Tag Archives: Book Club

Congolese documentary screening & discussion: October 31

For the second straight year, The Library Book Club has decided to kick off our reading year with…a film.

Makala (2018) is an internationally admired documentary that tells the story of Kasongo, a Congolese man living in a village with his wife and daughters, who dreams of purchasing a plot of land on which to build a home for his family. He sees his opportunity to earn money by selling charcoal from a mighty hardwood tree he has felled and baked in an earthen oven. Loading up the bags of charcoal onto the back of his bicycle, Kasongo sets off on a daunting journey across treacherous roads to sell his product at market. Before returning to his village, Kasongo attends a revival service and prays for God’s protection and strength.

This is a thought-provoking and inspiring film about human aspiration and faith in God. The film will be shown on Wednesday, October 31 at 5:00 pm in Screening Room A (1st floor of COM building on the left side). Following the screening (96 minutes), professors of cinema Pete Fraser and Andrew Quicke will lead a discussion on the cinematic and Christian aspects of the film.

For more information about this or future Book Club events, please contact Harold Henkel at harohen@regent.edu.

Book Discussion: The Benedict Option, by Rod Dreher

French and American editions of The Benedict Option

In one of the most discussed Christian books of 2017, Rod Dreher calls on American Christians to prepare for the coming Dark Age by embracing the way to St. Benedict of Nursia. At a time of moral chaos, Benedict built  communities based on principles of order, hospitality, stability, and prayer. His spiritual centers of hope were strongholds of light throughout the Dark Ages and saved not only Christianity but Western civilization.

On Thursday, May 24 at 12:00, the Library Book Club will discuss The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation. Professor of Theology Dr. Dale Coulter will lead our discussion.

The Library has multiple copies of the book available for checkout. Reviews and a generous excerpt are available on the publisher’s website.

Distance students and faculty are invited to join the discussion via Collaborate Ultra: https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/a48790b68d0642a69e6150250d3bca2d. No Regent login credentials are required to use this link.

Update: Dr. Coulter’s article on The Benedict Option was just published on May 24 in First Things, one of the nation’s leading journals of faith and culture. Read it by clicking here.

Book Discussion: The Chosen, by Chaim Potok

1st edition cover. Simon & Schuster, 1967

Few stories offer more warmth, wisdom, or generosity than this tale of two boys, their fathers, their friendship, and the chaotic times in which they live. In 1940s Brooklyn, New York, an accident throws Reuven Malther and Danny Saunders together. Together they negotiate adolescence, family conflicts, love, and the journey to adulthood. The intellectual and spiritual clashes between fathers, between each son and his own father, and between the two young men, provide a unique backdrop for this exploration of fathers, sons, faith, loyalty, and, ultimately, the power of love.

On Thursday, March 22 at 12:00, professor of philosophy Dr. Michael Palmer will lead a conversation about this classic coming-of-age novel in the Library Conference Room. Distance students and faculty are invited to join the discussion via Google Hangouts. Contact harohen@regent.edu for a link to the live discussion.

The Library has several copies of The Chosen available for-check-out, as well as DVD and streaming versions of the 1981 film adaptation.

Book Discussion: A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens

“If I could work my will,” said Scrooge indignantly, “Every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.”

"Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!" “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”

Ebenezer Scrooge is miser who hates Christmas and all it stands for, but a ghostly visitor foretells three apparitions who will bring about a change of mind in one night. A Christmas Carol has gripped the public imagination since it was first published in 1843, and it is now as much a part of Christmas as mistletoe or plum pudding.

On Friday, December 8 at 12:00, the Library will host a discussion of this beloved classic. Dr. Pete Fraser, professor of film and literature, will lead our conversation. The Library has several copies of the book in print and e-book formats.

The discussion will take place in the Library Conference Room. Distance students and faculty are encouraged to join us live via Google Hangouts, Google’s easy-to-use videoconferencing software. Click here to request a link to the discussion.

For the complete 2017-2018 schedule of book discussions, see the Library Book Club webpage.

Book Discussion: Renaissance, by Os Guinness

OG_ROn Friday, November 10, at 12:00, the Library Book Club will discuss Renaissance: The Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times, by author, scholar, and journalist, Os Guinness.
About Renaissance, author Rebecca Manley Pippert writes, “This is a profound, realistic and hopeful book that reminds us that even in the darkest times the power of the gospel can change the world…No other writer I know offers such a rich background of astute cultural analysis combined with a deep understanding of history. I finished this book feeling a deep sense of hope, which was fortified by his powerful prayers at the end of each chapter. If we heed the wisdom in this marvelous book, we could well become effective agents for Christ for such a time as this.”

The Library has several copies of Renaissance in print and e-book formats. A video of Dr. Guinness lecturing about his book at the Acton Institute is on YouTube.

Our discussion will take place in the Library Conference Room. Distance students and faculty are encouraged to join us live via Google Hangouts, Google’s free, easy-to-use videoconferencing software. Click here to request a link to the discussion.

For the complete 2017-2018 schedule of book discussions, see the Library Book Club webpage.