Books

Yes, Go Set a Watchman has its problems; yes, it needed an editor. Yet one senses that this fiction has grown out of a life lived.

Fleming Rutledge's magnum opus is many things: a look at the ways the death of Christ has been interpreted, an argument that the how of his death matters, and a protest against Christianity-light.

The authors of Spiritual Companioning suggest a way forward for those disenchanted with polite, shallow church relationships.

Readers who found Pastrix to be a long, cool drink will find more refreshment here. Those who have tired of Nadia Bolz-Weber's cranky schtick will tire of it here as well.

For the Bible to belong not only to the church or the academy but to the people, a guidebook is needed. Harvey Cox provides one.

After I received the request to review Kelly Brown Douglas's book, I kept seeing her main thesis displayed in the news.

Ta-Nehisi Coates is an atheist. But perhaps his atheism is precisely the kind that Christians in America need.

Nancy Sherman's message is clear: society must understand the totality of human experiences of war, including their moral dimensions.

Stewart Goetz’s book is provocative and carefully argued. But I am puzzled as to why the ordinary reader of C. S. Lewis would be worried about the road not taken.

My sixth-grade sex ed teacher held up a worksheet and apologized: “I know this is sort of unromantic.” Books on preaching can leave us similarly cold.

Todd Billings weaves his struggle with a rare form of blood cancer together with probing biblical and theological reflection.

Robert Saler’s two main concerns are theological authorship and how we conceive of the church. The two have an unsettled relationship.

David Carr rereads the familiar materials of the Bible in conversation with trauma theory. This opens the way for a fresh and suggestive interpretation.

The proliferation of Inklings books is often prompted by Christian triumphalism. Carol and Philip Zaleski have something more interesting to say.

Joseph Bottum contends that the decline of mainline churches has created a moral vacuum that conservative Catholics and evangelicals have been unable to fill.

Robert Gregg traces five scriptural stories as they were later understood by commentators—Jewish, Christian, and Muslim.