A few months ago, I mentioned a book called Christ and the Caesars, by Ethelbert Stauffer. It has been out of print and in high demand because of a few mentions from Rob Bell and Ray Vander Laan. It turns out that the book has been picked up by Wipf and Stock Publishers and new copies are once again available.

This was a curious book for me. Much of the history and parallels between the language of the Caesars and the early Christian writers is fascinating. And from what I understand, Stauffer was a scholar of at least some reputation. The troubling part is that the book has no citations. Stauffer says a lot about how things were historically, but the only real evidence he cites is coinage from the time.

I still think it’s worth the read. There is enough documentation in other books that the parallel use of language is at least arguable. You can pick it up from Amazon or direct from the publisher.

Today, a package came in the mail. It has been a long time coming, and it is a result of the Rob Bell effect. Be patient. I will explain.

As Rob Bell has become a national figure over the last five years or so, the Rob Bell effect has grown. He has recommended many books through his teaching and speaking. This is especially of interest for those of us who like some of the history he digs up. The problem is, some of these books are out of print. Low supply and growing demand means these books get expensive. Really expensive.

That’s when it becomes fun for me. Some odd part of me loves to hunt these books down to find a price I can afford. Each of the books below suffers from the the Rob Bell effect. They are selling for $150 and up around the internet. But I’m now happy to have each in my library, having paid less than $30 for each:

• The Seven Cities of the Apocalypse in Greco-Asian Culture, by Roland Worth - This is the one that arrived today. I found it used on Amazon for for $25 last week. It looks brand new and I can’t wait to dive in. Rob mentioned it in the endnotes of Velvet Elvis. It was only published in 1999, so I’m not sure why it has gone out of print.
• The Seven Cities of the Apocalypse in Roman Culture, by Roland Worth - This is the counterpart volume to the above book. It was not directly cited by Rob, but it is still hard to find. I was able to find it on Eisenbrauns brand new a year ago. Unfortunately, they don’t have it any more.
• Christ and the Caesars, by Ethelbert Stauffer - I heard about this one from Rob several years ago. I think it was already hard to find because it was on Ray Vander Laan’s suggested reading list. I found it in the online inventory of a used bookstore in the UK for under $15. (No, not the bookstore on Notting Hill.) I was a tad delighted.

If you are hunting for out of print books, Alibris or BookFinder are useful. But, I’ve probably had the most luck just using Google to search for the title and author. Once again, be patient.

Persistence bordering on psychosis helps too.

There are a handful of podcasts that I subscribe to, but the Mars Hill Grand Rapids is one of the few that I am pretty faithful about listening to every one of. While I am challenged by and appreciate what Rob Bell has to say just about every week, this past week’s message, Gnats and Camels, is one I want to call other’s attention to. It is Bell at his best as he offers both some cultural background and contemporary importance.

While meandering through iTunes tonight, I disovered that Rob Bell and Mars Hill actually have an official podcast up and running. There is even a link at the bottom of their sermon download page. Who knew? Is this some kind of grand conspiracy that has been hidden from me for all this time?

I’ve learned a number of things from Rob Bell over the years, and you can see his ideas shrouded in my clumsy words throughout this blog. One very practical thing I learned from him became a reality today…

Several years ago, he mentioned that he got a weed burner for his birthday. I’d never heard of a weed burner. We had weeds in Arizona, but they were pretty managable in our tiny yards, so it wasn’t a big topic. In the Pacific Northwest, weeds can get out of hand. Enter your friendly neighborhood equipment rental dealer, and $10 for a weed burner for four hours.

I smell like a chain smoker, but I had a great time!

(Disclaimer: the included image should only be considered a representation of my morning. No evergreens were harmed in my destructive binge today.)