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Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context, Glen H. Stassen and David P. Gushee (IVP)
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount has long fueled Christian imagination and social rebellion. The Sermon offers Jesus’ tangible expression of what the Good Life in the Kingdom of God looks like, upending our sense of both who is blessed and what is blessed. Though ethicists have often wrangled over this text, few Christian ethicists have delved deep into it as Christian revelation, paying as close attention to the interpretative task as to the work of arriving at a coherent ethical system. Kingdom Ethics does both.
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Volt: Stories, Alan Heathcock (Graywolf Press)
Heathcock, a short story writer whose work has won the National Magazine Award, has been described as “an American voice, doing what it was meant to do.” With Volt, Heathcock releases his first published collection of stories; and the release has met rave reviews. Heatchcock’s language is direct, immediate. He doesn’t traffic in fluff, but he does aim right for the heart. The first page will cut you short; and, I’m betting, rouse you to tears.
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The Sacraments in Biblical Perspective, Ronald P. Byars (WJK)
One’s view on the sacraments has often been a source of division among Christians, a particularly sad reality when we remember Jesus’ intention for the meal and baptism we share to embody our unity. Byars’ volume will, of course, not put the many debates to rest. However, it could serve as a conversation partner, helping us to talk to one another well, to hear one another and then perhaps (perhaps) find common ground for shared life and witness in our world.
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Winn Collier (www.winncollier.com) is pastor of All Souls, a Baptist congregation in Charlottesville, Va., the author of three books and a columnist.