The 10 Best Books I Read This Year

I set out to read 30 books this year and it looks like I will have read 52 by the time the year ends. Here are my 10 favorites. I have to apologize as most of the books on this list deal with Karl Barth. As I am primarily studying Barth for my MDiv, I spend the most time reading his books and reading about him.

10. Night Comes: Death, Imagination, and the Last Things by Dale Allison

If you know me, you know I struggle with fear of death. This was an edifying book to read for me. Allison has clearly struggled with the issue a lot as well, and offers here some valuable insights that shouldn't be overlooked. (Also, I have a review coming out for this book in the Wesleyan Theological Journal!)

9. Batman: Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrison

I started reading Batman graphic novels this year. I read about a dozen of them. I can't decide which is my favorite, but this one was the most thought-provoking. It's such a gritty, disturbing, and compelling portrait of Batman and the Joker, and provides endless opportunities for critical analysis. I even wrote an And Philosophy article about it.

8. Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts by Eberhard Busch

This is not only a great biography, but it's one of the best introductions to Barth that I've read. You really get to know Barth and his thought through this book. He led an exciting life, full of controversy and conflict, but also full of beauty. There is never a dull moment, and it paints a very full picture of Barth.

7. Against Ethics by John Caputo

Caputo never ceases to impress me with his striking way with words. He really knows how to write. He is also one of the most compelling thinkers with whom I am familiar, and one of the best theologians alive today. This is clearly one of his best works.

6. The Barthian Revolt in Modern Theology by Gary Dorrien

I read this book in a week, which is odd for me because I usually read several books at once and take my time with them. I couldn't put this one down. It's a fantastic introduction to the story of Barth, his theology, and the conflicts that paved the way of his life. It's also a thrilling read.

5. Church Dogmatics, II.1, The Doctrine of God by Karl Barth

The highlighted pages in my copy of this book tell it all. It is clear to me that I will be working with this text for years to come. It is exhausting to get through, but it's worth it. You truly see his brilliance here. He was undoubtedly one of history's greatest theologians.

4. War Against the Idols: The Reformation of Worship from Erasmus to Calvin by Carlos M.N. Eire

I am so glad I read this before taking my Luther and Calvin classes. It's such a great introduction to the reformers and reformation theology. Eire outlines well how the issue of worship was central to the reformation program, and his telling of the history is endlessly interesting. This is in no wise a boring read. It's funny, intriguing, informative, and well-told--a great history book.

3. Barth, Derrida, and the Language of Theology by Graham Ward

This is my favorite text of secondary literature on Barth that I've read so far. It convincingly demonstrates how postmodern Barth was, and how his theology was a sophisticated critique of metaphysics. More people need to read this, especially those critics of Barth who characterize his theology as revelatory positivism, and those philosophers who disregard Barth as fideistic or his God as far too radically transcendent.

2. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

What can I say that hasn't already been said? It's a masterpiece.

1. The Epistle to the Romans by Karl Barth

For this one as well, what can I say? It was described in its time as "a bomb on the playground of theologians." The bomb explodes with the same power today.

The 10 Best Books I Read in 2014

Forewarning: most of these books did not come out in 2014. I listened to hours and hours of new music from this year, watched hours and hours of movies from this year, but I did not read for hours and hours pages from books that came out this year. So instead I am listing the top 10 books that I read this year, regardless of their release dates.

10. Making Globalization Work by Joseph E. Stiglitz

This year, I, for the first time, picked up several economics books. My favorite was Stiglitz' second book on globalization. I am currently working on a paper presenting a Christian approach to globalization, and this book is my main source. Stiglitz knows what he's talking about, and listening to his solutions would do the whole world a lot of good. It's just too bad the right people aren't going to.




9. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

I usually dislike reading fiction. I so easily get bored. What's funny is that for most people I talk to it's the other way around: they get bored reading non-fiction and can only read fiction. But I also kept hearing how beneficial reading novels can be for the creative imagination, and so upon a recommendation from a friend, I read Kundera's novel. According to Slavoj Zizek, the only good Kundera novel is The Joke, which I haven't yet read. I'm not sure what his problem with Unbearable Lightness is, though, because it's great. I love Kundera's style, and his character studies are just excellent. I'm glad I read it--and that says a lot for me.


8. The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, The Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made by Greg Sestero & Tom Bissell

One of the most enjoyable things I read this year was The Disaster Artist, Greg Sestero's tell-all about his many years with Tommy Wiseau, the writer, director, producer, and main actor in The Room, the most enjoyable bad movie of all time. What we find out is that Wiseau is more fascinating and hysterical than we could have ever imagined. Reading the book is as funny and baffling as watching The Room for the first time.




7. Holy War in the Bible: Christian Morality and an Old Testament Problem edited by Heath A. Thomas, Jeremy Evans, and Paul Copan

I tackled two huge biblical topics this year: divine violence in the Old Testament and historical Jesus studies. Biblical topics with more literature concerning them probably could not be named. Today, these are leading subjects, with just about every scholar with skin in the game. I read 20 books, and at least that amount of articles. on divine violence in the OT. IVP's edited collection Holy War in the Bible was the most helpful introduction to the topic. He offers several different perspectives, most of which offer important insight. It is not a comprehensive collection, but it had the most to offer.

6. Constructing Jesus: Memory, Imagination and History by Dale Allison

On the historical Jesus, I read books from 6 different authors. The list of historical Jesus works that I've read now includes John Dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg, Raymond Brown, James D.G. Dunn, Simon J. Joseph, E.P. Sanders, N.T. Wright, Craig Blomberg, and Dale Allison. I am glad I read Allison last. After reading the others, I was not compelled in any one direction. They all had their arguments, but I didn't find any one of the more persuasive than the others. And then I read Constructing Jesus, and my views of Jesus were changed forever. Allison is by far the most well-rounded, nuanced, honest and insightful historical Jesus scholar I have read thus far.

5. Sacred Word, Broken Word: Biblical Authority and the Dark Side of Scripture by Kenton Sparks

I used to want to be an apologist. I wanted to be the guy people went to for their tough theological questions. Yet even while I desired to be answer man, I hoped to God that no one would ask me about divine violence in the Bible. I just didn't know what to do with it. I finally dove into the topic late 2013. There has to be some magical explanation that preserves God's nature as love and biblical infallibility simultaneously, right?! After familiarizing myself with all the different views, I have discovered...there just isn't. This is the book that confirmed it for me. We have a choice to make: either the Bible is not infallible and we have to think about biblical authority differently, or God's nature isn't love as revealed through Jesus. Sparks chooses the former, and makes a supreme case for such a choice in this book.

4. The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap by Matt Taibbi

After reading this book, I could no longer keep silent about injustice, about the ongoing oppression of disadvantaged people by those in power. There is an inequality not just of wealth in the U.S., but of justice, consisting of a lack of justice for those at the top, and rabid injustice inflicted upon those at the bottom. It was a rude awakening to a world so foreign to me, but so terribly real for millions of people. A must-read.




3. Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy by Walter Brueggemann

Since finishing this book early in the year, I rarely discuss the Old Testament without thinking of it. Brueggemann's presentation of OT theology is altogether insightful, original, and even captivating. His description of OT theology as a process of testimony and counter-testimony through various mediators changed the way I thought about Scripture and revelation. OT students cannot afford to overlook this book.



2. God the Economist: The Doctrine of God and Political Economy by M. Douglas Meeks

This year was a milestone for me, as it was the year that I decided against anabaptist Christian social theory and decided in favor of Social Gospel thinking. Extremely helpful after that turn was Meeks' incredible book on a Christian theology of political economy. Meeks effectively shows what God's ideal community consists of, and what its implications are for how Christians should think of the economy.




1. The Historical Christ and the Theological Jesus by Dale Allison

Why am I including two Jesus books by Dale Allison? Because this is seriously the best book I've read in the past few years. I am not exaggerating when I say it changed my life. It had been a while since a book rocked me like this one did. Here, Allison tackles theological issues that come into play with historical Jesus research. Allison is, after all, a Christian, and much of what he says in his academic work is quite challenging to orthodox Christianity. Indeed, even I, no stranger to the unorthodox, was challenged by it. I remember reading Love Wins and for the first time feeling liberated by words on a page. There have been other books since then that have given me the same experience, and this was one of them. I felt it so much that I threw the book across the room at one point. Allison doesn't answer all the questions I would have liked him to, but he gave me a ton to think about.

Books for Recovering Fundamentalists

Growing up in American evangelicalism, we are not taught multiple ways of looking at the Bible. "The Bible says it, that settles it," is the motto. Of course, there are silent, unspoken presuppositions and interpretations that dictate how one sees Scriptural passages, but that's another story. For young adults like myself who came out of this environment, being subjected to the rest of the world can be daunting and ground-shaking. Finding many weaknesses in the faith that we were surrounded by growing up, it's easy to want to drop Christianity altogether, and many do. But for those of you who have experienced this but still find something in Christianity worth holding onto, I recommend the following books. But even if you haven't had that experience, these are some great books.

The Historical Christ and the Theological Jesus by Dale Allison

I just finished this recently and it's incredible. You may have to supplement it with some other historical Jesus reading, but as it stands it's a fantastic book from a leading historical Jesus scholar on the reconciliation of faith with biblical criticism. Allison offers some pretty uncomfortable conclusions for the common evangelical. It's a book I wrestled with, but ultimately one I found freeing and profound. I actually threw the book across the room at one point!

Love Wins and Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

Bell is a must-read for recovering fundamentalists. He's an easy read, but a challenging one. He offers a lot of great insights, and even more great questions. If you're a recovering fundamentalist, I would start with Bell.

Is God to Blame? by Greg Boyd

This is a book for those who wrestle with theological issues like the problem of evil. I haven't read anyone stronger than Boyd on this topic. He tears apart the "blueprint worldview" that attributes everything that happens in life to the work of God, and offers a "warfare worldview" in which pervasive evil and suffering are the results of free agents who so often choose evil over good. Boyd gives you a lot of comfort and a lot to think about.

The Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggemann

While this isn't specifically a book for recovering fundies, it is a must-read for all Christians, and I think young progressive Christians will get a lot from it. Every new person I have read it comes to me with the same reaction: "This book blew my mind!" Brueggemann uses the Bible in a way that I never heard used growing up. He talks about the Bible's teaching on social justice, and the countercultural message it presents to society. This book is gold.

The Bible Tells Me So and The Evolution of Adam by Peter Enns

Enns is incredible. Like Bell, he is a perfect person for ex-fundies to read. His books are challenging, but also liberating. I would read The Bible Tells Me So first, and then The Evolution of Adam if you want a good intro to Genesis as mythic poetry instead of a historical book that describes the literal origin of the universe. If you haven't been subjected to his ideas before, you will never look at the Bible the same after reading him.

If the Church were Christian by Philip Gulley

This one is so good because it's so subversive. Gulley is a heretic, straight up. There's something so interesting about reading what a heretical pastor has to say and what his experiences are. Whatever your beliefs about Christianity are, Gulley will challenge at least some of them. I don't endorse everything he says, I think he's wrong about several things and the book has weaknesses, but it's a very thought-provoking read. Whether you're cheering him on or making this face O_o, you will get a lot out of this book.

The God-Shaped Brain by Timothy Jennings

This one is not as controversial as the others. It's coming at Christianity from a psychology perspective, and what a perspective! Jennings provides a new angle from which to think about the implications of our Christian beliefs. Although he gets a little evangelical-y at times, so much of what he says is so beautiful.

In the Name of Jesus by Henri Nouwen 

Really, anything by Nouwen is excellent. I have never read another devotional author more consistently edifying. His theology carries such beauty, and the way it transfers from mind to heart and practice is compelling and inspiring. It is a tiny book that can easily be read in one or two sittings, but it's gold, pure gold!

Sacred Word, Broken Word by Kenton Sparks

If you wrestle with the problems of Scripture while maintaining a desire to recognize its authority, Sparks is essential, along with Enns. He makes the case that the same dilemma we face with the problem of evil, we face with the problem of Scripture; that is, Scripture, like creation, is corrupted by human evil, even if it is thoroughly a work of God. The book is insightful and challenging.

What else should be added to this list?