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UCF Reading Challenge | Engage theologically to transform spiritually

Being college students, we are all supposed to read...a lot. For those of you who want to read more, or just want to read more importantly, we have set up the UCF Reading Challenge. It’s really not a challenge, but rather a list of really good books to enhance your walk with Christ.

Summer Reading 2008 List

Level I : Easy Read

Books that are good, but don’t require a heavy thought process

Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith

"This book is for those who need a fresh take on Jesus and what it means for us to live the kind of life he teaches us to live," writes Rob Bell. "This pursuit of Jesus is leading us backward as much as forward ... I am learning that what seems brand new is often just the discovery of something that has been there all along---it just got lost somewhere and it needs to be picked up, dusted off, and reclaimed." Velvet Elvis offers original and refreshingly personal perspectives on what Christianity is really about.

Level 2: Progressed

Involves more thought than level I, but still introductory in nature

Everything Must be Changed: Jesus, Global Crisis, and a Revolution of Hope

In Everything Must Change, Brian McLaren asks "Shouldn't a message proclaiming to be the best news in the world be doing better than this?" In this provocative and unsettling work Brian expounds upon a form of Christian practice that is holistic, integral and balanced, ultimately offering good news to both the living and the dying by declaring God's grace at work both in this life and the life to come. Open your heart to this essential message and see why it is being called McLaren's most important work to date.

Level 3: Advanced

Theological consideration is advanced - seminary level

Always Being Reformed: Faith in a Fragmented World

This second edition of Shirley Guthrie's classic work includes new essays by three distinguished theologians who explore and respond to Guthrie's central question: "How can Christians maintain their identity in a pluralistic society without becoming exclusive, intolerant, and irrelevant?" Together, these essays add even more depth to Guthrie's profound reflections on how the Christian community can be inclusive and relevant without losing its own authenticity.

Level 4: Innovative

Highly developed theological construct - divinity school, graduate study

Christ Is The Question

In this series of reflections on the mystery of Jesus and the questions that surround him, noted New Testament scholar Wayne Meeks (The Origins of Christian Morality) redirects the course of the Jesus debates. Insisting that we cease focusing on who the historical Jesus was and ask instead, "Who Is Christ?," Meeks demonstrates with electric and lucid prose that Jesus is not a permanent artifact whose precise nature can be traced back through history but, rather, a figure whose identity continues to emerge as contemporary persons engage him in their daily lives.