Ray S. Anderson

Theology

“Donald Bloesch's theology comes out of a believing heart, a lucid mind, and a teacher's penchant for clarity and communication. This is edifying as well as instructive reading. Few books on systematic theology at their end leave the reader hungering for more. This is an exception.”

Faith, Theology, and Psychoanalysis

Theology

“"little theologian" which, he went on to say, is to participate totally in the problematic aspects of the self in community with others. In this exquisite excursion into the formative religious and psychological influences on the life and practice of Harry Guntrip, Trevor Dobbs probes the self's regressive dependence upon the other as an implicit theological existence for which God is the only reality sufficient to sustain the self in its paradoxical quest for relation and autonomy. In reading this, I was reminded that all theology is autobiographical (and therefore psychological) if it is to be an authentic conversation that includes God, self and others. This is a book that will stimulate and extend that conversation.”

Foundations for Soul Care

Counseling, Grief & Mental Health

“Eric Johnson cuts through the underbrush of contemporary attempts to integrate psychology and theology to get at the root of a truly Christian psychology. He argues that the redemptive provision of the Creator goes back to the very origin of humanity and points forward to the restoration and fulfillment of human life as it was intended to be. From this perspective, the Bible can be viewed as an indispensable source of knowledge as to what constitutes humanity beyond a reductionist, secular approach. As a result, Christian psychology is not just an alternative to secular psychology, but has a biblically informed understanding of what is truly human and therefore can provide a baseline by which that which disrupts, distorts and disturbs personal human existence (sin) can be dealt with therapeutically with a goal of moving persons toward health and wholeness. Because we are spiritual beings bearing signs of being formed originally in the divine image, a Christian psychology is not one that imposes a religious construct upon basic humanity, but rather is able to describe and define humanity in its most complete form, including the spiritual dimension. The concept of 'soul care' is thus not first of all a religious practice but a thoroughly human praxis by which external sources of empowerment (grace) can be provided and appropriated. This is a book that should be at the top of the list as required reading for all who are preparing to be counselors and therapists as well as those already in practice.”

Jacob and the Night of Faith

Theology

“Seldom have I read a dissertation as sophisticated in its conceptual analysis as well as creative in its probing and original contribution to contemporary theological issues.”

Karl Barth in North America

Theology

“Karl Barth was a pastor when he discovered what he called, 'The strange new world of the Bible,' as he set aside the results of a century of higher criticism of the text and began to read the book of Romans as though for the first time, seeking only to hear it as Word of God. John Lewis, in this fine book, examines several evangelical North American theologians whose own 'approach' to theology has been shaped by Barth in a positive way. By showing how one's approach to theology is determinative of theological method as well as content, Lewis not only provides an insightful introduction to Karl Barth but also shows why an evangelical biblical theology is distinguished by its approach to the Scriptural text. While this study is limited to North American evangelical theologians, it shows why Barth's theology, to the extent that it is read by pastors as well as by theologians, strikes a chord with those who preach and teach out of their own experience of the Word of God. I would make it required reading for college and seminary students preparing for pastoral ministry and encourage pastors to put it in their 'must read' list.”

Karl Barth’s Theology of Relations, Two Volumes

Theology

“Gary Deddo succeeds in a marvelous way of demonstrating Karl Barth's relevance as a practical theologian. Those who are familiar with Barth's relational theological anthropology will be impressed with the way in which this book traces out the contours of the intra-divine character of personal being-in-relation as the objective grounds for human parent-child relations. No one who sets out to determine biblical and theological assumptions for the ethical concerns for quality of life for persons in families can afford to ignore this book. Critical interaction with contemporary theological and psychosocial approaches to issues such as parenting, gender, child-rearing, childlessness, adoption, church and family, makes this a valuable theological resource for educators, counselors, and pastors. This book will be required reading for my own students in Theology of the Family classes. I wish that I could require it for all pastors and those who intend to do serious theological reflection on critical issues in family life ministry.”

Ministry in the Image of God

Church Leadership & Ministry

“This is the book that I was looking for when mentoring pastors in our Doctor of Ministry program years ago! In this lucid and luminous treatment of Christ's ministry to the Father on behalf of the world through the power of the Holy Spirit, Stephen Seamands takes the doctrine of the Trinity off the shelf and reveals the dynamic of God's mission of love and reconciliation from the inside out. Combining scholarly insight with spiritual passion, Seamands traces out the contours of the divine mystery of redeeming love as the image of that which all humans were created to be and that which we who minister are called to do.”

Practical Theology

Theology

“Using both qualitative and quantitative research methodology drawn from the social sciences, the author provides case studies which explore contemporary phenomena within the charismatic experience. The result is a useful textbook for courses in practical theology based on empirical research as well as making a significant contribution to the emerging filed of charismatic theology.”

Reforming Theological Anthropology

Theology

“This stunning book places F. LeRon Shults as one of the brightest stars to appear in the galaxy of contemporary scholars. Displaying an erudition that at times is breathtaking, Shults is as much at home with the ancient Greek philosophers, the patristic theologians, the medieval scholastics, and the sixteenth-century reformers as he is with modern theologians and more recent developments in the social sciences and developmental psychology. This book creates a new frontier for the integration of psychological and philosophical approaches to understanding human personhood as ontological, existential, and relational being. Shults exposes underlying cracks in the foundation of classical theological anthropology, based as it is on a substantive dualistic metaphysics. In offering a carefully nuanced reformulation of the traditional doctrines of human nature, original sin, and the image of God based on a relational anthropology and a dynamic eschatology, this book is truly groundbreaking. A must-read for all who aspire to be theologians of the church and those who dare to say they are.”

Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry

Children & Youth

“In this groundbreaking book, Andrew Root explodes the myth that those involved with youth ministry can be excused from being theologians and that theologians can be exempted from writing a theology for youth ministry. Drawing upon the incarnational and transformational theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, among others, Root argues for a relational ministry that is incarnational rather than merely instrumental. He presents Jesus as a living person rather than merely providing a pattern for incarnational ministry, and shows us how a relational ministry can go beyond merely connecting with others to create and inhabit a transforming space. Andy knows how to enter and interpret the culture of adolescence and youth, and shares this wisdom with us. His case studies and creative scenarios put faces on his facts and lend dramatic life to his theories. The book provides the course on theology of ministry that most youth leaders and pastors never got in Bible school or seminary, and the one indispensable text that professors of youth ministry have been longing for.”

Sabbath Keeping

Christian Living

“Finally we have a book on the sabbath that avoids the polemics of sabbath law and recovers the biblical and practical experience of sabbath rest. Lynne Baab reminds us that we do not just keep the sabbath as a religious ritual, but the sabbath keeps us as a gracious gift of renewal. Regardless of one's tradition, this is a book that will provide both a theological and practical guide for creating an intentional sabbath experience. This is a 'one size fits all' prescription for maintaining spiritual fitness in a secular culture running at a 24-7 rate. Read it, practice it, and find rest for your soul.”

Strength in Weakness

Counseling, Grief & Mental Health

“With his characteristic candor and clarity, Andrew Comiskey leads us through his own journey toward sexual completeness and spiritual wholeness. His theological insights regarding human sexuality and relational authenticity are biblically based and practically applied. There is a profound spiritual depth to this book that dares to recognize the toxic nature of sin in order to release the healing power of grace. As we experience healing and completeness as sexual persons, we discover wholeness and health as spiritual persons. Reading this book is to be led by the Good Shepherd beside still waters and discover the power of the One who 'restores my soul.'”

Telling God's Story

Preaching & Worship

“Out of his own rich experience as a scholar and preacher, John Wright summons us to 'reinvent' preaching through a rhetoric that draws us out of the comfort zone of a cultural narrative where the biblical text dissolves into a happy ending and, instead, places us into the biblical narrative where we are taken up and transformed by God's story. In clear and compelling language that often rises to eloquence, this book exposes the subtle but almost sinister shift in North American Christianity by which the horizon of contemporary world culture has displaced and replaced the biblical horizon of God's narrative of creation and redemption by a fusion of individual piety and national religion. Authentic preaching then seeks to renarrate a world that makes truth relevant to its own existence by forming a Christian community--the church--that finds its life within God's narrative. Such preaching draws the church out of the world in order to place it back within the world to live out God's narrative of salvation, justice and hope. I wish that I had read this book forty years ago when I began my own preaching ministry!”

The Mestizo/a Community of the Spirit

Theology

“In this stunning and original theological work, Oscar Garcia-Johnson dips deep into the flowing stream of the Latino/a community and finds there a new theological paradigm where a culture of the Spirit emerges. This is a culture where revelation and praxis come together and where cruciformity is not only a Christological praxis but is a transforming social ethic. . . . Pastors as well as theologians will soon have this book at the top of their 'must read' book list.”

The Reciprocating Self

Theology

“Combining years of experience, breadth of scholarship and theological insight, the authors present a coherent and cohesive new paradigm for understanding the process of human development as simultaneously including social, spiritual and psychological reciprocity of personal being. Drawing upon the relevant theories of human development as well as of current theological reflection on the nature of human personhood as a dynamic 'imaging' of a trinitarian Creator God, this book sets a new baseline for the next generation of students and scholars who wish to study, practice and write as Christians who are also caregivers. This book ought to be required reading for those preparing to be Christian-oriented counselors and therapists and mustreading for those who already are.”