Here’s the second half of the stack of books I’ve received from Christian publishers this spring. Three of the books are on themes of abundance and flourishing as well as a couple in IVP’s Studies in Theology and the Arts. It seems to me some very good books have come out of the pandemic!
Reading Black Books, Claude Atcho. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2022. Explores ten black writers whose works both enrich our faith and call us into a deeper engagement in pursuing justice.
Road to Flourishing, Al Lopus with Cory Hartman. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2022. The CEO of the Best Christian Workplaces Institute studied hundreds of workplaces and identifies the eight key drivers of flourishing workplaces.
Grief: A Philosophical Guide, Michael Cholbi. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2022. A philosophical exploration of this event exploring what grief is, whom we grieve, and how we emerge with a deeper self-understanding and insight into the human condition.
Participating in Abundant Life, Mark R. Teasdale. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2022. A holistic approach to salvation focused on both its this- and other-worldly aspects, both the material and spiritual aspects and both the personal and social aspects.
Theophany: A Biblical Theology of God’s Appearing, Vern Poythress. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2022. A theological study of the accounts of God’s “appearing” throughout the Bible, what this reveals about who God is, and how God is present to us today.
Resisting the Marriage Plot (Studies in Theology and the Arts), Dalene Joy Fisher. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2021. Using the works of Austen, Bronte, Gaskell, and Wollstonecraft, argues that the Christian faith of their heroines challenged cultural expectations of women, especially in regard to marriage.
Like Birds in a Cage, David M. Crump. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2021. An extended argument for how Christian Zionism contributes to the oppression and virtual imprisonment of the Palestinian people in Israel.
Agents of Flourishing, Amy L. Sherman. Downers Grove: IVP Praxis, 2022. “Amy Sherman offers a multifaceted, biblically grounded framework for enacting God’s call to seek the shalom of our communities in six arenas of civilizational life (The Good, The True, The Beautiful, The Just, The Prosperous, and The Sustainable)” [from website copy].
Christian Parenting, David P. Setran. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2022. A historical study of how American Protestants approached childrearing with applications to contemporary parenting challenges.
The Art of New Creation (Studies in Theology and the Arts), Edited by Jeremy Begbie, Daniel Train, and W. David O. Taylor. Downers Grove, IVP Academic, 2022. Reflections from artists and theologians on the role of art in exploring the connection between creation and the new creation.
Calling in Context, Susan L. Maros. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2022. Considers how various aspects of our social location, including race, ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic status, and gender, shape our understanding of vocation.
The Herods: Murder, Politics, and the Art of Succession, Bruce Chilton. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2021. A historical study of how the Herodians survived a century of Roman domination and turmoil through loyalty to both Roman might and Israelite theocracy.
I hope this two day overview has offered you some ideas of books you might tuck into while you sip some lemonade. Just picking them up, leafing through them and reading summaries about them heighten my own anticipation of reading and reviewing these. I hope one or more might be a source of spiritual encouragement for you!
Bob on Books 