Not the Book I Expected: A Review of We Confess! for SpeakEasy Bloggers
We Confess!: The Civil War, the South, and the Church by Deborah Brunt WestBow Press. 266 pp. I’ve now lived in the South longer than I lived in the Midwest,…
Deconstruction on the Way to the Kingdom: A Review of The Gospel and the Mind
The Gospel and the Mind: Recovering and Shaping the Intellectual Life by Bradley G. Green Crossway. 181 pp. 16.99 Sometimes folks who have recently learned about the synoptic gospels’ emphasis…
Jesus, History, and Interpretation: A Response to Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan
Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan 272 pp. Random House. $27.00. I’ll say this up front: New Testament Studies is a hard discipline. Its difficulty comes…
Review of Evolution's Purpose for SpeakEasy Bloggers
Evolution’s Purpose: An Integral Interpretation of the Scientific Story of Our Origins by Steve McIntosh 260 pp. Selectbooks. $24.95. More than anything else, this book reminds me that philosophy and…
Pleasantly Uneven: A Review of A New Evangelical Manifesto for SpeakEasy Bloggers
A New Evangelical Manifesto: A Kingdom Vision of the Common Good Edited by David P. Gushee 240 pp. Chalice Press. $24.99. I’ll go ahead and shoot straight here: when I…
No Room for Difference: A Review of Viral Jesus for SpeakEasy Bloggers
Viral Jesus: Recovering the Contagious Power of the Gospel By Ross Rochde 204 pp. Passio. $14.99. There are certain books that make me realize just how much other writers influence…
Book Review: "The Road Trip That Changed the World"
The Road Trip That Changed the World By Mark Sayers 285 pp. Moody Publishers. $14.99. Mark Sayers’s The Road Trip That Changed the World is a piece of cultural criticism…
Book Review: "Home"
Home: A Novel By Toni Morrison. 147 pp. Knopf. $24. “The past is never dead,” wrote William Faulkner in his late play Requiem for a Nun. “It’s not even past.”…
WWJD 2.0: A Review of The Jesus Life for Speakeasy
The Jesus Life: Eight Ways to Recover Authentic Christianity by Stephen W. Smith 231 pp. David Cook. $14.99. I’ve said before that, if you want to see what a writer’s…
Book Review: "Girlchild"
Girlchild: A Novel By Tupelo Hassman 277 pp. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. $24. In her debut novel, Girlchild, the improbably named Tupelo Hassman tells the story of Rory Dawn Hendrix,…
Definitely a Go-To Book: A Review of Good News for Anxious Christians by Phillip Cary
Good News for Anxious Christians: 10 Practical Things You Don’t Have to Do by Phillip Cary 197 pp. Brazos Press. $14.99. Phillip Cary was one of the best guests ever…
Existentialism and Christianity? Existentialism Against Christianty?: A Review of Insurrection by Peter Rollins for SpeakEasy Bloggers
Insurrection: To Believe Is Human, To Doubt Divine. by Peter Rollins 185 pp. Howard Books. $16.00. In 2009 I started a journey into existentialism, a body of philosophy and literature…
Book Review: "Why Read Moby-Dick?"
Why Read Moby-Dick? By Nathaniel Philbrick. 144 pp. Viking Adult. $25. If such a thing as the Great American Novel exists, Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick is almost certainly the finest example…
My Kind of Theologian: A Review of Earthen Vessels by Matthew Lee Anderson
Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter to Our Faith by Matthew Lee Anderson 231 pp. $14.99. Bethany House. The preface to Matthew Anderson’s book is subtitled, “In Which I Clear…
Liberal Theology Makes Me Want to Go Catholic: A Review of Kissing Fish for Speakeasy Bloggers
Kissing Fish: Christianity for People who Don’t Like Christianity by Roger Wolsey 393 pp. Xlibris. $19.99 Certain books stand out in my mind less as conversation partners and more as…