You know how Christianity Today makes its annual “Book Awards” list at the end of the year? Well, I thought I’d make my own book recommendations list. And just in time for Christmas, too! (Last-minute Christmas gifts, anyone?)
But first, I’d like to give some context regarding how this list came about. First off, these are all books that I read this year. At the beginning of 2022, I committed to reading more authors, stories, and contexts that differed from my own experiences. I felt it was important to stay humble and hear the voices of Christians from different backgrounds. So, I consciously chose to include books written by people of color, people with different sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.
(There are also some spiritual formation and biblical studies books interspersed in this list. Because…spiritual formation and learning more about the Bible is good!)
In total, I read 14 books this year (actually 15, but I won’t finish the last one in time for this post). I’d also like to clarify that all of these books are nonfiction. Why? Mostly because I actually just don’t read fiction very much. I prefer learning from real-life examples than through fictional stories.
Now, let’s get on with my recommendations!
My Recommended Books for 2022
(In no particular order…)
Reading While Black by Esau McCaulley
Most educational regarding black Christian theology
Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope was the first book I read after my commitment to read more diverse voices. Esau McCaulley’s book was the talk all over Twitter earlier this year, and I was intrigued by his interview on The Holy Post podcast regarding the value of the black Christian experience. He spoke with charisma and a deep passion for the church and Jesus, and I wanted to know more. I wanted to learn what McCaulley (and many other black brothers and sisters) experienced in their faith life.
And McCaulley delivered. As a biblical scholar and professor of New Testament at Wheaton College, he went into great depth about the parallels between Israel in the Old Testament and the slavery and oppression of black people in our own North American context.
It’s a book full of history, pain, and hope for the fullness of life promised in Christ Jesus. I learned how the black church interacts with the good news of the gospel, and though it’s different than mine, it’s clear in this book how meaningful and valuable the black perspective and experience is. It creates a fuller picture of God’s kingdom and the breadth of the gospel.
Reading While Black is a must-read for a better understanding of our brothers and sisters in the black church.
The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr
Most fascinating history read
This was another book that was quite the controversy on Twitter, but I was absolutely fascinated by this read. In The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth, Beth Allison Barr takes a very, very deep dive into the rather unknown history of women in the Bible and throughout Christian church history. From misconceptions about the cultural context of the Paulean letters, to the history of complementarianism in the church, to the issue of translation choices, Barr brings up questions about “biblical womanhood” that I (and many others) had never considered before.
It’s worth mentioning that Barr is a historian by profession with a focus on medieval history (which certainly leaves its mark in the book). As such, I recommend approaching this book as a history book rather than a theological one. While she is a Christian with what I believe to be sound theology, she does not claim to be a theologian, and should not be read as such.
I recommend this book for anyone wanting to deepen their understanding of the history of gender roles throughout the history of the church—from Paul to present day.
Heavy Burdens by Bridget Eileen Rivera
Most heartbreaking read
Heavy Burdens: Seven Ways LGBTQ Christians Experience Harm in the Church is truly a heavy book, but one that I indiscriminately recommend to all people—Christian or otherwise. I couldn’t begin to tell you how I stumbled across Rivera’s book, but I’m so glad I did. As an LGBTQ+ Christian, Rivera tackles the difficult task of addressing the ways LGBTQ+ people have been harmed by the church, and she does it with grace and conviction.
Rivera takes a sociological approach, addressing the topic with seven case studies, each identifying common experiences and hurts held by LGBTQ+ people (primarily Christians). She looks at the development in psychological vocabulary regarding gay and lesbian people in the early 1900s and its effect on the greater mainstream culture’s view of these people.
Full of statistics, historical data, and deeply powerful, humanizing stories, Heavy Burdens both greatly educated me in the history of the LGBTQ+ community and brought me to tears a number of times. I was filled with hurt and sorrow for the pain these people suffered—people that bear God’s image.
I don’t care who you are. Whether you see yourself as an ally or not. Whether you’re a Christian or not. This book is one that you need to read. These people have literally been dying because of the church. And that is not something the church should allow to continue. Educate yourself, please. It could save a life one day.
Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes by Brandon J. O’Brien, E. Randolph Richards
Recommended for broadening view of the biblical world’s cultural context
Many people perceive Christianity as a Western religion, but this idea neglects the fact that the majority of Christians in the world are from non-Western cultures. Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible is a slightly nerdier read, but I think it clearly addresses the bias of the Western view of the Bible. When we approach the Bible from a Western, individualist perspective, we easily miss the non-Western, collectivist contexts of the biblical culture.
O’Brien and Richards are both biblical scholars that draw from a number of biblical texts to illustrate how we tend to misinterpret key biblical stories and “miss the point” of the text. Richards, in particular, draws on his extensive experience in missions in the Mediterranean (Israel/Palestine, Turkey, Greece, and Italy) and on his time teaching in Indonesia, all of which informed his understanding of collectivist cultures and how they interpret the collectivist context of the Bible.
Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes is a top recommendation from me, especially for those wanting to develop a better understanding of not only the Bible, but also of the global church and how they view the Bible.
Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes du Mez
Most challenging read
If The Making of Biblical Womanhood was controversial, then Jesus and John Wayne was absolutely a war zone on Twitter. Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation was by far the most challenging read for me. I’d argue that within this list, it’s probably the most challenging read for anyone, for a variety of reasons.
Also a history professor (I’m sensing a theme here), Kristin Kobes du Mez doesn’t pull her punches as she addresses the difficult history of the American evangelical church and culture. She takes a hard, critical look at the development of the current evangelical “culture” in the U.S. Kobes du Mez investigates and lays out the deep influences of political power, backdoor deals, and powerful men in driving the evangelical culture of the 20th century. She even touches on the topics of toxic masculinity, complementarianism, the rise of Christian nationalism, and Donald Trump (to name a few). It’s a doozy of a book.
This is not an easy book to read. If you are more conservative-minded and/or love the evangelical culture of the U.S., your ideas are going to be severely challenged and scrutinized. If you are in the process of deconstructing, it’s going to be very painful and disturbing to learn just how deep and how corrupt the culture has been. And if reading itself is a challenge for you, this book is pretty long and extremely dense, and will push you to your reading limits. I often found myself wondering, “How much more of this book is left? I’m not sure how much more I can take of this.”
All that being said, while Jesus and John Wayne was a challenging, difficult read, I think the content is important enough that it’s worth the time and effort to get through the book. It’s full of information that I think needs to be known and understood if the American church is to move forward in a healthy, God-fearing way. It’s most definitely worth the read, no matter what stance you’re coming from.
My Body is Not a Prayer Request by Amy Kenny
Spotlights a largely overlooked issue in the church
Funny enough, I also learned about this book from an interview on The Holy Post podcast. In her book, My Body is Not a Prayer Request: Disability Justice in the Church, Amy Kenny uncovers an oft-overlooked problem in the church: ableism. Kenny pulls from her own experience as a disabled person, outlining the kinds of comments she receives regarding her disability, and the harmful implications behind them. I was surprised at the ignorance—and even blatant apathy—Christians and the church held towards her condition and disability in general.
However, Kenny’s purpose in My Body is Not a Prayer Request is not to put down the church. Yes, she does point out the harm the church is doing. But she also provides constructive education on how to better support those with disabilities. She even delves into scripture and offers an alternative view of disability in the Bible—one where disability isn’t a “sign of the Fall,” but rather, that people with disabilities have just as much to contribute to the body of Christ as any able-bodied person (and perhaps more).
I came to realize that I, too, had been woefully ignorant of how to approach disability in a supportive, life-giving way. In fact, I didn’t even know about “spoon theory” until I read this book! It was deeply humbling. I especially recommend this book to people who interact with disabled people on a regular basis, or people that work in leadership positions in a church. This topic of ableism in the church was a huge blindspot for me, and I’m sure it is for most people. And according to Kenny, this is, indeed, the case.
Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes by E. Randolph Richards, Richard James
Most applicable to me as a missionary
Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes: Patronage, Honor, and Shame in the Biblical World was the natural progression from Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes. E. Randolph Richards comes back again in conjunction with Richard James to bring us an even more detailed, in-depth study of the Bible in collectivist terms. Richards and James not only explain the collectivist cultures that lived out the biblical stories and wrote the scriptures themselves, but also how the gospel turned those dynamics on their head (and not necessarily towards an individualist mindset).
Thorough and chock-full of biblical case studies, Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes addresses topics of kinship, patronage, brokerage, and honor-shame culture. While we in the West are prone to believe that honor-shame cultures and the systems that go with them are medieval and perhaps inherently bad, Richards and James examine the benefits of these dynamics, and even argue for their usefulness (provided that they are executed in a healthy way).
Honestly, it feels like every biblical and cultural nerd’s dream. I found this book to be the most applicable to me as a missionary in Japan, where the culture is definitely more collectivist than the U.S. It helped me better understand the honor-shame culture, as well as recognize the patronage, brokerage, and kinship systems that I work in.
Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes is a fantastic, instructive book for anyone going into the mission field, especially in traditional honor-shame cultures. I’d also recommend this book to anyone that liked Misreading Scripture through Western Eyes as a more detailed and thorough study on this topic.
Honorable Mentions
I did read several other excellent books this year, but I figured I shouldn’t write about 13 books. So here are some honorable mentions (that I do recommend):
With: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God (Skye Jethani) → Spiritual formation
Holier Than Thou: How God’s Holiness Helps Us Trust Him (Jackie Hill Perry) → Black, female author; spiritual formation
Subversive Witness: Scripture’s Call to Leverage Privilege (Dominique Dubois Gilliard) → Black author; cross-cultural relations
The Deeply Formed Life: Five Transformative Values to Root Us in the Way of Jesus (Rich Villodas) → Minority author; spiritual formation
The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God (Timothy Keller, Kathy Keller) → I felt personally challenged and called out by this book…made me rethink my own bias and cultural influence regarding my approach to marriage.
The Screwtape Letters (C.S. Lewis) → My only *fiction* book this year; classic C.S. Lewis