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The Theology of Paul the Apostle © 1998 Eerdmans xxxvi+808 pages James Dunn has spent over four decades with Paul on his mind. He’s produced commentaries on his letters and been one of the pioneers of the New Perspective on Paul. When you read The Theology of Paul the Apostle, his experience and knowledge of [...]

Old Testament Theology © 1996 Augsburg Fortress 318 pages This book is a godsend for those of us who don’t live close to a theological library. Patrick Miller has collected 15 different articles Brueggemann has written for various theological journals between 1978 and 1990 and organized them loosely into two categories. The first articles discuss [...]

Performing the Faith: Bonhoeffer and the Practice of Nonviolence © 2004 Brazos Press: Baker 252 pages Hauerwas is always challenging and thought-provoking. This work on Bonhoeffer is no different. In Performing the Faith, Hauerwas uses Bonhoeffer’s life to show how Christians can be creative in their practice of non-violence (of course, that’s an extremely reductive [...]

Colossians and Philemon © 1986 Tyndale New Testament Commentaries Eerdmans 192 pages Long before the massive Christian Origins and the Question of God, long before “The Right Reverend Father in God, by Divine Providence Lord Bishop of Durham”, we had N. T. Wright, Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey. While some the later themes of Wright’s [...]

Interpreting Martin Luther: An Introduction to His Life and Thought © 2008 Regent College Publishing 345 pages Interpreting Martin Luther is a seminary course converted into a book. Each of the twelve chapters correspond to the twelve classroom lectures in the semester. Having taken the course from the author a little less than a decade [...]

Jesus, Paul and the People of God: A Theological Dialogue with N. T. Wright © 2011 IVP Academic 294 pages It had to be awkward. The good theologians at Wheaton College threw a Theology Conference based solely on the theology of N. T. Wright, and invited him to come and respond. Wright handled the situation [...]

With the Grain of the Universe: The Church’s Witness and Natural Theology © 2001 Brazos: Baker 249 pages It’s been a couple days since I finished reading Hauerwas’ Gifford Lectures and a couple things have happened: My brain has stopped throbbing. The issues he dealt with are becoming clearer. In With the Grain of the [...]

The First Book of Samuel (New International Commentary on the Old Testament) © 2007 Eerdmans 698 pages Tsumura’s entry in Eerdman’s NICOT commentary series is strong. Here is where it’s most useful: Ancient Hebrew: The core of this commentary is Tsumura’s ability to bring out the meaning of the original language. Interconnections within the text [...]

Proper Confidence: Faith, Doubt, and Certainty in Christian Discipleship © 1995 Eerdmans 105 pages Proper Confidence is the fruit of a lifetime. Lesslie Newbigin’s bio blurb describes him as “an internationally esteemed British missionary, pastor, apologist, theologian, and ecumenical statesman.” In this book, published three years before his death, he described his vision of true [...]

The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millennium © 1998 Galilee: Random House 224 pages The Powers that Be is a digest of Wink’s Trilogy on the Principalities and Powers. After years of seeing Wink’s name curiously sprinkled through the footnotes of other books I’ve read, I finally decided to read him for myself. [...]