Conversations, Reading Guides, VOLUME 12

Not Yet Classics – Theology Books


Not Yet Classics Theology Books  Not Yet Classics Theology Books  Not Yet Classics Theology Books

I have been enjoying theologian Matthew Bates’s Twitter series of not yet classics, books that are neither “new nor a universally known classic,” but yet still merit our careful reading and reflection. Bates is author of the new book Gospel Allegiance, and also of Salvation by Allegiance Alone (One of our Best Books of 2017!) 

 

Taking Bates’s lead, I offer this list of theology books that are not yet classics in my estimation, yet are ones that I have read, re-read, and regularly share with others. All of these have been released in the last quarter century, and most of them within the last decade.

 
 

Not Yet Classics Theology BooksThe Christian Imagination:
Theology and the Origins of Race

Willie James Jennings

A ground-breaking, magisterial account of the potential and failures of Christianity since the colonialist period

Why has Christianity, a religion premised upon neighborly love, failed in its attempts to heal social divisions? In this ambitious and wide-ranging work, Willie James Jennings delves deep into the late medieval soil in which the modern Christian imagination grew, to reveal how Christianity’s highly refined process of socialization has inadvertently created and maintained segregated societies. A probing study of the cultural fragmentation—social, spatial, and racial—that took root in the Western mind, this book shows how Christianity has consistently forged Christian nations rather than encouraging genuine communion between disparate groups and individuals.

Weaving together the stories of Zurara, the royal chronicler of Prince Henry, the Jesuit theologian Jose de Acosta, the famed Anglican Bishop John William Colenso, and the former slave writer Olaudah Equiano, Jennings narrates a tale of loss, forgetfulness, and missed opportunities for the transformation of Christian communities. Touching on issues of slavery, geography, Native American history, Jewish-Christian relations, literacy, and translation, he brilliantly exposes how the loss of land and the supersessionist ideas behind the Christian missionary movement are both deeply implicated in the invention of race.

Using his bold, creative, and courageous critique to imagine a truly cosmopolitan citizenship that transcends geopolitical, nationalist, ethnic, and racial boundaries, Jennings charts, with great vision, new ways of imagining ourselves, our communities, and the landscapes we inhabit.



NEXT BOOK >>>>>
Book 1 of 12

 

Bargain Theology Books


 
RFTCG
FREE EBOOK!
Reading for the Common Good
From ERB Editor Christopher Smith


"This book will inspire, motivate and challenge anyone who cares a whit about the written word, the world of ideas, the shape of our communities and the life of the church."
-Karen Swallow Prior


Enter your email below to sign up for our weekly newsletter & download your FREE copy of this ebook!
We respect your email privacy


In the News...
Christian Nationalism Understanding Christian Nationalism [A Reading Guide]
Most AnticipatedMost Anticipated Books of the Fall for Christian Readers!
Funny Bible ReviewsHilarious One-Star Customer Reviews of Bibles


Comments are closed.