My 2024 Reads
It feels like I posted last year’s reading list just a few months ago. Where did 2024 go? This year I dived into 44 books about the Christian faith, fiction, and a bit of democracy and history. The 42 of them I found helpful or enjoyed are below. I hope at least one or two sound interesting to you.
But first a humble request. I’m not trying to turn a profit on this website, but it would be great if hosting, email service fees, etc. were covered by readers. If one more person signs up to be a member, everything will be paid for in 2025!
A few other ways you can help out are leaving a tip, purchasing one of the below books, or signing up for my email list. Now, let’s talk books! I want to highlight several of my favorites before providing the rest.
Nonfiction
The Churches The Apostles Left Behind by Raymond E. Brown
Written over 40 years ago by one of the most acclaimed Catholic scholars of our time, this is the single best book I've read on the roots of church governance. It’s a beautiful exposition on the seven different New Testament churches after the death of the apostles and shows why there is not a single biblical way to do church.
Instead, Brown writes “If churches have accepted the canon of the Bible, they cannot allow their preferences to silence any biblical voice. In the polemics of church division we have virtually done that, because we have often seriously neglected a scriptural witness that lent support to a rival church. I contend that in a divided Christianity, instead of reading the Bible to assure ourselves that we are right, we would do better to read it to discover where we have not been listening." Get your copy.
The End of Theological Education by Ted A. Smith
Smith locates the crisis facing theological education today in a sweeping history of religion in the United States, from the standing orders of the colonial period to the voluntary associations of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He connects today’s challenges to shifts in contemporary society, including declining religious affiliation, individualization, rising desires for authenticity, and the unraveling of professions.
Smith refuses to tell the story as one of progress or decline. Instead, he puts theological education in eschatological perspective, understanding it in relation to its ultimate “knowledge of God, knowledge so deep, so intimate, that it requires and accomplishes our transformation.” This knowledge is not restricted to a professional clerical class but is given for the salvation of all. Seeing by the light of this hope, Smith calls us to reimagine church, ministry, and theological education for this time between the times. Get your copy.
The Critical Meaning of the Bible by Raymond E. Brown
Also written over 40 years ago, Brown successfully shows that using the historical-critical method with the Bible is not simply an option but a necessity. When practiced by believers, it involves a fundamental theological statement about the word of God as always conditioned by time and place and circumstance, while remaining truly of God. Brown argues that “despite their different agendas ultraliberals and ultraconservatives can agree that the historical-critical method leads to denying the ‘of God’ in favor of the human ‘word’ element, but that may well be because neither group can accept an incarnational theology of the fully divine in the fully human.” Word.
What really puts Brown’s work over the top here though is his exploring how making changes in the way we approach the Bible will be a long and painful process in the upper echelons of Catholicism all the way down to the local parish. It’s a fascinating read from a Catholic scholar writing in the 1970s/80s about the issues so many American Protestants find themselves facing today. Get your copy.
John For Normal People by Jennifer Garcia Bashaw
This thoughtfully researched and playful commentary illuminates the theological world of the Gospel According to John and explores what we might learn about Jesus when we are attentive to the text. Re-creating key passages as theatrical scenes, Bashaw dramatically illustrates John's narrative brilliance and draws on biblical scholarship to explore the stories behind the story.
I interviewed Jennifer last year after reading her first book Scapegoats: The Gospel through the Eyes of Victims. She is a delightful human being and her pastoral heart and words have a way of capturing your attention. This commentary is stunning. Get your copy.
Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
In Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer —renowned Christian minister, professor, and author— recounts his unique fellowship in an underground seminary in Nazi Germany. He gives practical advice on how life together in Christ can be sustained in families and groups. Our family is finally settling into a church after a few years of being buffeted around by the dominant church culture here in Tennessee and I found Bonhoeffer’s words encouraging. Get your copy.
Reading the Sermon on the Mount with John Stott by Douglas Connelly
This book offers Stott's The Message of the Sermon on the Mount in brief readings suitable for daily use or weekly group discussions. The bible study I am a part of went through this in the Fall and the conversations stemming from it were really great. Get your copy.
Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament by Peter Enns
How can an evangelical view of Scripture be reconciled with modern biblical scholarship? This book addresses Old Testament phenomena that challenge traditional evangelical perspectives on the Bible. Enns then suggests a way forward, proposing an incarnational model of biblical inspiration that takes seriously both the divine and human aspects of the Bible.
I’m uncomfortable with fundamentalist or progressive approaches to the Bible and have really taken to the incarnational approach the past few years. Enns does a fantastic job mapping out why this is but one helpful approach to the Bible. If you’re struggling with past, unhealthy experiences with Scripture, I think this book can be helpful. Get your copy.
Ministers of Propaganda: Truth, Power, and the Ideology of the Religious Right by Scott Coley
There is a growing body of scholarly work today exploring the problems plaguing white American evangelicalism. A handful stand above the rest and, in my opinion, Ministers of Propaganda by Scott Coley is at the same high level as Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez and The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark Noll. What Du Mez does for recent evangelical history, Coley does for philosophy and political ethics. He not only exhibits the more fully fleshed out dangers of the anti-intellectualism Noll warned about nearly 30 years ago, but also shows how propaganda keeps those dangers entrenched. If you’ve left white evangelicalism behind and are struggling in your faith, this book can help you cut through some of the mess faster. Get your copy.
And here are the rest of the nonfiction books I read. They all range from really good to interesting, but I unfortunately don’t have the space to provide a short overview of each one:
The Prophetic Imagination: 40th Anniversary Edition by Dr. Walter Brueggemann (purchase)
Field Notes for the Wilderness: Practices for an Evolving Faith by Sarah Bessey (purchase)
"After Ten Years": Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Our Times by Victoria J. Barnett (Editor), Dietrich Bonhoeffer (purchase)
The Story of Christianity: Volume I: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation by Dr. Justo L. Gonzalez (purchase)
The Story of Christianity: Volume II: The Reformation to the Present Day by Dr. Justo L. Gonzalez (purchase)
The Didache | Teaching of the Twelve Apostles by translators Charles H. Hoole, Kirsopp Lake, Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson , and J.B. Lightfoot (purchase)
What If Jesus Was Serious About The Church?: A Visual Guide to Becoming the Community Jesus Intended by Skye Jethani (purchase)
Acts: 24 Studies for Individuals and Groups by N.T. Wright (purchase)
Jesus through Medieval Eyes: Beholding Christ with the Artists, Mystics, and Theologians of the Middle Ages by Grace Hamman (purchase)
The Color of Compromise by Dr. Jemar Tisby (purchase)
On Tyranny by Dr. Timothy Snyder (purchase)
The End of Civility: Christ and Prophetic Division by Dr. Ryan Andrew Newsow (purchase)
Revelation for the Rest of Us by Dr. Scot McKnight and Cody Matchett (purchase)
The Ballot and the Bible by Kaitlyn Schiess (purchase)
The Great Sex Rescue: The Lies You've Been Taught and How to Recover What God Intended by Sheila Wray Gregoire, Rebecca Gregoire Lindenbach, and Joanna Sawatsky (purchase)
Urban Legends of the Old Testament by David A. Croteau and Gary Yates (purchase)
Urban Legends of the New Testament by David A. Croteau (purchase)
Urban Legends of Church History by John Adair and Michael J. Svigel (purchase)
The Puritans: A Transatlantic History by David D. Hall (purchase)
Fiction
Foundation Series (7 books) by Issac Asimov
For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future—to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last 30,000 years. To preserve knowledge and save humankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire —both scientists and scholars— and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for future generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation.
I finally read this classic science fiction series after discovering the show on Apple TV and loved each book. All the themes feel especially relevant today. Get the first book.
The Handmaid’s Tale & The Testaments (2 books) by Margaret Atwood
In The Handmaid's Tale, environmental disasters and declining birthrates have led to a Second American Civil War and the rise of the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian regime that enforces rigid social roles and enslaves the few remaining fertile women. Offred is one of these, a Handmaid bound to produce children for one of Gilead's Commanders. Deprived of her husband, her child, her freedom, and even her own name, Offred clings to her memories and her will to survive. In The Testaments, set more than fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale, the Republic of Gilead maintains its repressive grip on power, but it is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, the lives of three radically different women come together, with potentially explosive results. Get your copies.
King of Scars Duology (2 books) by Leigh Bardugo
I enjoyed this series overall. The world-building is as phenomenal as it is fascinating. The story follows young king Nikolai Lantsov, who has always had a gift for the impossible, as his weakened country struggles to survive amid other hostile powers. Some of the characters struggle to rise to the level of the world they are cast into and there are moments of cringe romance; but, the world, overarching plot, and some of the other characters manage to make up for that lost ground. The story is set to strong Russian-East Asia-merchant vibes and poses interesting questions about the relationship between religion, culture, class, and power. All relevant themes for us today. Get your copy.
Thank you so much for being a part of this space in 2024. I’ve appreciated your comments as we try to figure this whole Jesus thing out. Is there a book you read this year you want others to know about? Drop it in the comments below!
