I finished reading Cranmer by MacCulloch this morning thus finishing the second of three or four books I meant to read this summer. My next big project which I have already begun is a bio of Dieterich Buxtehude by  Kerala J. Snyder.

Cranmer is the second book by Diarmaid MacCulloch I have read. The first was his overview of Christianity: Christianity: the First 3,000 Years.  I have also watched his BBC series on Christianity.

I checked it out from a local library. I recommend all three. MacCulloch’s prose is elegant and engaging. He is a contemporary man and scholar. He combines the erudition of the latter and the wit of a good college classroom teacher.

Finishing Cranmer left me interested in learning more about the history of the Book of Common Prayer and England itself. I immediately turned to my charming little copy of the 1549 and 1552 Prayer Books and read Bishop Gibson’s introduction written in 1910.

After MacCulloch’s bio, Gibson’s description made excellent sense to me even if MacCulloch helped me tweak it a bit in my own brain.

This book by MacCulloch, The Later Reformation in England, 1547-1603, is sitting on the shelf at the Western Theological Library blocks from here. It’s a bit pricey online so I’ll probably get over there and check it out today.

I will definitely read more by MacCulloch and about MacCulloch whom I find myself fascinated with. Here’s a link to a recent interview which is on my lists to read:

The Oxonian Review » An Interview with Diarmaid MacCulloch

Today is the day of the annual Hatch reunion.  After Eileen gets up (she has been sleeping in pretty regularly), she and I will brave the Farmers Market and purchase something to prepare and take to the reunion. Then we will brave the damn traffic between here and Whitehall which is complicated today by the Coast Guard Festival in Grand Haven.

I got the brilliant idea yesterday that one way to get my book collection back on the shelves and in order would be to cull it of the silly stuff. I found a couple dozen books that I know I don’t want any more and started a stack for Bibles for Mexico.

I’m also encouraging Eileen to spread her workroom over both of the extra bedrooms upstairs. She is crammed into one right now. I think it would be better if she had more room. She is thinking about it.

Arab Leaders, Viewing Hamas as Worse Than Israel, Stay Silent – NYTimes

Just got around to reading this article. I have been understanding the Middle East Crisis differently since thinking of the fact that Egypt clamped down on the smuggling into Gaza that was an important source of supplies and also people going back and forth. This doesn’t get mentioned much and neither does the idea that there is a lot of complicity in Israel’s approach to Hamas in the Arab community.