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God’s Right Hand Man, Michael Winters (HarperOne)
Winters, a respected journalist who’s written for the Times, the Post and The New Republic, offers a fascinating account of how Jerry Falwell “made God a Republican and baptized the American Right.” Neither polemical nor uncritical, Winters provides a comprehensive and fair accounting of the players and the events that propelled Falwell to religious and political prominence.
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Lectio Divina: The Sacred Art, Christine Paintner (Skylight Paths)
Many are rediscovering the practice of lectio divina (an old way of reading Scripture prayerfully and meditatively). Paintner provides a multi-textured exploration into the practice, exploring angles from Christian experience as well as Jewish and Islamic roots. While one might look elsewhere for the distinctive Christian voice of lectio, Paintner provides a fresh and sensory companion.
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Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul?, J.R. Daniel Kirk (Baker Academic)
For a while now, the Apostle Paul has been taking quite a beating. Many pit Paul’s version of Christianity against Jesus’. Kirk, a theologian from Duke who teaches at Fuller, provides a narrative approach that seeks to hear Paul’s voice afresh and demonstrate Paul’s faithfulness to Jesus’ message and witness.
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Winn Collier is pastor of All Souls, a congregation with Baptist ties in Charlottesville, Va., the author of three books and a columnist. (www.winncollier.com)