Non-Fiction
Centering Discipleship – EK Strawser
In seminary, there was this saying that 10% of the people do 90% of the work. In reality, that might be closed to 5/95. Now, volunteering and doing the work necessary to keep a church […]
Non-Fiction
Academic
Beyond Homelessness (15th Anniversary Edition) – Steven Bouma-Prediger and Brian J. Walsh
Fifteen years ago, the Scottish Journal of Theology called Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement a “remarkable, important, and timely book.” This fifteenth anniversary edition remains remarkable, important, and—perhaps to our shame—even […]
Academic
Intergenerational Christian Formation (2nd Ed) – Holly Catterton Allen, Christine Lawton, and Cory L. Seibel
Small groups have always been the key to Christian discipleship. The Sunday morning service is a mostly collective celebration, but the emphasis in many mid-size to larger churches when it comes to discipleship is the […]
Academic
Breaking Bread – Alastair Stewart
Breaking Bread: The Emergence of Eucharist and Agape in Early Christian Communities is one of those highly technical and precise works of history and theology that seemingly has little practical value to the majority of […]
Academic
Recruiting the Ancients for the Creation Debate – Andrew J. Brown
The interpretation of the Creation narrative is one of the most contentious and divisive subjects within Christianity. Fundamentalist Young Earth Creationists (YEC) stand on one extreme of the platform, attempting to interpret every element of […]
Academic
Healing Conversations on Race – Veola Vasquez, Joshua Knabb, Charles Lee-Johnson, and Krystal Hays
There are a lot of books on racial justice, both from a Christian and secular perspective. For a time, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by police in 2020, the New York Times best-seller’s […]
Non-Fiction
So We and Our Children May Live – Sarah Augustine and Sheri Hostetler
As I write this review, the United Nations Climate Change Conference is meeting in Dubai to discuss what action is necessary to curtail human influence on climate change. The news coming from the conference is […]
Non-Fiction
A Quiet Mind to Suffer With – John Andrew Bryant
A Quiet Mind to Suffer With is a haunting memoir/theological reflection the explores the intersection of mental illness, trauma, and faith. John Andrew Bryant is in recovery. Just a few years before writing this book, […]
Academic
Proverbs: Commentary for Christian Formation – John Goldingay
John Goldingay is a scholar whom I’ve come to describe as approachably academic in style. Goldingay does not sacrifice academic rigor for accessibility, but rather manages to blend the two together to make what other […]
Academic
The Jesus Handbook – edited by Jens Schroter and Christine Jacobi
The Jesus Handbook is a historical-critical look at the historical Jesus, his world, and the impact of his life. Originally published in German in 2017, this comprehensive and wide-ranging exploration of the person of Jesus […]