What follows is my plan for reading in 2015. The key word here is plan. With our first child due in June and my current job ending around the same time with no idea what’s next, we’ll see how things go.
For most of the last 4.5 years I’ve been working, taking seminary courses, and teaching regularly in our young adults groups in Beijing and Jakarta. For six months in the middle I was a full-time seminary student. That hasn’t left much time or mental energy for non-required/non-teaching prep reading. Now that I’m done with seminary and taking an indefinite break from weekly teaching I’m looking forward to doing some personal reading again.
I’m planning to follow a schedule of daily reading and weekly reading that should amount to about an hour a day. The plan is as follows.
Daily Reading
I’ll follow Denny Burk’s daily Bible reading plan. This plan goes straight through the Bible, reading three or four chapters a day. He schedules catch up days throughout the year, so if you miss a day or two you’ll have some opportunities to make up the missed days without doubling or tripling one day's reading.
I’m also going to try to follow Burk’s Greek New Testament reading plan. My Greek is not nearly proficient enough to read without major help, but fortunately Logos Bible software can help me with the time consuming task of identifying words. The plan involves reading one chapter a day in Greek and also leaves a number of catch-up days throughout the year.
I also plan to read one chapter of Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion every day. I’ve been a “Calvinist” (soteriologically) for several years now, but this will be the first time I’ve read Institutes. Earlier this year I wrote a short biography of Calvin for a Church History class, but like most Calvinists, I became one not by reading Calvin, but simply by reading the Bible.
Weekly Reading
Monday - On Mondays I plan to read one or two chapters of Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology. I read Grudem for my seminary courses 3-4 years ago, so this will be a refresher.
Tuesday - Most Tuesdays I will read the chapter of Gregg Allison’s Historical Theology that corresponds with the chapter of Grudem I read the day before. Allison’s book examines the history of the doctrines covered by Grudem rather than being a chronological history of the church. The book is only 33 chapters, so some Tuesdays I will read something from the Wednesday-Thursday list.
Wednesday and Thursday - Wednesdays and Thursdays I will plan to read 20-30 minutes of a scholarly work on issues or Bible passages that are of interest to me. The list so far, in no particular order:
- From Heaven He Came and Sought Her: Definite Atonement in Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective by Various Authors
- Canon Revisited: Establishing the Origins and Authority of the New Testament Books by Michael J. Kruger
- The End of the Law: Mosaic Covenant in Pauline Theology by Jason C. Meyer
- The Lord’s Supper: Remembering and Proclaiming Christ Until He Comes by Thomas R. Schreiner & Matthew R. Crawford
- The Messianic Hope: Is the Hebrew Bible Really Messianic? by Michael Rydelnik
- Sermon on the Mount: Restoring Christ’s Message to the Modern Church by Charles L. Quarles
Friday - On Fridays I plan to spend 20-30 minutes reading the writings of the church fathers. I'll start with Volume One of the Ante-Nicene Fathers which includes the writings of Clement of Rome, Mathetes, Polycarp, Ignatius, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus. The church fathers didn't get everything right, but understanding the history of the church is of great importance. The church has been working through theological and cultural issues for 2,000 years. It would be foolish to ignore that history.
I'll leave Saturday and Sunday open in case I miss a day or two during the week.
So, that’s the plan. I hope to share some of the things I’m learning here on the blog.
What’s your plan for the coming year?
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