Ok, who’s starting lists for 2021 Summer Reading? CPH is! Their CPH Reads program will run from June 1st through August 13, 2021. Plus, I found a neat list supplied by Dr. Geoffrey Boyle (He’s a Lutheran pastor in Wichita, KS.).
Here’s a link to an interview he gave yesterday on KFUO’s The Coffee Hour:
The Coffee Hour – Summer Reading with the Church Fathers (Extended Edition)
I’ll go ahead and copy & paste the list, noting that many of these are available free of charge at ccel.org/fathers. 🙂
- Polycarp of Smyrna, Epistle to the Philippians, Martyrdom (d. 155)
- Ignatius of Antioch, Letters to the Churches, Martyrdom (d. 108/140)
- Epistle of Barnabas (70-132)
- Justin Martyr, First Apology (100-165)
- Irenaeus, Apostolic Preaching (130-202)
- Melito of Sardis, On Pascha (d.180)
- Hippolytus, Apostolic Tradition (170-235)
- Cyprian of Carthage, Unity of the Catholic Church (210-258)
- Athanasius, On the Incarnation (296-373)
- Cyril of Jerusalem, Lectures on the Sacraments (313-386)
- John Chrysostom, Marriage & Family Life (347-407)
- Augustine, Confessions, On Christian Teaching, Enchiridion (354-430)
- Cyril of Alexandria, Unity of Christ (376-444)
- Leo the Great, Sermons (beginning at XXI, especially 73-74) (400-461)
- Gregory the Great, Pastoral Rule (540-604)
That’s a list to raise my anticipation! Though, lest you think these be beyond you in some way, let me tell you this. Geoff reads them aloud to his family. His youngest is 8. These are not academic dissertations. Far from it. I’d say, if your kids can sit through a sermon—which they can—then they can sit through a sermon from a time past, too. Simple as that. Or almost so.
Wittenberg Academy also included a list of “Books Everyone Should Read Before They Turn 30” in their quarterly newsletter, which, I’ll just ignore the 30 part and grab a title or two. 🙂
‘Tis the season, so please do let me know about other summer reading lists, especially those with a Lutheran confession.
Another neat thing you can do is play something like this Bookopoly Summer Reading Challenge. This one, from LutheranHomeschool.com, centers on American history, but you can apply the same principle to all sorts of things. 🙂
I do so love summer reading. Stimulating & stress-relieving. I’m feeling more relaxed already.
