Wendy tagged me in a meme about five books that changed who I am. The rules are:

• Tag between 3 and 5 people
• link back to this post.
• call the post ‘5 books that changed who I am’

I’m going to cheat and not include the Bible, although obviously it continues to change my life and I’m committed to teaching it to others for that reason.

So, 5 other books that changed who I am:

1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I read this for the first time when I was 9 or 10 and have been re-reading it ever since.  I loved and identified with Jo and her struggles and triumphs. I have one very vivid memory of deciding not to let the sun go down on my anger because it’s something that Marmee said to Jo. I only discovered later that that was from the Bible!
2. As Sure as the Dawn by Francine Rivers (in the Mark of the Lion Series). Again, this is fiction that helped me to think about how to do the Christian life. Set in the first century AD, Rizpah learns to pray, to trust God and to tame her tongue – and of course, she falls in love along the way!
3. The Third Day, The Frost by John Marsden. The Tomorrow series came out when I was in late primary school and my generation of Australians followed it from our pre-teen years until it ended in my first year of teaching. This is the third book in the series and it’s the one where Robyn chooses to sacrifice her life for the others.
4. Evil and the Cross by Henri Blocher. My first non-fiction on the list! I read this in preparation for a seminar I taught on evil when I did my apprenticeship with ES in 2007. It’s pretty heavy going but it radically changed the way I thought about suffering and the answers we seek to it. Come to think of it, I may blog on it at some point!
5. Two Views on Women in Ministry, edited by James Beck; contributors are Linda Belleville, Craig Keener, Craig Blomberg and Thomas Schreiner. I first read this one when I was in high school, have read it a number of times since and continue to use it as a reference point. We’ve previously mentioned it here. It helped me to look at this controversial issue biblically, not just out of my emotions or experiences and continues to shape the irenic tone that I believe is essential to this debate. It also gave me the tools and content that I needed to sift through the issues for myself.

So, Elizabeth, Soph, Katie and Ali, what books changed your lives?

Categories: Written by Tamie

Tagged as: As Sure as the Dawn Book Evil and the Cross Francine Rivers Henri Blocher John Marsden Little Women Louisa May Alcott The Third Day The Frost Two Views on Women in Ministry

Tamie Davis

Tamie Davis is an Aussie living in Tanzania, writing at meetjesusatuni.com.