We just got back from selling books at Palmer Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. I reviewed this book in our monthly website column in February and I hope you saw it; it is very, very important. Gushee has been a friend and colleague of Sider and ESA for years and it was fabulous to be with him, again; the book is very good, and he has been in high-level conversations with evangelical leaders around these themes and has an insightful grasp of the movements, inclinations and future of the faith and politics debates.
Several are quite tender, all notably full of piety and faith. From love of creation, to love of his beloved wife, from his rage against the Bush tax cuts to his proposals for evangelicals to get involved in the global warming debate, these are some of the best short polemics you will find.
It will draw you closer to Christ. Wright has stood against this unhelpful way of thinking with wisdom and Biblical balance for years. His serious work on resurrection has explored that deeply, and in this new one, he ponders the various meanings and true hope we have in resurrection.
Barkat, just released her collection of Bible reflections, based not only on her solid and sane reading, her immense and articulate understand of the Bible, but on her own troubled life. This glorious book is thoughtful without being laborious, literate without being self-conscious. She is drawing lessons from life, and is candid about her ups and downs. And, boy, has she has some. Yes, stones are the main metaphor here, as she steps on stones in the rivers of her youth, picks up smooth ones to cherish, visits caves and walls and works and reworks writerly memes and theological themes that have to do with the rocks, stones and stonewalls.
They unfold increasingly, showing her growth and maturity, even though the book is technically not a biography. This is a perfect book for Eastertide; it is real, hard, and yet, gently triumphant.
