The Month in Reviews: June 2025
Introduction
I reviewed a number of books of note, both current and backlist during June. In addition to Bauckham’s magisterial work which I will discuss below, I reviewed several books of import in the church context. One was on safeguarding from abuse, a second was on a Christian conception of family, and a third discussed faith deconstruction. Then there was a wonderful, interdisciplinary collection on justice and rights, and a study of the working homeless through a study of five Atlanta families.
Turning to more literary works, I delighted in a collection of the prayers of mystics translated by Scott Cairns. At last, I read Roger Lundin’s now classic biography of Emily Dickinson. And I read one of the few Wallace Stegner works I’ve not read. Of course there are the usual mysteries and a recent edition of Tolkien’s writings on the rise and fall of Numenor. And so much more…
The Reviews
Walking Through Deconstruction, Ian Harber, foreword by Gavin Ortlund. InterVarsity Press (ISBN: 9781514008560) 2025. What it is, why it happens, the phases of deconstruction and walking with someone through this process. Review
How the World Made the West, Josephine Quinn. Random House (ISBN: 9780593729793) 2024. An argument that Western civilization reflects a 4000 year history of the mixing of global cultures. Review
There Is No Place for Us, Brian Goldstone. Crown (ISBN: 9780593237144) 2025. The plight of the working homeless through the experience of five Atlanta families. Review
Justice and Rights, Edited by Terence C. Halliday and K.K. Yeo. Langham Publishing (ISBN: 9781786410023) 2024. Nicholas Wolterstorff in an inter-disciplinary conversation on the salience of justice and rights in Christian scholarship. Review
The Spectator Bird, Wallace Stegner. Vintage (ISBN: 9780525431879) 2017 (first published in 1976). A postcard from a Countess leads a retired literary agent and his wife to revisit the time they’d spent with her. Review
Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, 2nd Edition, Richard Bauckham, foreword by Simon Gathercole. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802874313) 2017. Argues from both early church fathers and internal evidence that the gospels are based on eyewitness testimony. Review
The Saint-Fiacre Affair (Inspector Maigret, 14) Georges Simenon (translated by Shaun Whiteside). Penguin (9780141394756) 2015 (first published in 1932). [Publication link is to American edition currently in print] Maigret receives an anonymous note of a crime to take place in his home town, and though present, cannot prevent it. Review
Love’s Immensity, Scott Cairns. Paraclete Press (ISBN: 9781640605886) 2020 (first published in 2007). Reflections and prayers of mystics from St. Paul to Julian of Norwich translated and rendered in verse. Review
Skills for Safeguarding, Dr. Lisa Compton and Taylor Patterson. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514010730) 2024. A guide for religious organizations to prevent abuse, act appropriately when it occurs, and care for survivors. Review
The Little Book of Data, Justin Evans. HarperCollins Leadership (ISBN: 9781400248353) 2025. Stories of how people have used data to solve big problems and how that might apply in one’s own work. Review
Emily Dickinson and the Art of Belief, Revised Edition (Library of Religious Biography), Roger Lundin. Wm B. Eerdmans (ISBN: 9780802821270) 2004 (My review is based on the first edition, published in 1998). A biography of Dickinson focused on her life and faith drawing upon poetry and letters. Review
Households of Faith, Emily Hunter McGowin. InterVarsity Press (ISBN: 9781514000069) 2025. Instead of blueprints of the biblical family, casts a vision of families as apprentices in love together. Review
The Fall of Númenor, J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Brian Sibley, illustrated by Alan Lee. William Morrow (ISBN: 9780063280687) 2022. The collected writings of Tolkien on the Second Age of Middle Earth, covering the rise and fall of Númenor. Review
Passions of the Soul, Rowan Williams. Bloomsbury Continuum (ISBN: 9781399415682) 2024. An exploration of Eastern Christian writing on the passions that may be distorted into sin, paired with the Beatitudes. Review
Trickster’s Point (Cork O’Connor, 12), William Kent Krueger. Atria Books (ISBN: 9781451645712) 2013. When Jubal Little, candidate for governor is killed by an arrow while bowhunting with Cork, Cork becomes a murder suspect. Review
Footsteps of Faith, John D. Roth, editor. Herald Press (ISBN: 9781513815169) 2025. A 40-day devotional on what it means to live in Jesus’ footsteps, published for the 500th anniversary of Anabaptism. Review
In Praise of Good Bookstores, Jeff Deutsch. Princeton University Press (ISBN: 9780691207766) 2022. A tribute to bookstores, their importance, and what makes them great from a veteran bookseller. Review
Curtain, (Hercule Poirot, 44) Agatha Christie. William Morrow (ISBN: 9780062074096) 2011 (first published in 1975). In Poirot’s last case, he and Captain Hastings reunite at Styles to catch a murderer involved in but unsuspected in five murders. Review
The Problem and Promise of Freedom, Steven Félix-Jäger. Baker Academic (ISBN: 9781540968142) 2025. A critical and constructive theology of freedom, basing true freedom in covenantal relationship with God. Review
Honeybath’s Haven, Michael Innes. Penguin Books (ISBN: 9780140048858) 1979 (out of print). Little does artist Charles Honeybath think that yielding his place in a senior home will lead to an artist friend’s death. Review
Best Book of the Month
As I alluded to in my Introduction, Richard Bauckham’s Jesus and the Eyewitnesses. I thought this was an example of path-breaking scholarship. It was thorough, engaging other theories and objections. He makes the strong case that our canonical gospels either were written by an eyewitness to Jesus, or represent eyewitness testimony. That’s not absolute proof of the truth of these accounts but strengthens our confidence in their credibility.
Quote of the Month
Emily Hunter McGowin’s Households of Faith challenges the “blueprints” for biblical families propounded by many authors. She writes:
“With this book, I hope to speak a word to Christian families of all kinds that is neither a rigid, unattainable ideal nor an uncritical, feel-good placebo. I am not promoting a particular blueprint of family to which all Christians are expected to conform, nor am I trying to obliterate the notion of family as outmoded and useless. Instead, I am seeking a new paradigm for the family within the framework of the church and the kingdom of God, rooted in the Scriptures and the best of the church’s traditions, that I hope will be empowering and encouraging as we learn to live as households of faith today” (p. 10).
She goes on to propose that families are places where we are joint apprentices learning to love as followers of Jesus.
What I’m Reading
It seems that July is the month for reading up on sex and marriage. Having marked our 47th anniversary recently, you’d think we have this down. But the two books I’m reading right now are both worthwhile. The Marriage You Want by Sheila Wray Gregoire and Keith Gregoire makes the point that our teamwork in all of life is connected with the intimacies of the marriage bed. Sexuality and Sex Therapy is written for Christians who are engaged in helping couples with sexual issues. It provides solid information, which is much needed because of the bad counsel sometimes offered by Christians in this area.
On a different note, Why I’m Still a Christian by Justin Brierly reflects two decades of conversations with atheist and those of other faiths and gives his reasons for still believing in Christ through it all. I loved Abraham Verghese’s The Covenant of Water and am finding myself totally engrossed in his earlier Cutting for Stone. Which is better? I can’t yet say. Finally, I try to read a baseball book every summer. This year, I’m reading The Glory of Their Times by Lawrence S. Ritter. The book consists of oral histories from some the greats from the early 1900’s. While the positions and rules haven’t changed much, so much else has!
The Month in Reviews is my monthly review summary going back to 2014! It’s a great way to browse what I’ve reviewed. The search box on this blog also works well if you are looking for a review of a particular book. Thanks for stopping by!