on the loose. So he consults Ankh-Morpork’s resident expert on dragons, Lady Ramkin. She raises swam dragons, a miniature form. She even bestows the runt of the litter, Errol on the Captain. Errol proceeds to eat everything in sight.

But the big dragon is wreaking extreme havoc on the city and the Patrician asks his neglected Guards for help. But help comes in the form of a young champion, who gestures to do battle with the dragon and, poof, it is gone. They lock up the Patrician while they prepare to crown the champion as king. But Captain Vimes is suspicious. Dragons don’t just go poof. As it turns out, the conspirators are poor wizards and leave a way for the dragon to return. And it does with a vengeance. It makes itself king and demands a hoard.

The Night Watch, once lackluster, now has a renewed purpose. And Carrot’s idealism gradually infects the others. But how does one defeat a dragon when the odds are a million to one against them? It turns out those are the right odds. And Errol, the odd little swamp dragon plays a starring roll.

And the moral of the story: don’t summon dragons unless you are very sure of what you are doing and read all the instructions!

Review: The Black Agenda

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Cover image of "The Black Agenda" edited by Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman

The Black Agenda

The Black Agenda, Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman, ed. Foreword by Tressie McMillan Cottom. St. Martin’s Press (ISBN: 9781250276872) 2022.

Summary: Black thinkers in various fields make recommendations to combat racism and promote needed societal change.

The year of 2020 brought COVID, which had a disproportionate impact on Black communities, and the demonstrations following the death of George Floyd, asphyxiated by a Minnesota police officer. Despite the election of a Black president, it was clear that the structures of a racialized society endured. In the wake of that, this book was written, an effort of Black scholars and leaders in a wide array of fields. These included climate, healthcare and wellness, education, technology, criminal justice, the economy, and public policy. In all, thirty scholars contributed essays framing in brief proposals to address the impacts of racism in their area of work. The contributors did not aim for exhaustive nor bandage solutions. Rather, the book represents the thought of Black experts to offer ways forward from within the Black community that honor Black identity.

The essays on climate focus on the special vulnerabilities of Black communities to extreme weather as well as integrating climate concerns with other pressing issues. Also, the special vulnerabilities of Black communities argue against an #alllivesmattering approach to the environment. Finally, a representative of the Black Queer community advocates for greater visibility for the sustainability efforts that have characterized that community.

Under healthcare, essays focus on public health efforts that reflect racial awareness as well as recruitment of more Blacks to work in the health system. On a different note, the concluding essay advocates for the formal recognition and support of careworkers, many unpaid. The essays on wellness focused on interventions that promoted preventive wellcare. This includes prenatal and infant care, disability initiatives, and mental health services. Finally, the cofounder of Health in Her HUE writes about technology focusing on the health needs of Black women.

The essays under the education section were among the most wide-ranging. Specifically, topics included COVID educational environments, expectations for Black girls, and the representation of Blacks in children’s books. Advanced education included consideration of the effects of automation on students at HBCUs and student debt on wealth building.

Under technology, one of the essays discusses bias against Blacks in facial recognition and other technologies. In addition, there is the matter of algorithmic discrimination. Finally, there are ways artificial intelligence is defined and implemented that harm marginalized groups.

The opening essay under the criminal justice section argues for increasing diversity of police departments and other measures to diminish the contentious relationship police have with Black Americans. One essay argues for alternatives to our system of incarceration, the largest such enterprise in the world. Then, the following essay considers the impact of incarcerating Black men on women and families. The final essay focuses on the particular relationship between queer Blacks and the police.

The section on economics begins with an essay on the monetary policies of the Federal Reserve and how they impact Black workers. The next essay recommends the use of stratification economics to best understand Black economic realities. Finally, two women advocate a framework that pursues economic recovery through uplifting Black women.

The public policy section opens with advocacy for voter mobilization. This is complemented in the next essay by advocating the role of policy wonks alongside activists and organizers. The next essay argues we can ino longer neglect the Black rural South in the pursuit of justice-centered policies. The final essay argues for an Economic Bill of Rights.

The political climate in 2026 is very different from 2022. But this, to me underscores the importance of the book. By and large, these people are not often at the table. Often, the “table” doesn’t even recognize there are Blacks with expertise to contribute. My hope is that a more enlightened day will come, when decisions are not made for Blacks but with them, listening to what they would contribute. This book represents an example of the scholarship, expertise, and insight that this community brings.

Review: Christians Reading Classics

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Cover image of "Christians Reading Classics" by Nadya Williams

Christians Reading Classics

Christians Reading Classics, Nadya Williams. Zondervan Academic (ISBN: 9780310171072) 2025.

Summary: A reading guide to the Greek and Latin classics and why Christians should read them and how they may benefit.

There has been a renewed interest in the Greek and Roman classics, fueled in part by Great Books programs, homeschoolers, and private classical education. The recent Christopher Nolan rendering of Homer’s Odyssey, and the associated sales of The Odyssey in translation have further fueled that interest. It seems that there is an awakening to a cultural heritage of which many of us are ignorant.

But why should Christians read these works, written by writers who were mostly nonbelievers? And if we choose to do so, what benefit may we hope for? Furthermore, is there a guide Christians might use to selecting, reading, and reflecting upon these works? Nadya Williams’ Christians Reading Classics is that guide. And she offers good reasons for why we might read and benefit from such reading.

Here are three that Williams proposes.. Firstly, reading these texts will enhance our joy in scripture. As we see the challenging questions these writers beautifully address, we come to appreciate the ways scripture address those deep questions. Secondly, when we read these texts we understand the world of thought and art of the first Christians. And thirdly, many of these texts were used in character formation, and we may benefit, enrich by the gospel and the Spirit.

Williams organizes the book more or less chronologically into five parts. “Longing for Eternity” considers that longing in the works of Homer, Hesiod, the Odes of Pindar, and in historians like Herodotus and Thucydides. “The Formation of Virtuous Citizens” explores the ever present tension between the individual and the state. Williams reflects on how this parallels our striving for autonomy versus trusting God. She introduces us to Aeschylus, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Euripedes, Plato and Aristotle.

“Words of Power and Power of Words” develop the classical focus on training in rhetoric, used for everything from manuals to politics, as well as the love poets. We meet Cicero, Caesar, and Ovid, among others. Then Williams turn to “Heroes and Role Models.” She introduces us to Cato, Livy, Vergil, Tacitus, Suetonius, and Petrarch. Finally, “Virtues and Vices in the Age of Anxiety” consider those writing in the wake of Rome’s decline and fall. Here we encounter not only Marcus Aurelius and Apuleius, but also the response of Christians including Augustine, Prudentius, and Boethius.

Throughout, Williams offers background, synopses of books and reflections on themes. At the conclusion of each chapter, she offers brief reflections her perspective as a Christian on the particular classic works. Each chapter concludes with recommended translations and several reflection questions.

While scholarly, Williams relates topics to contemporary life and sometimes with a bit of tongue in cheek, as in this description of Ovid, the love poet:

“While reading these poems, we can imagine Ovid as an immature emo youth of a very modern sort who lives in his parent’s basement, mooched meals and snacks off them, plays the dating scene, and refuses to get a job, all while he tries to catch a break in his writing career.”

She also describes her husband as an example of a successful courtship letter, an example of rhetoric well-used!

She concludes with comments on the joys of re-reading, with the hope that these works become friends. But what she also does is introduce many to our first readings in the classics. Finally, she suggests that as we do so and make these works our friends, we, like C.S. Lewis may be “surprised by joy.”