Recommended Reading, late summer edition

With so many important books publishing right now, here are a few of my favorites

I almost decided not to write this post out of fear that I’ll forget to include a book that should be on this list. (I may have to follow up with an early fall edition!)

But there are so many books that have just published or are just about to publish that I wanted to share. Some I read as manuscripts and had the honor of endorsing. Some I haven’t yet read but they’re at the top of my to-read stack. Some are written by close friends, and some by people I’ve never met. Some are critical of American Christianity. Some are positive guides written by Christians for fellow Christians. Some are academic books, others are written for popular audiences. Most would be great to read in a book club or church small group.

I’ll start off with one publishing tomorrow: Robert P. Jones’s The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy. I’ve already shared about this one, but I really do want as many people to read it as possible. Here’s my official endorsement: “In this elegantly crafted book, Robert P. Jones unearths harrowing and long-forgotten stories of the racial violence inscribed on our nation’s past. Yet it is not a book without hope, for only by confronting our collective history can we begin to heal our nation’s wounds.” And my unofficial (Twitter) endorsement: “I loved this book as a writer (it’s beautifully written), as a historian (it’s deeply researched), & as an American (it’s honest about the darker stories of our shared history but also offers accounts of how we might create a better future together in light of that past).”

Another important book just out is Andrew Whitehead’s American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church. Here’s my endorsement: “What is Christian nationalism and why does it matter? Whitehead cuts through the confusion with this powerful and timely book. Crisply written and utterly compelling, American Idolatry will serve as an essential primer for anyone seeking to understand our current moment so we can chart a path toward a more just and compassionate future.” When I read this one, I was jealous. Andrew has such a great ability to boil down complex issues into crystal clear prose. If your church is looking for a way to talk about Christian nationalism, this is the book for you.

Along with Whitehead’s American Idolatry, Kaitlyn Schiess’s The Ballot and the Bible looks to be ideal for individuals and church groups. I haven’t yet read it, but here’s what Karen Swallow Prior had to say: “Whether you lean left or lean right, whether you come from a red state, blue state, or a purple one, if you are a Christian who seeks to apply biblical principles to your political thinking, you will find something instructive, challenging, and enlightening in this book.”

Speaking of Karen Swallow Prior, I’ve just started reading her latest, The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images & Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis. Here’s Pete Wehner’s endorsement: “A marvelous book—thoughtful, elegantly written, literate, and timely. An evangelical herself Prior has done a masterful job of identifying the unstated assumptions that have shaped evangelical Christianity. American evangelicalism is in crisis; The Evangelical Imagination helps us to understand why and what needs to be done to make it an instrument of grace in a world that desperately needs it.”

Another book on religion and politics, out earlier this year, is Lerone Martin’s The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover: How the FBI Aided and Abetted the Rise of White Christian Nationalism. This book has what may be the most breathtaking opening chapters of any academic book I’ve read. I’ll be commenting on this book at Notre Dame’s upcoming Cushwa Seminar (open to the public, you should come!), but here’s my official endorsement: “The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover is a work of rigorous archival research that also manages to be a page-turner. In this riveting narrative, Lerone Martin shows how Christian nationalism, ethnocentrism, and authoritarianism are deeply embedded not only in American evangelicalism, but also in the very fabric of our nation. A commanding and compelling reassessment of twentieth-century American religion.”

Earlier this year, I read Richard Reeves’ Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why it Matters, and What to Do about It. It is a refreshing approach to the challenges facing men and boys that doesn’t veer into stereotypes or reactionary solutions and is the kind of book that can help move the conversation forward rather than reinforce polarizing attitudes.

There are a few books that I haven’t yet read but hope to soon. One is Mikeal C. Parsons and João B. Chaves’s Remembering Antônia Teixeira: A Story of Missions, Violence, and Institutional Hypocrisy. (I’m a big fan of Chaves’s The Global Mission of the Jim Crow South: Southern Baptist Missionaries and the Shaping of Latin American Evangelicalism.) Here’s what Beth Allison Barr had to say about the new book: “Haunting and heartbreaking, this meticulously researched narrative lets us finally see the victim of Baylor’s oldest sex scandal. By revealing the powerful currents of colonialism, racism, and sexism that not only destroyed the life of a young girl but kept her story buried for more than a century, this book forces us to face the reality of structural oppression. It is a must-read.”

I read a lot about politics, and necessarily also about problems, and given my line of work, I tend to come across a lot of cases of Christians behaving badly. I also try to read more widely when it comes to matters of faith. In that spirit, I’ll recommend a few books by friends that offer a more edifying picture of Christianity.

Jessica Hooten Wilson’s Reading for the Love of God is a wonderful place to start. Here’s Tish Harrison Warren: “Hooten Wilson makes the case for reading as a means of transformation into Christlikeness. Her own meditations on the theology, spirituality, and ethics of reading are punctuated with studies of great Christian readers, male and female, down through the ages, which adds a rich layer of historical insight to her own brilliant reflections. This book is profound and practical at once. As St. Augustine would say, tolle lege (take and read)!”

My Calvin University colleague Jennifer Holberg has a new book just out that offers similar guidance and edification: Nourishing Narratives: The Power of Story to Shape Our Faith. Here is our fellow colleague Jamie Smith: "Funny and approachable, erudite and smart, this book is not merely a celebration of literature―it is an invitation to learn how to read as if our faith lives depend on it. Jennifer Holberg shows us why we love stories and, more importantly, why we need them."

My grad advisor George Marsden has a new book out on Jonathan Edwards, An Infinite Fountain of Light: Jonathan Edwards for the Twenty-First Century. Here’s my fellow advisee David Swartz on the book: “Clearly this is not just a book of historical recovery. In the vein of Marsden’s memorable “Concluding Unscientific Postscript” in The Soul of the American University (and his follow-up The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship), this book gives spiritual advice. He gets prescriptive as he excavates Edwards on beauty and rightly ordered living. Indeed, this is the main project. ‘My central argument,” he writes, “is that Edwards’s core vision . . . has much of value to offer for renewal today.’ That vision differs dramatically from the so-called ‘theobros.’ These self-appointed defenders of the faith often use their hero Edwards toward angry-God ends, to reinforce hierarchy, to emphasize divine judgment, to bolster a John Wayne-style ends-justify-the-means masculinity. Marsden writes, ‘Some of those who have most celebrated Edwards have also celebrated manly militancy in ways that are contrary to what Edwards sees as one of the fundamental qualities of a genuine child of Christ.’ Even ‘most evangelical churches’ seldom emphasize humility, love, and gentleness as evidence of being ‘born again.’”

Finally, another Calvin colleague has written a favorite book of mine. Debra Rienstra was working on Refugia Faith: Seeking Hidden Shelters, Ordinary Wonders, and the Healing of the Earth while I was writing Jesus and John Wayne, and we spent a summer swapping research stories and thinking together about the challenges we’re facing. If you are a Christian and feel overwhelmed with the state of the church and our world, this book is for you. Here’s my endorsement: "Filled with beauty, wisdom, and a vision for how things might be, this book itself serves as a refuge for the weary, discouraged, and disheartened. Imaginatively conceived and gorgeously written, it is a work of profound insight and deep goodness."

So, stop by your favorite local bookstore, grab a pumpkin spice latte, and enjoy the late summer sunshine as you dive into a good book. (And please add your own recommendations in the comments!)