My Three Books: Philip Whitehead Edition

Last updated on: January 20, 2014 at 1:00 pm By David Russell Mosley

Philip Whitehead 20 January 2014 On the Edge of Elfland Beeston, Nottinghamshire Dear Friends and Family, *This is a guest post by Philip Whitehead on the three books that have influenced his theology. 1. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion Growing up in a Reformed (Baptist) church, Calvin was often mentioned extremely positively but never someone I read. Coming to University as an undergraduate, Calvin was often mentioned extremely negatively, but again, never someone I read. During my MA... Read more

Being a (Non-Roman) Catholic Evangelical: Getting High (Church, that is)

Last updated on: January 18, 2014 at 3:54 pm By David Russell Mosley

David Russell Mosley 18 January 2014 On the Edge of Elfland Beeston, Nottinghamshire Dear Friends and Family, A few days ago over at The American Conservative, Gracy Olmstead wrote an article entitled, ‘Why Millennials Long for Liturgy: Is the High Church the Christianity of the future?’ In the article, Olmstead cites several Protestant converts to various kinds of more Tradition (read Liturgical) branches of Christianity. This is a major trend I have seen myself in many of those with... Read more

On The Economics of Elfland: In Honour of J. R. R. Tolkien's Birthday

Last updated on: January 3, 2014 at 3:54 pm By David Russell Mosley

David Russell Mosley Tenth Day of Christmas 3 January 2014 On the Edge of Elfland Beeston, Nottinghamshire Dear Friends and Family, There are a few topics that up until now I have refrained from mentioning in these letters: specifically, homosexuality, abortion, and politics. The first two topics, while often linked quite closely to the third, are frankly too emotional and complicated for me to feel they can be appropriately dealt with in a blog post. The third I avoid often... Read more

My Three Books: Matt Vest Edition

Last updated on: January 1, 2014 at 12:53 pm By David Russell Mosley

Matthew Vest The Naming and Circumcision of Christ 1 January 2014 On the Edge of Elfland Columbus, Ohio Dear Friends and Family, Thanks much to David for this question. I’ve answered the “favorite books” question before, but the “most influential to my theology” question is one I’ve not paused over as much. Five years ago my answers to this would be noticeably different, primarily due to my conversion since then into the Eastern Orthodox Church. In light of that spiritual... Read more

The Importance of the 12 Days of Christmas

Last updated on: December 23, 2013 at 12:00 pm By David Russell Mosley

David Russell Mosley 23 December 2013 On the Edge of Elfland Beeston, Nottinghamshire Dear Friends and Family, Christmas is nearly upon us. Tomorrow evening, as we have our supper, however meagre or magnificent, the celebration of the Nativity begins. For most of us, it has probably already begun to some extent. We’ve probably indulged in a few Christmas songs; our churches have put on carol services. Everything is building up to the next day, the 25 of December, perhaps the... Read more

A Place for Father Christmas: A Response to Tara C. Samples

Last updated on: December 16, 2013 at 4:16 pm By David Russell Mosley

David Russell Mosley Third Week of Advent 16 December 2013 On the Edge of Elfland Beeston, Nottinghamshire Dear Friends and Family, The Feast of the Nativity (probably a more accurate description for most Christians, and non-Christians, who stay whom on the 25 of December) is nearly upon us. This time of year, along with engendering quite a few more letters here on Letters from the Edge of Elfland, also tends to cause quite a lot of controversy, particularly over one... Read more

Books to Read over Advent and Christmas

Last updated on: December 15, 2013 at 12:00 pm By David Russell Mosley

David Russell Mosley Third Sunday of Advent 15 December 2013 On the Edge of Elfland Beeston, Nottinghamshire Dear Friends and Family, With only 10 days left in Advent, this may seem like an odd time to write a letter on books to read over Advent and Christmas, but since Christmas is 12 days long, that gives us a bit more time. This list is a combination of fiction, poetry, and theology. I hope you enjoy. A Christmas Carol by Charles... Read more

Being a (Non-Roman) Catholic Evangelical: Scripture and Tradition

Last updated on: December 14, 2013 at 12:28 pm By David Russell Mosley

David Russell Mosley Second Week of Advent St John of the Cross 14 December 2013 On the Edge of Elfland Beeston, Nottinghamshire Dear Friends and Family, Today I want to write to you about a topic that is close to my heart. Throughout the Church’s history two things have been guiding principles for the Church. They have served as sources for Christ’s authority, and have been variously understood through the centuries. They are Scripture... Read more

My Three Books: Eric Austin Lee Edition

Last updated on: December 13, 2013 at 1:44 pm By David Russell Mosley

Eric Austin Lee Feast of St Lucy 13 December 2013 On the Edge of Elfland West Sacramento, California Dear Friends and Family, David has kindly sent out a call for our ‘My 3 Books’, in the spirit of Theology Studio‘s tradition of asking its interviewee’s which 3 books have had the most profound affect upon them theologically. Such decisions are always incredibly difficult ones, and I could add at least another ten books to this list, but, if one were to... Read more

My 3 Books (or The Post Where I Steal Ideas from The Theology Studio)

Last updated on: December 10, 2013 at 3:11 pm By David Russell Mosley

David Russell Mosley Second Week of Advent 10 December 2013 On the Edge of Elfland Beeston, Nottinghamshire Dear Friends and Family, Over at The Theology Studio, run by excellent gents Tony Baker and Scott Bader-Saye, they have a virtual bookshelf of books that have most influenced the writing and thought of the theologians they interview. While I certainly do not even remotely put myself in the same category as the women and men they interview, I nevertheless thought it would... Read more