Ten Theology Books to Watch For – August 2023

Centering Jesus: How the Lamb of God Transforms Our Communities, Ethics, and Spiritual Lives

Derek Vreeland

( NavPress )

What happens when Jesus becomes obscured from our point of view?

With all the hostility boiling just under the surface of our world, we need a renewed vision of Jesus as the Lamb of God who can lead us in the peaceable ways of the Kingdom. When we fail to keep Jesus at the center of our lives, we lean into the desires of our hearts more than the desires God has for us. As a result, our entire spirituality becomes driven by the self and for the self. We need renewed practices of centering Jesus in our hearts and minds.

In Centering Jesus, Derek Vreeland invites you to imagine what it looks like to keep Jesus as the Lamb of God at the center of three key areas of our lives―our spiritual formation, our moral lives, and our common life together. With the deep divide in American culture and the polarization that continues to grow, we need a renewed focus on the Lamb so that we might blaze a path forward into civility and kindness.

Learn how to

• identify the problems that occur when Jesus is obscured from our view;
• walk through some of the key biblical descriptions of the Lamb;
• describe a Lamb-shaped and Jesus-centered approach to the Christian virtues of faith, hope, and love, the foundation of our moral lives; and
• experience the Lamb at the center of common life together, specifically worship life, participation in acts of justice, and political life.

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Listening to Scripture: An Introduction to Interpreting the Bible

Craig Bartholomew

( Baker Academic )

Looking for a guide to interpreting the Bible that is accessible, up-to-date, and theologically grounded? A renowned Old Testament scholar and coauthor of the bestselling The Drama of Scripture introduces us to reading the Bible with an ear toward hearing God’s address. “When we read the Bible, we need to take off our shoes, as it were, because we are on holy ground,” says Bartholomew. “We take up the Bible to read it, only to find that through it God speaks to us. This is the awesome potential of Bible reading and interpretation.”

Bartholomew begins with a theological orientation, including topics such as the relationship between prayer, analysis, and reading Scripture; the Bible as the true story of the whole world; and reading the text in light of its literary, historical, and kerygmatic (proclamation) dimensions. He then explores the history of interpretation before discussing how we receive the Bible liturgically, ethically, and missionally. Throughout the book, exercises in lectio divina invite readers to engage both the head and the heart as they learn to interpret the Bible.

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