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Pastrix, by Nadia Bolz-Weber (Jericho Books)
I once heard Nadia Bolz-Weber on a radio interview, walking the show’s host through a tour of her (very) many tattoos, the ones covering her from her shoulders to her wrists. “Even the ill-advised and regrettable tattoos are part of my story,” says Nadia, “and ultimately, that’s what tattoos are: a way to wear stories — our mistakes, celebrations, relationships, insights and losses — on the skin.” Boyz-Weber, Lutheran pastor of House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, gives us her skin, her life, in this spicy and hope-filled memoir.
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Shaking Hands with the Devil: The Intersection of Terrorism and Theology, by William J. Abraham (Highland Loch Press)
Abraham, a theology professor at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology, tackles the question of how terrorist acts often arrive couched in God-language. Since Abraham grew up in Northern Ireland, he is intimately acquainted with these questions. Now, after 9/11, Abraham approaches these issues with fresh vigor.
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The Lion’s World, by Rowan Williams (Oxford Press)
Rowan Williams is one of our finest theologians. In this slim volume taking us on “a journey into the heart of Narnia,” Williams provides many of us with a rich reminder of why we love C.S. Lewis so much. In a day when Lewis (due to movies and popular Evangelical subculture) has perhaps been too easily tamed, Rowan Williams gives us Lewis with all of his passion, beauty and fierceness.
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Winn Collier (winncollier.com) is author of three books, a columnist and pastor of All Souls in Charlottesville, Va.