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Spirituality and Religion May 2023 |
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| Please, Sorry, Thanks: The Three Words That Change Everything by Mark BattersonWhat it's about: the power that three polite words (“the psychology of please, the science of sorry, and the theology of thanks”) can have on your life and your faith.
Topics include: respectful disagreement, the desire to serve others, empathy as a Godly attribute, and gratitude for miracles.
Reviewers say: “This earnest entry offers believers abundant inspiration” (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day by Kaitlin B. CurticeWhat it is: a thoughtful and accessible call to explore the concept of resistance as it relates to the self, the spirit, and society.
Read it for: the author's moving story of growing up as an evangelical Christian and how it intersected with her indigenous (Potawatomi Nation) identity.
Book buzz: "A work of both spiritual direction and challenge toward social engagement, with welcoming, lambent prose" (Library Journal). |
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| Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says About the End by Bart D. EhrmanWhat it's about: popular misconceptions about the biblical Apocalypse, with a deep dive into the text and context of the Book of Revelation.
Don't miss: the examination of the social and political consequences of misunderstandings about Armageddon throughout history.
About the author: Bart D. Ehrman is a bestselling New Testament scholar whose previous work includes Misquoting Jesus and Jesus Before the Gospels. |
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| Curveball: When Your Faith Takes Turns You Never Saw Coming (or, How I Stumbled and... by Peter EnnsWhat it is: a persuasive and engaging treatise in favor of developing a relationship with your faith that can handle the titular "curveballs" life throws your way.
Topics include: scripture-based arguments in favor of flexibility; the Bible as a "messy, complex, dense mine of wisdom."
Reviewers say: Curveball is "a convincing, accessible argument for facing religious uncertainty head-on, and will leave readers with insights about using doubt to enrich one’s faith" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Christendom: The Triumph of A Religion, A.D. 300-1300 by Peter HeatherWhat it's about: Christianity's journey from a small sect of scattered, isolated groups of believers to a continent-spanning movement with connections in the highest circles of power.
Don't miss: an illuminating and richly detailed section about the Christianization of northwest Europe and the unique strategies missionaries deployed there.
About the author: Peter Heather is a historian of late antiquity and early medieval Europe and professor at King's College London. |
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| Strong Like Water: Finding the Freedom, Safety, & Compassion to Move Through Hard Things... by Aundi KolberWhere it starts: with author and trauma therapist Aundi Kolber standing on a beach, overcome by a feeling of God's love and rethinking what it means to be strong.
What's inside: inspiring practices and resources to help readers reframe their understanding of strength as something that can come from a place of compassion.
Reviewers say: In addition to reflections on her own spiritual experience, Kolber "offers a healing approach that’s compassionate and personal, yet still grounded in practical psychology" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| The Transcendent Brain: Spirituality in the Age of Science by Alan LightmanWhat it's about: "Spiritual materialism" or the idea that a scientific worldview can (and maybe should) coexist with spirituality.
Read it for: the lyrical and engaging writing and thought-provoking questions it raises.
About the author: In addition to his scholarly work, professor, physicist, and writer Alan Lightman is also known for his fiction, including Einstein's Dream and Three Flames. |
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| All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir by Beth MooreWhat it is: a candid, inspiring memoir about joining -- then leaving -- the Southern Baptist Convention and finding a more sustainable way of engaging with faith during politically fraught times.
Reviewers say: "The frank views expressed in this remembrance will divide opinion, but the quality of Moore’s writing is indisputable" (Kirkus Reviews).
You might also like: Where the Light Fell by Philip Yancey or Becoming Free Indeed by Jinger Vuolo. |
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