Short, Pithy, Deceased

Jake Bouma asked on twitter the other day:

“Friends: Suggestions for short (100-200pgs), pithy books by deceased theologians?”

Good question. I’ve been rolling this around a little while. Here are a few that come to mind. There are more of course, and I recognize some of the limitations of this list but these are the ones that have had some impact on my own thinking and practice over the last few years that fit the criteria.

  • Strength to Love, Martin Luther King Jr (a collection of his sermons)
  • Jesus and the Disinherited, Howard Thurman
  • Gravity and Grace, Simone Weil
  • Violence of Love, Oscar Romero
  • Body Politics, John H. Yoder
  • Biography as Theology, James Wm. McClendon
  • Testament of Devotion, Thomas Kelly

If you’re interested in finding these books online, I encourage you to shop at Powell’s Bookstore (rather than the conglomerates).*

What would you put on your list (And if not theology, from your own field of interest)?

 

*disclosure: I am an affiliate of Powell’s.

4 responses to “Short, Pithy, Deceased”

  1. Karl Barth, Evangelical Theology
    Karl Barth, Community, State, and Church
    Martin Buber, I and Thou
    Letters of Isaac Penington

    Vail Palmer

  2. Great list. I would add,

    Helmut Thielicke – A Little Exercise for Young Theologians
    Charles Taylor – The Ethics of Authenticity