For many of us, religion shapes our worldview, values, and interactions. Even for those who aren't religious, the impact religion has had on the world throughout history cannot be ignored. And today, when many are leaving religious communities, it's important for us to engage with religion not as a rigid set of beliefs but as a force that shapes our understanding of ourselves and others. Scroll to discover books that provide rich insights and reflections on religion and its role in today's world.
For millennia, the Psalms have shaped the spiritual lives of many. And before the Nazis banned him from publishing, German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer published this book on the Psalms. Delve into the pages of Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible to uncover the significance this book of Scripture held for Bonhoeffer, and learn to pray psalms along with Christ. This timeless classic, first published in 1940, reveals how the Psalms are essential to the life of the believer and offers Bonhoeffer's reflections on psalms of thanksgiving, suffering, guilt, praise, and lament. This expanded edition includes a new introduction by Walter Brueggemann, select passages from the Psalms, and a biographical sketch of Bonhoeffer.
The Bible is teeming with peculiar creatures, mind-altering spirits, and supernatural hitmen, jarring in both their strangeness and their propensity for violence—especially on God's behalf. Their eerie presence may be uncomfortable, but the Bible is richer for their presence. For anyone interested in monsters, myths, folklore, demons, and more, God's Monsters is a deep dive into the creaturely strangeness found within the pages of the Bible.
lenny duncan is the unlikeliest of pastors. Formerly incarcerated, they are now a Black preacher in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America—the whitest denomination in the United States. While shifting demographics and shrinking congregations make the headlines, duncan sees a direct connection between the church's lack of diversity and lack of vitality. Dear Church offers a bold new vision for the future of communities of faith and calls everyone to the front lines of racial equality and justice.
When we picture the first Advent, we see Mary and Joseph huddled by a manger, magi, shepherds, and a bright star in a midnight sky. But this harmonized version has lifted the true Advent story out of its context—those who experienced the first Advent had to travel through great darkness to reach the hope that shining star announced. In The First Advent in Palestine, trusted scholar and community organizer Kelley Nikondeha takes us back to the landscape of Palestine and features the stories of modern-day Palestinians, centering their voices to help us meet an Advent recognizable for today.
If you want to understand the Black experience in the United States, you have to understand hip-hop. In Psalms of My People, artist, scholar, and activist lenny duncan treats the work of hip-hop artists—from N.W.A and Biggie to Tupac and Kendrick Lamar—like sacred scripture. Their lyrics are given full exegetical treatment and are beautifully illustrated, with a blend of ancient and modern art styles illuminating every page.
We live in a secular age, where increasing numbers of us don't believe in God and we don't expect miracles. Yet five hundred years ago the world was very much enchanted. While this might be taken as evidence of a crisis of belief, Richard Beck argues that it's actually a crisis of attention. God hasn't gone anywhere, but we've lost our capacity to see God. Hunting Magic Eels shows us that with attention and an intentional, cultivated capacity to experience God as a living, vital presence in our lives, we can cultivate an enchanted faith in a skeptical age.
Grace Ji-Sun Kim and Susan M. Shaw
When we look at God through the eyes of sexual abuse survivors, who do we see? While many books have dealt with abuse scandals in the church, the role of pastoral care for survivors, or liberatory readings of biblical texts to support survivors, Surviving God offers a fresh perspective. This book takes a new approach, centering the voices of sexual abuse survivors while rethinking key beliefs, leading us to deep healing and a transformed church.
What does jazz have to do with spirituality? Presbyterian minister and jazz pianist Bill Carter delves into the soulful depths of jazz in Thriving on a Riff, weaving together stories from the history of American music with his own experiences and those of other musicians. In this book exploring the transcendence of jazz, we meet a God who not only embraces syncopation but blesses the swing.
How could anarchy possibly relate to Christianity? Isn't it just chaos? In Jesus and the Abolitionists, Terry J. Stokes introduces us to the ancient practice of anarchy and explores how it intersects with Christian beliefs. We learn how beliefs about God, humanity, spirituality, and more can be faithfully reformulated through an anarchist lens to help us build a more ethical and just world.
As we move through the world, we constantly choose between following our conscience and deferring to the beliefs of others, especially in cultural, political, and religious conversations. We Become What We Normalize reveals our compromised reality—the host of hidden structures and tacit social arrangements—and helps us step away from the infinite loop of normalizing harm into effecting true change.
Natalie R. Perkins and Hal Taussig
Many of us have heard about the recently discovered writings by the early followers of Jesus through newspapers, magazines, video and audio interviews, and conversations on social media. Using examples from modern life to introduce dozens of excerpts from these texts, In Trembling Boldness draws meaning and connection between ancient followers of Jesus and the most pressing issues of today, including LGBTQ+ inclusion, incarceration, addiction, immigration, violence, illness, the work of social justice, civil disobedience, and more.
An overlooked background figure in the story of the apostle Paul, Agabus (Acts 21:10-14) bursts from the pages with an audacious prophecy. In today's world where everyone wants to be the main character, Agabus conveys the countercultural message that an anonymous life of authenticity is more important than approval of others. Searching for Agabus dares us to learn how to bravely be our authentic selves, honoring what God has assigned us to do, no matter how small or insignificant it seems.
A grandmother's theology carries wisdom strong enough for future generations. In the pages of In My Grandmother's House, theologian Yolanda Pierce builds an everyday womanist theology rooted in stories from the Black church, liberating scriptures, and truths from Black women's lives. The Divine has been showing up at the kitchen tables of Black women for a long time. It's time for all of us to get to know that God.
Life's Too Short to Pretend You're Not Religious
When we make peace with the idea of being religious, we can more practically envision an undivided life. Since its original release, Dark's Life's Too Short to Pretend You're Not Religious has become essential reading for those engaged in the conversation on religion in contemporary American society. This revised, expanded, and reframed edition reflects a more expansive understanding, employs inclusive language, and tackles the most pressing issues of the day like the pandemic and vaccine responses, Black Lives Matter, the #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements, Critical Race Theory, and more.
As a queer woman in the church, Emmy Kegler knows too well how Scripture can be used to exclude and wound. And yet, the stories found in the Bible continued to captivate her. In One Coin Found, Kegler shows us that even when we feel like lost and dusty coins, God picks up a broom and sweeps every corner of creation to find us.
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