Books

We review a book each month at A Public Witness and for this installment, Beau Underwood examines and recommends Beth Allison Barr's The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth. He also discusses some of the strong reaction to the book by Barr's opponents.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews Indigenous Theology and the Western Worldview: A Decolonized Approach to Christian Doctrine by Randy S. Woodley. This book serves as a helpful introduction for those who are not familiar with an indigenous/Native American vision of Christianity and the ways it can differ from Western theology.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews That We May Be One: Practicing Unity in a Divided Church by Gary B. Agee. In this book, Agee reminds us that unity is not easy to achieve and that shortcuts that avoid difficult conversations about issues such as race and gender won’t lead to true ecumenism within Christianity.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews Rethinking the Dates of the New Testament: The Evidence for Early Composition by Jonathan Bernier. This fascinating book is written in a way that does not get too caught up in academic language and is accessible to clergy and those who have a moderate background in biblical studies.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews What Is My Calling?: A Biblical and Theological Exploration of Christian Identity by William W. Klein and Daniel J. Steiner. The book’s message can be helpful for those who are struggling to make sense of their desire or inner compulsion to pursue vocational ministry because calling does not equal a job.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews A Curious Faith: The Questions God Asks, We Ask, and We Wish Someone Would Ask Us by Lore Ferguson Wilbert. The book is written from an evangelical perspective that is open to learning new things by asking and listing to faith questions, which requires letting go of easy answers.

We review a book each month at A Public Witness and for this installment, Beau Underwood examines a memoir on family histories, racism, and what our society needs to do now. He highly recommends Lisa Sharon Harper.'s Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World — and How to Repair it All.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible by Dietrich Bonhoeffer with a new introduction from Walter Brueggemann. While Bonhoeffer was thoroughly trained in the historical-critical method of biblical interpretation, in his book on the Psalms he reads them as if they are Davidic in origin.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews Words of Love: A Healing Journey with the Ten Commandments by Eugenia Anne Gamble. This book reflects on the Commandments in a manner that is both deeply spiritual and personal and we see aspects that people often miss when they are read strictly as legal codes.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews Churches and the Crisis of Decline: A Hopeful, Practical Ecclesiology for a Secular Age by Andrew Root. This book explores the question of what the church might look like in the future as it experiences a crisis of decline in the current secular age.