Looking back through just this year (2007), I've so far read the following:

~ Social World of Ancient Israel: 1250-587 BCE by Victor H. Matthews and Don Benjamin
~ Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony by Richard Bauckham
~ The Kalam Cosmological Argument by William Lane Craig
~ Four Views on Hell, by Clark Pinnock, John Walvoord, William Crockett, and Zachary Hayes
~ Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross
~ Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet by Karen Armstrong
~ Hegel's Philosophy of Reality, Freedom, and God by Robert Wallace
~ Approaching the Qur'an by Michael Sells
~ After the Death of God by John D. Caputo, Gianni Vattimo, and Jeffrey W. Robbins
~ Islam: The Straight Path by John Esposito
~ Mystical Dimensions of Islam by Annemarie Schimmel
~ The Essential Plotinus, translated by Elmer O'Brien
~ God Is Near Us: The Eucharist, the Heart of Life by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
~ Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism by Richard Abanes
~ Theism, Atheism, and Big Bang Cosmology by William Lane Craig and Quentin Smith
~ Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East by Victor H. Matthews and Don Benjamin
~ The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity by Philip Jenkins
~ Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period by Richard Longenecker
~ Blog: Understanding the Information Revolution That's Changing Your World by Hugh Hewitt
~ The Christians as the Romans Saw Them by Robert Louis Wilken
~ End Times Fiction: A Biblical Consideration of the Left Behind Theology by Gary DeMar
~ Shades of Sheol: Death and Afterlife in the Old Testament by Philip Johnston
~ Social-science Commentary on the Letters of Paul by Bruce Malina and John Pilch

That seems to be... 23, unless I've miscounted. I'd best pick up the pace, then.

I've just finished Reconceptualising Conversion: Patronage, Loyalty, and Conversion in the Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean by Zeba Crook, and it was excellent. Let's increase the total by one. I'm very nearly half of the way to my goal, and I'm still a month from being halfway through the year. Excellent.

I've now completed Time and Eternity: Exploring God's Relationship to Time by William Lane Craig. It was very excellent, and I actually have to admit that he finally talked me out of adhering to a static conception of time. Having finished this, I suppose that's 25 books read so far this year. Halfway!

Pressing on beyond the halfway point, I am now finished with Why I Rejected Christianity: A Former Apologist Explains by John W. Loftus. I... personally cannot say that I recommend the book, really. Loftus could have done much better than he did in a great many portions of the book, though in others, he made a comparatively decent case for his particular points.

I've completed The Only Wise God: The Compatibility of Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom by William Lane Craig. Excellent, excellent, excellent treatment.

Interesting set of books! Looks like they are all related to theology. Is this an area of study, or pleasure reading?

Thanks! It's chiefly pleasure reading, and hopefully a future area of professional study in a more intent manner (though I am a undergraduate major in religion and mathematics at an American college).

I've now also finished another very excellent book by David Crump called Knocking on Heaven's Door: A New Testament Theology of Petitionary Prayer.

It'll be a while before I have another book to add to the list of ones finished, though. My latest choice is an anthology of Ancient Near Eastern documents, roughly as massive as several of my dictionaries and Bibles. Good for bludgeoning, but long for reading.

I am FINALLY finished with Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, edited by James Bennett Pritchard. That was way too long and may have set me back on this goal of getting 50 books read by the end of the year. Still, I believe I'm now at... 29? Dang. Well, at least the year is only halfway over, so I remain ahead.

Wow, that was fast... I'm now also done with Body, Soul and Life Everlasting: Biblical Anthropology and the Monism-Dualism Debate by John W. Cooper. Good stuff. Now, I'm thinking it's back for another dip into the philosophy of time.

A new book arrived today, and it was pretty short, so I decided to read it awhile, since the other book I'm reading gives me a headache. Hence, I'm now finished with The Impossible Faith by James Patrick Holding. Very excellent and recommended.

Total books read thus far in 2007: 31, unless I've miscounted.

I've finished two books since I posted last. First was The Tenseless Theory of Time by William Lane Craig. Second was Mysticism: An Evangelical Option? by Winfried Corduan.

The total, then, seems to now be at 33.

One more book complete: Paul on Trial by John Mauck.

Total: 34.

I've now also read God and Time: Four Views, edited by Greg Ganssle, and The Ancient Mysteries: A Sourcebook of Sacred Texts, edited by Marvin Meyer.

Total: 36.

This morning I finished In Defense of Natural Theology, edited by James Sennett and Douglas Groothius.

Now also done with Seek the Welfare of the City by Bruce Winter and Crucifixion in the Ancient World and the Folly of the Message of the Cross by Martin Hengel.

Okay, I've finally also finished the genuinely massive The Resurrection of the Son of God by N. T. Wright. Genuinely fantastic. Long as *censored*, but fantastic.

I've now read The Cosmological Argument from Plato to Leibniz by William Lane Craig and Plowshares and Pruning Hooks by D. Brent Sandy.

Total is 42 now, right?

Finished The Gospels for All Christians: Rethinking the Gospel Audiences, edited by Richard Bauckham.

I believe that makes the total 43. Seven more to go.

I have now also completed both Toward Old Testament Ethics by Walter C. Kaiser and God and Design: The Teleological Argument and Modern Science, edited by Neil Manson.

Total: 45. Five remaining. It seems rather obvious to me at this point that, barring something dramatic such as my own death (and some days, here's hoping...), I'll easily top fifty before 2007 draws to a close.

I finished John H. Walton's Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament a day or so ago. That brings me to a total of 46. But with the semester begun, things will be going much more slowly. Still, getting four more by the end of the year should be no problem.

Finally conquered The Existence of God by Richard Swinburne. Seems as though it took quite nearly an eternity, but I must concede that it was a skillfully argued case for theism, and contained a number of creative approaches. Whatever my disagreements with Swinburne (and I certainly have those here and there), it was a great read.

Total read to date: 47

It isn't the main book I've been working on, but today I completed Households and Holiness by Carol L. Meyers.

Total: 48.

Since I last mentioned anything, I finished first the massive Jesus the Sage: The Pilgrimage of Wisdom by Ben Witherington. I also tonight finished The Kalam Cosmological Argument for God by Mark Nowacki.

That makes the total... 50.

VIIIIIIIIIICTOOOOOOOORYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY...

No sense in stopping here. I just completed Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals by William Webb. Insightful work.

Total: 51.

Erm, let's actually increase that to 52. I just breezed through Michael Coogan's Stories from Ancient Canaan in less than two hours.

I can't believe how crazy long it took me, but last night I finished Agents Under Fire: Materialism and the Rationality of Science by Angus Menuge.

Total: 53

I've now also completed The Art of War by Sun Tzu.

Total: 54.

It's taken forever, but this morning I triumphed over Jesus the Seer: The Progress of Prophecy by Ben Witherington.

I've now also finished reading Walking from East to West, the autobiography of famed evangelist and apologist Ravi Zacharias.

Total: 56

I'm finished with For All God's Worth: True Worship and the Calling of the Church by N. T. Wright.

Total: 57

I've completed The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era: Exploring the Background of Early Christianity by James S. Jeffers. It was really good!

My total now stands at 58. Let's keep on truckin'....

I've now finished reading Free Will from the Oxford Readings of Philosophy series. It's edited by Gary Watson, but the really valuable essays in it, in my opinion, are those by Roderick Chisholm, Peter van Inwagen, and Norman Malcolm. There are also contributions by Daniel C. Dennett, Harry W. Frankfurt, and Thomas Nagel, but I fear I didn't find much of tremendous insight in either of those pieces.

The running total for 2007 AD has now reached 59 books, and it shouldn't be terribly long before I bring it up to 60. I'm working on just two other books now, so I'd best keep pressing onward.

Wow, I could've sworn I'd posted in here just a few days ago. I've finished four books since I last made mention. First up was Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages by Haddon W. Robinson. Great stuff. Second was Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith by Marvin Wilson. Not too bad. I have a few criticisms of certain aspects, and there was much that I already knew, but I confess I learned some valuable things here and there, and that's what I read for. Third was The Resurrection of God Incarnate by the esteemed philosopher Richard Swinburne. Wildly innovative and thought-provoking, as I've come to expect from his peculiar brand of luminary. Finally, begun and finished in one sitting this evening, I read God?: A Debate Between a Christian and an Atheist by William Lane Craig and Walter Sinnott-Armstrong. Sinnott-Armstrong fared better than most of Craig's opponents usually do, though naturally, he failed to carry his case when all was said and done.

I believe that puts me at, what, 63 books so far this year, then? Well, no reason to pause here. Pressing onward...

Time to add another to the tally. This time, it's Render to God: New Testament Understandings of the Divine by Jerome H. Neyrey. Very good work, very useful.

That ought to place my total at 64 thus far in 2007. I'm several more than I expected, I must say, especially with that massive anthology of Ancient Near Eastern documents this past summer slowing me down so much.

Also finished Jesus Under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents the Historical Jesus, edited by Michael J. Wilkins and James Porter Moreland.

Total: 65.

Onward...

I've completed The Nature of Necessity by Alvin Plantinga. Good book, though some of the sections (particularly the appendix) were entirely or almost entirely beyond me. I definitely have quite a way to go.

In the meantime, I also read a little book called Customs and Etiquette in China, or something like that.

Whatever the case, that brings my total to 67. I'm currently reading a rather large book, so it might be a while before I have another one to mention, unless I get done with the book I intend to read on the side more quickly than expected. After that, a couple of other large things await me, so if I'm lucky, I might top 70 by the end of the year, but probably not more than 71. We'll see...

Okay, I managed to finish The New Testament and the People of God by N. T. Wright now. It was really good. Started off slow, but in retrospect, that part was so worth it.

That brings my total to 68.

Last night I finished reading The Atheist Debater's Handbook by B. C. Johnson. That thing was TERRIBLE. I was absolutely flabbergasted at how abysmally poor the arguments were. I mean, I know it's over two and a half decades old, but that's no excuse for most of the stuff in there. I'm sorry, but a book that argues that maybe Jesus was just a bizarre freak with an "odd talent for walking on water" and that arguments from design fail because if somebody made a cat, we'd fail to recognize design, is just not worth anyone's time for anything but entertainment purposes. I have to admit, though, it provided terrific amusement for myself and some friends.

At any rate, this slim volume of ignorance brings my total up to 69. Now to keep on truckin'...

I've now also completed N. T. Wright's Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship. That book was really, really good; I recommend it quite highly.

That brings my number to an even 70. Excellent...

I just a few minutes ago finished the 1970 work The Christology of Early Jewish Christianity by Richard N. Longenecker. Not bad, not bad at all, especially for something nearly 40 years old.

I'm now at 71, and I doubt I'll be getting too much more finished before the end of the year. I've only got a couple of weeks, and they'll be devoted to a very large book and a slightly larger rebuttal, to be read simultaneously. This may be the end, but we'll see if I can hammer those through yet this year. If not, well, they'll just have to be the start of next year's list, won't they?

Before starting that massive upcoming tome, I decided today that I needed to find something to read. (I was at college, and that large book is here at home.) I decided to start reading a commentary on the Epistle of James from the New Testament Readings series. It's called James: Wisdom of James, Disciple of Jesus the Sage, and it's by Richard Bauckham, one of my favorite NT scholars. Anyway, I just finished it, bringing my total to 72. Heh... 211 pages can be a tough read in less than 12 hours...

While I've been working on the larger books, I also managed to recently finish Thomas Flint's Divine Providence: The Molinist Account. Very, very good.

Total's up to 73, I suppose. Let's just see if I can get to 75 by the year's conclusion...

Okay, I've got a couple more to add in here. First of all is The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave, edited by Robert M. Price and Jeffrey Jay Lowder. It varied in quality from mediocre yet subtly giving the first impression of triumphant down to, well, exceptionally sad.

I also finished reading This Joyful Eastertide by Steve Hays. Technically, it isn't a published work; it's an extensive refutation of The Empty Tomb and is available online at http://www.reformed.plus.com/triablogue/.... However, it's hundreds of pages long, and I read the whole blasted thing, so darn it, I say it's a book!

Therefore, counting both of these, that brings my yearly total up to 75 so far, with a few more days to go.

Okay, let's up my total by one to bring it to 76, since I just finished The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology (3rd edition) by Bruce J. Malina. Very good, very good.

I've also finished The Three Christs of Ypsilanti: A Narrative Study of Three Lost Men by Milton Rokeach now, putting my total at 77.

Alright, yesterday I finished reading N. T. Wright's Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense. It was FANTASTIC! I highly recommend it as a nice, simple, accurate introduction to what Christianity really is all about. A lot of Christians could benefit from it as well as outsiders.

Total:78

Before 2007 ended, I managed to just barely wrap up The Logic of God Incarnate by Thomas Morris, a fantastic examination of the philosophical issues surrounding the orthodox notion of the incarnation.

That means that my total for the entire year came to 79.

Onward to 2008. In, of course, another topic.