My friend Glenn has advice on Disciplined Reading. Check out his 75 books that have powerfully influenced him.

Here are the books I’ve been working on in August:

• Beyond Creation Science — by Timothy Martin and Jeffery Vaughn. A good Biblical analysis of young-Earth creationism mixed with a “Jesus has already returned” eschatology (full preterism).
• The History of the Ancient World — by Susan Wise Bauer. I’ve been in this book all summer, and am up to the Assyrian conquest of Egypt.
• Dune — science fiction novel by Frank Herbert. The book is interesting for its perspectives on ecology as well as its plot and imagination. “You cannot go on forever stealing what you need without regard to those who come after.” (Kynes having a delusion of his father lecturing him as Kynes is dying in the desert)
• The Apocrypha — Though not considered to be Scripture by Protestants, these Jewish writings fill in the historical gap between Old and New Testaments. These books were included in Luther’s German Bible and in the 1611 King James Version. This month, I read the additions to the Biblical book of Daniel, which are valuable stories even if they are not part of Scripture:
  • The Song of the Three — Contains the supposed prayer of Abednego in the furnace, as well as a psalm of praise sung by the three when they were delivered.
  • Susanna — Daniel’s wisdom rescues a “very beautiful and devout woman” named Susanna from her lustful, false accusers. This story is chapter 13 of Daniel in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles.
  • Bel and the Dragon — Daniel shows the king that it is the priests of the Babylonian god Bel, not Bel himself, who dine on offerings placed before Bel’s idol. This story is added as chapter 14 of Daniel.

Grace and Peace

P.S. There is an edition of The English Standard Version (ESV) with Apocrypha. In this edition, the Apocrypha is after Revelation, rather than between the two Testaments where it is usually inserted. I have never seen a New International Version  (NIV) Bible with the Apocrypha. I’ve been reading the New English Bible with Apocrypha, which I picked up at a book fair for really cheap.