My Top 5 Books for 2020

4. Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope by Esau McCaulley

A wonderful book by Esau, recently won a CT award. An amazing insight into what it’s like to read the Bible through the eyes of others, esp. those who have experienced historical oppression and marginalization.

3. The Messianic Theology of the New Testament by Joshua Jipp.

I’ve long advocated the importance of messianism and messianic categories for the New Testament. I’ve even written two books on these which have been largely ignored. Jipp prosecutes with rigor and acumen what a messianic NT theology looks like.

2. Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World by Tom Holland

This is the book that will freak out your atheist and secular friends when they discover that their values of human rights and freedom are not self-evident humanitarian truths but dependent on Christian doctrine. You cannot untether the history of western civilization from Christianity.

1. African American Readings of Paul: Reception, Resistance, and Transformation by Lisa Bowens.

A book that is truly informative and inspiring by showing how the Bible was used to oppress African-Americans and how Africa-Americans used the Bible to speak truth to power. Thoroughly recommended!

Honorable Mentions:

– Paul’s Works of the Law in the Second Century by Matthew Thomas.

– Galatians by Jarvis Williams

– Signposts by N.T. Wright

– Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes by Jackson Wu