Reading List – How to understand what is happening in Europe?

Recently, I gave a talk called “What is happening in Europe?“ Here are the slides, in Dutch.

We also crowdsourced a short list of some books and other resources. No attempt is made to cover these trends in great detail; these are some starting points for exploration. Enjoy the journey!

The trends are clustered as follows: 1 Liturgical Revival, 2 Intercultural Churches, 3 Intentional Communities, 4 De-Secularisation, 5 Paganism – Retro & Neo, 6 Freedom of Religion and Belief, 7 Nature vs Culture, 8 Glocalism, 9 Screen World, 10 Alternative Learning.

1 Liturgical Revival

  • C.S. Lewis, The Discarded Image, An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature
  • Hans Boersma, Heavenly Participation: the weaving of a sacramental tapestry
  • Timothy G. Patitsas, The Ethics of Beauty
  • Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World. Sacraments and Orthodoxy

2 Intercultural Churches

3 Intentional Communities

  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian in Community
  • Henri Nouwen, Community
  • Elizabeth Oldfiled, Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times
  • Paul Gutacker, Practising Life Together. A Common rule for Christian Growth

4 De-Secularisation

  • Charles Taylor, A Secular Age
  • James K.A. Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor

5 Paganism – Retro & Neo

6 Freedom of Religion and Belief

7 Nature vs Culture

  • Bruno Latour, We Have Never Been Modern
  • Martin Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology, and Other Essays
  • Paul Kingsnorth, Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist and Other Essays
  • John Moriarty, Nostos, An Autobiography

8 Glocalism

  • David Goodhart, The Road to Somewhere The New Tribes Shaping British Politics

9 Screen World

  • Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
  • Paul Kingsnorth, Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity
  • Nicholas Carr, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
  • Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism
  • Jaron Lanier, Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now

10 Alternative Learning

  • Zena Hitz, Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life
  • Alan Jacobs, Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader’s Guide to a More Tranquil Mind
  • Kyle R. Hughes, Teaching for Spiritual Formation: A Patristic Approach to Christian Education in a Convulsed Age

How to use this list? Select 1 to 3 books that pique your interest, ask 3 friends, and read together.

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